Student Athlete of the Week – Jaliyah Alexander

Palm Desert track and field senior Jaliyah Alexander is this week's student-athlete of the week.

Specializing in 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles, 100-meter sprint, and the 4x1 relay, Alexander is the standard for the Aztecs.

"Jaliyah represents everything we want in the Aztec community and on the Aztec program," head coach Mark Monroy said. "She devotes every minute of practice when she's here to get better."

As a multi-time event champion, Alexander wants to add to her legacy at Palm Desert.

"I was definitely excited, and I'm very proud of how far I've come in this track journey, and I just want to keep succeeding," Alexander said.

Being on the varsity team for several seasons, teammates are most impressed by her work ethic.

"Jaliyah pretty much every single day comes back here and practices her event, especially the hurdles," senior team manager Danika Martinez said. "Even if that day she really only needs to be doing relay practice, she always comes back and makes sure she gets a few runs in. She's always dedicated and making sure she's putting in her best effort to get better."

Graduating with a 3.9 GPA, she not only excels as an athlete but as a student as well.

"She performs not only on the track, but she performs in the classroom," Monroy said. "I remember two years ago, she was at CIF finals, and she was working on calculus homework at CIF finals between her events. That right there showed me that she's very serious about everything she does."

Wanting to continue track and field at the next level, Alexander intends to attend San Diego State University with a focus on psychology.

We are always looking for Student Athlete of the Week nominations. If you know a senior who should be featured next, be sure to contact the KESQ sports department.

The Student-Athlete of the Week segment airs every Tuesday.