From West Africa to West Meck: Sprinter with Olympic ambitions is living her dream

West Mecklenburg High track star Sanu Jallow has a bubbly personality, full of smiles and giggles. She’s easy to talk to, seems to be really fun, and says, pretty matter-of-factly, that sometimes she cannot believe her life.

Born in West Africa, Jallow came to the United States at 9 years old. She didn’t know English. She didn’t have friends. But she always had a dream — to run.

In the 10 years since she’s been in the United States, Jallow -- now 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 19 years old -- has become one of the best girls high school sprinters in the nation. She’s signed with four-time national champion Texas A&M, moved in with her coach, and finished her career with two state titles in Friday’s N.C. 3A state championships at UNC-Greensboro.

She won the 200- and 400-meters and finish second in the 100.

“To be honest,” she said before practice a few weeks ago, “I did not think I could be this good. This was a dream come true. I mean, I always had a dream about it, but I didn’t think it would become a reality.”

Making the move

Jallow’s father, whom she said she didn’t know well, moved her to the United States from Gambia for a better education and the potential for a better life.

Gambia is a nation of 2.4 million. The economy is dominated by farming, fishing and tourism — but nearly half the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations.

Jallow grew up racing her friends, and didn’t think much of her surroundings, until she met her father for the first time. He wanted to bring her and her four sisters, who also lived in Gambia, to the U.S.

She said it was a bit of a shock to meet her father, but after discussing the move with her mother, Jallow left for the United States. And when she got to Charlotte, there was a high degree of culture shock.

“Everything was different here,” she said. “In Gambia, the homes were like teepees and formatted differently. Schools were different. Education was actually serious here.”

And then, there was the language.

Jallow speaks Fula, which is used by more than 15 million people in north and west Africa. Here, she was starting the third grade and couldn’t understand a word anyone was saying.

“That was really hard,” Jallow said.

Jallow took immersion classes and conquered the language barrier. And by the time she got to middle school, she appeared to have a natural talent in track — and a love for the chicken fingers at Zaxby’s.

“She had three meets at Coulwood (Middle School) with no practice and no training and you could tell she had something,” said West Mecklenburg assistant coach Daszmar Lockhart, husband of Hawks head coach Janelle Johnson-Lockhart. “Was she a natural? I guess you could say that.”

Family matters

From the time she got to Berry High as a freshman four years ago, then-Cardinals coach Johnson-Lockhart saw the potential.

Jallow finished fifth in the 300-meters in the indoor state championships in 2019 as a freshman. As a sophomore, she ran on a 3,200-meter state championship relay team in the 2020 indoor state championships, and then won the 500-meter indoor championship — showing her blend of power and endurance.

“As every race went on,” Johnson-Lockhart said, “I saw the dog in her. That’s what I call it. Any coach can coach Sanu and she can compete. She just wants it. With the right tools, she can be great, and with our family foundation and her having the drive, it all began to come together.”

Jallow and the Lockharts got close during her ninth grade year, and grew even closer during the summer track season. Jallow came to see her coach as a motherly figure. And Johnson-Lockhart was a state championship sprinter in high school at Independence and each of her three sons has been an AAU youth champion.

She invited Jallow to travel with her to summer track events and compete.

“Somehow or another,” Johnson-Lockhart said, “Sanu was at Thanksgiving. She’s at Christmas, whatever. So as time went on, I’d be like, ‘Let’s talk to everybody and see if it’s the best thing for you to be here.’”

Jallow’s father and the Lockharts agreed, and the Lockharts got custody of Jallow, whom she calls her parents now.

Becoming ‘the beast’

Living with your coach can be a little demanding.

Johnson-Lockhart left Berry last year for the job at West Mecklenburg, and Jallow came with her. But the regimen didn’t change.

There’s school. There’s practice, and then there’s post practice-practice in the family gym in the garage.

That work, and her natural talent, helped Jallow win the 800-meter run at the 2021 N.C. 4A state championship outdoors in a meet record time of 2:07.78.

This year, Jallow has won titles at two major national meets — the 500-meters at the Virginia Showcase and the 600-meters at the Millrose Games.

And last February, in her final N.C. indoor state championship meet, she won the 55- and the 500-meter titles.

It’s performances like those that led Texas A&M — which has won four national women’s championships and is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation — to offer her a scholarship.

And it’s led organizers at all three major high school national events — Nike, New Balance and adidas — to offer her spots to run this summer.

“I can’t take credit for all of that,” Jallow said. “This was something I was really interested in, like forever, but I took it seriously in ninth grade and my parents, the Lockhart family, they helped me see my future in it, and they say I was determined, and they took that into consideration and promised me that I would become the beast I am today.”

Jallow smiles as she says that last part.

One final run ... and then what?

Jallow said she chose Texas A&M for college because “it felt like home.” She plans to major in sports management.

“When I stepped on campus,” she said, “I immediately felt like my parents were coaching me all over again, but I also fell in love with their 800 program.”

The A&M coaches, she said, promised Jallow she could focus on her favorite event and train almost exclusively at it, and not focus on the general sprints as much as some other schools might require.

Jallow feels like her future is in the 800, and she wants to make the Olympic team in two years. She’ll have to drop more than five seconds off her best time to reach the 2021 qualifying standard time of 2:02.50.

But consider that, in early 2021, Jallow ran a 2:17.79 in the 800-meters at the adidas Nationals in Virginia. Just four months later, she had dropped that time by 10 seconds in her record-setting N.C. 4A state outdoor championship performance.

“I’m determined to make it,” she said. “And I will really, really work hard for that.”

Jallow was the only girl on West Meck’s team and she had hoped to go out with a bang: winning two state titles and finishing second in a third event -- in extreme heat -- was a pretty good way to go out.

“All of this, coming here, running, winning, it’s just been amazing,” Jallow said. “I’m just thankful for all of it. For everything.”

She smiles as she says that last part, too.