MAPLEWOOD – The Columbia High School girls’ track and field team nearly won the state Group 4 girls team title.
The Cougars finished second overall with 39 team points, just one point shy of winner Southern Regional, based on the top six finishes in each event during the meet held at Egg Harbor, June 3-4. The meet consisted of the top six finishers in each event from the state sectionals the previous weekend.
Going into the final event of the meet, the 4×400-meter relay, CHS and Southern were tied with 38 points. Running in different heats, CHS finished sixth in 3:57.58, while Southern took fifth in 3:57.58. Thus, Southern won the team title by just 0.16 of a second. The runners on the 4×400 for the Cougars were senior Cheyenne Trigg, sophomores Catherine Jordan and Briana Reckling and junior Isadora Egypt.
The CHS 4×100 relay finished in first place in 48.08, with sophomore Ciara French, Lewis, Trigg and freshman Lillian Wiliams.
Senior Jordan Fields won the triple jump at 38 feet-4 ¼ inches for the Cougars. Senior Sienna Farrell took sixth at 37-2 ¼ and Lewis was 16th in 34-5 ¼ for CHS.
French took fourth in the 100-meter dash in 12.51. Trigg, Egypt, Jordan and Reckling took fourth in the 4×800 relay in 9:20.82.
Senior Jasmine Keegan was second in the discus at 130-8 and took eighth in the shot put at 36-8 ¾ for the Cougars. In the high jump, Jordan tied for 10th at 5-2 and sophomore Celine Egeowu tied for 15th at 5-0. In the long jump, Fields took sixth at 18-4 ½; Farrell was seventh at 18-1 ½; and Lewis was 15th at 17-2.
The CHS boys’ team didn’t have any top-six finishes. The Cougars were led by senior Roodly Ovil, who tied for 10th in the high jump at 6-2, and the 4×400 relay that took 15th in 3:27.06, with seniors Venchardson Vital and Donte Rolley-Williams, and juniors Jeremiah Richardson and Malcolm Moore.
The top six finishers in each event, plus wild-card berths, at the Group meets qualified for the state Meet of Champions at Central Regional HS in Bayville on June 8.
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