Aleesa Samuel

Somerset Academy (Pembroke Pines, FL), Southwest Ranches, FL, c/o 2025
AthleticNET Bio

At the Brooks PR Invitational at Renton Stadium, Alessa Samuel lined up next to Akala Garrett, the ‘22 World U20 400mH champion in the girls 100 meter hurdle final. Samuel had credentials of her own. A 13.26 into a -2.0 wind at the Louie Bing Invitational on Feb 19, plus a second place at the Florida Relays(13.49, +1.6) in April, and a trifecta at the Florida State 3A championships- 110m(11.44, +3.3), 100m hurdles(13.67, +0.6) and the 200m(23.84, +1.3) in June.

As the gun went off, Samuel was out- “ I do have a good start”- and over the first two hurdles she was even if not in front of Garrett. She matched her hurdle for hurdle until the fifth. Then Garret started to pull away and the field slipped by Samuel. She finished fourth by thousandths of a second in 13.43(+0.6) with Garrett winning going away in 13.13.

The race went almost to plan. “ Leesa” as she is nicknamed thinks the poorest part of her race is her first two hurdles. It’s not the start, but the ability to carry her speed from her start over the first two hurdles. In this race she led Garrett through those first two hurdles. Garrett’s last last loss in the 100m hurdles was the Nike Outdoor Nationals in ‘21.

In the strongest part of her race, Leesa had problems. Her strength is typically in the latter part of the race.

“When I get to the third hurdle I can feel my momentum picking up. It's just perfect after that. My momentum builds. I think that's the biggest strength.”

However, in this race, the momentum didn’t come. It reflected a problem she feels when she is in a race at times. She sheds light on the problem and what happened at Brooks PR:

“When I run against competition, I get a little nervous and forget all about my technique and stuff. I knew she was competition, like coming into it. When we were running and she was up there, I got nervous. I'm not sure if I hit a hurdle or I stumbled a little bit, but that's what happened. It's just like that when it comes to competition.”

It was a tough loss and as she reflects on her entire season, she just wasn’t able to reproduce the great race she had in her opener at Louie Bing.

“When I was doing indoors, it was a little iffy. When I got to outdoors, it started to get better by Louie Bing . On the first day it was okay, but then the second day, I did way better in the finals in my hurdles and other races. Then towards the very end of the season, I feel I started to get nervous and stuff and mess up in my races. I didn't hit another PR like I wanted to, but I'm still happy with my Louie Bing PR.”

The middle child of Asante Samuel, the 4 time Pro Bowl NFL cornerback, and his wife, Jeniva, started off playing other sports; gymnastics, soccer and tennis. But then her mom saw how fast she was and put her in the Miami Northwest Express Track Club. Then her father noticed how fast she was and began coaching her.

By the time she was in eighth grade, she had won the USATF JO Nationals in 12.03(1-1.3). That’s when she began to get nervous in her races.

One sometimes forgets her age. Her 13.26 is second only to Tia Jones’ sophomore record of 13.01 set in 2017 and was the 25th fastest performer of all time. And she is quick. Her 100m and 200m times are better than Jones’ and Garrett’s high school personal bests at those distances.

She prefers to race two races, a prelim and final. Having two races helps her evaluate her technique and perform better in the final. As evidence, the Brooks PR Invitational she ran once and at Louie Bing twice.

This upcoming season she’d like to run some pro races where there is always a prelim and final to get the best result. She also is sticking with the three events, the 100m, 100m hurdles and 200m dash.

Her training is geared towards doing well in all and that is something she wants to continue to do.

“I just prepare for all three. I don't really focus on one event. I like the hurdles, but I really don’t focus on it too much because I have  other events that I have to learn. So they're all equal and I do my best in all of them.”

As evidence of the mettle she shows in her often busy schedule, the Florida state meet is a good example. Though she had a long day and was ready to go home before she lined up for the 200m, her last event, she just ran hard and ran a  personal best of 23.84.

“In the 200 I was kind of tired and ready to go home. I think when I don't think about the race too much I run my PR. In my 23 race, I wasn't thinking about nothing.” 

She’d like to qualify for the US Olympic Trials next year. She is going to work on her first two hurdles and of course getting better with her nervousness. The key will come from the approach she sees herself taking.

“I just got to work on my first two hurdles and competition. I need to be focused on my own lane and not what the person next to me is doing.”