Aleia Hobbs

Aleia Hobbs believed she had what it takes to be the best in the world from the beginning of her athletic career. When she was in elementary school, she began competing in youth track groups. It wasn’t until middle school when she started consistently establishing records and winning that she started to think about being an Olympian. Aleia, the native of New Orleans, only ever seriously considered attending Louisiana State University in neighboring Baton Rouge to improve her career. Truly, Aleia excelled when she joined Louisiana State University.

Aleia qualified for Team USA’s squad for the Pan-American Junior Championships in Canada during her freshman year by placing second in the US junior championships and sixth in the NCAA championships 100-meter final. She took up the silver medal at the Pan-American Junior Championships in 2015. She became the second-fastest woman in NCAA history two years later after lowering her 100-meter personal best to 10.85.

She was unstoppable during her senior year. Aleia earned the NCAA Indoor 60m title before winning the SEC Outdoor 100m title in 10.92 seconds. Aleia prevailed in miserable circumstances and freezing rain in the NCAA Outdoor Championships to win the 100m with a timing of 11.01 seconds. She concluded her senior year with two NCAA titles, the US national title at 100m, the second-quickest 100m time in the world in 2018, and a degree in human science for LSU.  She earned gold in the World Athletics Relays in Yokohama a year later while competing for Team USA’s winning 4x100m relay team.

Despite missing the 2019 World Championships due to injury, Aleia finished sixth in the 100m final at the 2021 US Olympic Trials. With this, she qualified for  Team USA’s 4x100m relay squad, which won the silver medal in Tokyo. Aleia’s professional career continued in the next year, which was her greatest yet. In June, Aleia dominated the 100-meter race at the USATF New York Grand Prix with a new lifetime best of 10.83, which was her first personal best in four years.

Aleia qualified for the World Championships later that month after placing second in the 100-meter race at the USATF Championships. Aleia placed sixth in the final of the 100m at the World Championships, her highest finish at a major international tournament. The USA team comprising of Melissa Jefferson, Abby Steiner, Jenna Prandini, Twanisha Terry, clinched the gold medal at the championships in 4×100-meter relay, ahead of Jamaica. Although Aleia was not a part of the squad in the finals, she was a member during the heats that clocked 41.56 to reach the finals.

Dennis Shaver is the present athletics coach of the Louisiana State University. Shaver joined LSU as an assistant coach in 1995. He has coached 39 individual national champions, 49 NCAA event crowns, 22 Olympians, six Olympic medalists, 411 All-Americans, and 19 national championship relay teams since his appointment. In 1981, he started working as an assistant football and track coach at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas. He took over as head coach of the Hutchinson Community College track team in 1982.

In 1985, he left Hutchinson and accepted the position of head track coach at Barton Community College. He was a huge success there. During his final year there, he became the first coach in NJCAA history to win the cross-country, indoor, and outdoor titles. Shaver spent three years as an assistant coach at Auburn University after leaving Barton, before coming to Baton Rouge in 1995 as an assistant coach. He succeeded Pat Henry as head track and field coach in 2004.

Aleia Jonquel Hobbs, better known as Aleia Hobbs, was born to Margaret Hobbs and Arthur Mason on February 24, 1996. She has one brother, AJ, and four sisters: Aireal, Artrevia, DaJasia, and Mya. She received all-metro and all-district honors while playing basketball in high school. Her areas of study were education and prehuman science.