By DeNez Jones, NG Sports Reporter

denez@nasguard.com

In the fourth grade at Xavier's primary school, eight-year-old Asia Butler is showing the type of potential that Olympic champions are made of.

She told Nassau Guardian Sports on Tuesday, that she wants to be just like Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, who's ranked fifth in the world in both the women's 100 and 200 metres.

"I like Debbie and Tonique (Williams-Darling), and I met both of them. I met Debbie on the airplane . . . she's pretty," said Butler.

Ferguson-McKenzie's fastest time in the women's 100 m is 11.14 seconds.

This past weekend at the Club Monica Track and Field Invitational, Butler won the 9-10 Girlsl 100m dash, clocking 15.03 seconds, just under four seconds slower than her role-model's personal best.

At the world level, a four second differential is a significant gap, but when you add an eight-year-old into that equation, the feat is nothing short of amazing.

"At a meet in Tampa, she ran 14 seconds - she was really pushed," informed her mother Georgette Butler.

"I think when she went to Tampa is when she realized - I think we all realized - that this was not a sport for the faint at heart. This was a sport that meant business, this was a livelihood for a lot of people, opportunities for people, and scholarships. It was very fie-rce out there, and I think what she learned was that she had to push harder. So, the best time she had was in Tampa this past summer, when she ran 14 (seconds) in the 100, and 28 (seconds) in the 200," Butler's mom concluded.

Running for the Spirit of Exc-ellence Track Club, Butler pulled off a sprint double this past weekend by also winning the 200 m, and had previously done the same the week befo-re at the Star Trackers Invitati-onal. So what makes this little girl so fast? She explained, "It's my training, I love it - cause I wanna be like Debbie & Tonique."

Butler has shown that she won't back down from a challenge, and that was more evident when she edged two Striders Track Club runners for the win in the Girls 9-10 200m final this past weekend. Before that race, the Striders' Georgette Williams (9) and Kennedy Carbin (9), were predicting that they were going to win the race. When asked though, who they thought would give them the most competition, they both pointed out Butler. It came right down to the wire between these three young ladies in the 200 m final, and first place could've gone to any of them. Butler pulled her hamstring near the end of the race, but her competitive spirit wouldn't allow her to give-up.

"I think she has the passion for track," said Butler's mom, adding that, "We're developing the talent, and everything is gonna come through training. But, there is some natural ability there that we see, and because she loves it so much, and we see the passion in her eyes when she runs, we decided that we would give our full support."