In 2019, Jayla Hollis compelled Laila Owens to go into the tank for an all-time effort.
Owens, then a Fort Bend Bush junior, ran a US No. 20 all-time effort of 23.54 seconds at the Texas Tech Under Armour High School Classic, overcoming a strong effort from Hollis -- who led most of the way and finished second in 23.88 -- to win at the line.
And at least a part of that success can be correlated to that brand-spanking new track at Texas Tech University. Hollis ran 26.63 in the preliminaries, which was just outside the top 25 performances all-time.
That same year, it wasn't just Owens or Hollis, either. Other young ladies ran well, too, including Humble Summer Creek sophomore Dynasty McClennon (24.09 for third), Mesquite Horn and Texas Tech signee Le-Taija Jackson (24.19), Deja Shaw-Huckaby (24.28), and Brooke Givens of McKinney North (24.48).