Jones Named Top Prep Athlete in Southland for 2nd Year in Row

Sprinter Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks High has been named the Southern California high school female athlete of the year by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles for the second year in a row.

Jones, 16, also had been honored by Gatorade as its national high school female athlete of the year for the second consecutive year.

She won an unprecedented third consecutive title in both the girls’ 100 and 200 meters in the state championships in June, before finishing fifth and fourth, respectively, in those events in the U.S. Olympic trials.

Her time of 22.58 seconds in the 200 in the trials lowered her national junior (age 19 and under) and high school record of 22.67. She also moved within .01 seconds of the national high school 100-meter record with a time of 11.14 in the state meet.

Jones, who will be a senior in the fall, has this season run six of history’s eight fastest 200 times by a U.S. prep, including the top four. She also has run 54.44 in the 400, the fastest high school time in the nation this year.

Jones averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds a game during the basketball season to help Thousand Oaks win its second consecutive Southern Section Division I-A title.