CREDIT, Post-Gazette Associated Press Breehana Jacobs Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Male Athlete of the Year: Terrelle Pryor / A wanted man The top 15 / The stories & the moments from the year gone by Female athletes of the year: The honor roll Male athletes of the year: The honor roll

First impressions are not always accurate. This one was laser perfect.

"The first day she stepped on the track at Laurel Highlands, we knew we had an incredible athlete," said Ron Morris, the school's track coach . "She was dynamic."

Breehana Jacobs, appropriately, had just made the short sprint up Connellsville Street, transferring from nearby Uniontown High School. She was an incoming sophomore and already a WPIAL champion.

Three years and 13 gold medals later, she could not be more dynamic.

Jacobs dominated girls' track this season. She swept the sprints -- 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes -- at the WPIAL Class AAA championships May 17. Then nine days later, in grueling heat, she duplicated that feat at the PIAA meet.

Only two others had ever done that at the WPIAL level. Just one girl -- Laila Brock of Class AA Washington in 1996 -- had been a triple-dash winner at a PIAA meet since metric distances were implemented in 1979. Jacobs became the first from the largest classification to do so.

Lauryn Williams of Rochester and Marla Puryear of Thomas Jefferson had been acknowledged as the premier sprinters in WPIAL girls' track history. Jacobs has joined them and is the Post-Gazette Female High School Athlete of the Year.

Though she is 18, Jacobs is in the midst of her golden years. She secured eight WPIAL gold medals, including the 100-meter title in her freshman year at Uniontown. Jacobs won the 100 four times, the 200 twice and the 400 once. She also shared in the Mustangs' 400-meter relay title in 2005.

Jacobs, who has a full scholarship to the University of South Carolina, also won six PIAA championships: three in the 100, two in the 200 and the 400 this year. Her 100 time (11.64 seconds) five weeks ago broke the 21-year-old meet record of Peabody's Tonja Stevens.

Morris has a simple explanation as to why Jacobs lives in the fast lane.

"Her explosiveness out of the block is incredible," he said. "She has two steps on the other competitors before they get out of the blocks."

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Jacobs' season -- and career -- is that she had never run the 400 until halfway through her senior season. Yet it became her signature event.

Her time in the PIAA final (53.58) was third-best nationally this year, according to Track & Field News. Then she improved on that last weekend, finishing in 53.41 at the USA Junior Nationals in Indianapolis. She came in third.

"I believe the 400 will be her best race on the national level," Morris said. "Competitively, including the state meet, I'd say she was pushed maybe four times [during the varsity season]."

Jacobs, who stands 5 feet 2, pushed herself in the offseason. She had to muscle up. There was a chance she was going to add the 400, a much lengthier race than she was accustomed.

"You don't need much endurance to run the 100 and 200," she said.

She got stronger, but realizes that was merely the beginning. "There will be more intense training in college," she said, chuckling.

Later this summer, after competing in the Junior Pan-American Games in Brazil July 6-8, Jacobs will head to Columbia, S.C., and begin workouts with her new teammates.

Not so long ago, Jacobs was a serious non-athlete. She did not compete in any sport until she went out for track in eighth grade. Other than gym class, she has not tried another since.

"Basketball is way out of the picture," Jacobs said. "Volleyball and soccer are not me. Track is the best fit for me."

Morris agreed, but can easily envision her in another athletic endeavor.

"If she had been the designated runner for our softball team, no one would have thrown her out," he said. "If she were a boy, the football coach would want her to be a flanker or running back.

"Hopefully, she can make the Olympics. Who knows? Maybe she could be a pinch-runner for the Pirates. They could use her."