LEXINGTON, Ky. – Former Jacksonville State track and field standout, Latasha (Sturkie) Dodson, won a pair of gold medals at the USATF Masters National Championships last weekend at the University of Kentucky.
 
Dodson, a 2012 graduate of JSU, is from Choccolocco, Ala., where she attended White Plains High School and became a six-time AHSAA Class 2A state champion. For the Gamecocks, she was the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference 400m hurdles champion, and part of JSU's 4x400 gold medal relay team.
 
Over the weekend, Dodson competed at the USATF Masters National Championships held in Lexington, Ky. Earlier in the summer she secured a trip back to nationals as Florida's USATF Masters state champion. In Lexington, Dodson won her first 100m hurdle National Championship in the women's 30-34 age group with a time of 15.03. She then successfully defended her 400m hurdle national title winning with a new American Record (1:02.95) mark for the women's 30-34 age group. Following both titles, Dodson is now a three-time USATF Masters National Champion.
 
Dodson is one of several Gamecock track and field alums with continued success after their collegiate careers. Former distance runner Ericka (Stam) Mason became JSU's first female track and field athlete to qualify for the Olympic Trials in 2020, after beating the required standard during the 2019 Chicago Marathon. In 2018, she posted the 34th fastest time of more than 22,000 female runners in the New York City Marathon.