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The 5-foot-5 senior swept the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash events at the 7A state meet, setting class records in the latter two events with clockings of 23.74 seconds and 53.55. She also ran a blistering third leg on the 4x400 relay quartet that took second in 4:00.17, helping the Eagles to an eighth-place finish as a team. At the time of her selection, her state-record 400 dash clocking ranked No. 17 nationally among prep competitors in the event in 2019. Her best wind-legal 100 finish (11.75) ranked No. 52 and her 200 time at states was tied for No. 23 in the country. Payne concluded her outdoor track career as the owner of two state records, a six-time state champion, a nine-time state medalist, a 10-time All-State performer, and as the holder of five Oak Mountain outdoor track school records. She graduates as the fastest 400 runner in Alabama history with personal-best times of 54.11 indoors and 53.55 outdoors.
Payne has maintained a 3.43 GPA in the classroom and has signed a national letter of intent to compete on an athletic scholarship at West Virginia University beginning this fall.
A member of her school’s Interact Club, student council, Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, and the Future Teachers of America organization, Payne also runs cross country and plays soccer. Last summer, she led a vacation bible school of 100 pupils, and she will participate in a week-long service-mission to Arkansas this summer to help the needy. A member of the Winchester Cumberland Presbyterian Church and a regular parishioner of the Winchester First United Methodist Church Youth, she participates in FUMC Mission Mondays, conducting community service initiatives with the church’s youth group. Payne also serves as a local soccer referee, babysitter, and works at a daycare center.
