Leo Grace (left) and Edison Friday (right).
SOUTH ORANGE – While most kids were headed to the pool or summer camp last weekend, a group of dedicated runners and coaches spent their June 25-26 weekend competing at the USATF New Jersey State Championships in Plainfield. With competition from all over the state, the Jaguars brought home 40 medals (16 of which were first-place Championship finishes), qualified in more events with top-six finishes for the USATF Region 2 Championships, and dug deep on a hot summer day to set personal bests. Celebrating their 20th season, Jaguar founders Maurice Cooper, Daneen Cooper and Andrea Johnson continue a long legacy of teaching young athletes not only how to train hard on the track, but also how to strive for academic success.
The youngest runners (U8), some of whom have only been running for a couple of months, took the track with a vengeance. Mid-distance runner Myles Richard took first place in the Boys U8 800M with a Personal Record of 2:4934, Sahar Ahad also set a PR (3:00.62) to place first in the Girls 800M, and Chase Jones took second to round out the Girls 800M wins. Myles Richard also ran a PR of 1:16.29 to take second in the 400M. Sprinter Ellis Friday had PRs in both of his individual events, placing second in the 100M (16.11) and third in the 200M (33.06). Natalia Thompson ran away with second-place finishes in both the Girls U8 100M and 200M (PR 34.33), and teammate Elysa Sxinas took third place in both the Girls U8 100M and 200M (PR 34.35). Both the Boys and Girls U8 4×400 Relay Teams took first place. Running for the boys was Ellis Friday, Garsen Naar, Xavier Twyman and Myles Richard, and for the girls, Natalia Thompson, Chase Jones, Audrey Marvell and Sahar Ahad.
The story of the meet was the 9-10 Boys first-place sweep of all track events (100M, 200M, 400M, 800M, 1,500M, 4×100 and 4×400 relays) for their age group. Dylan Williams took first place in the 100M dash with a PR of 13.97 and first in the 200M with a PR of 28.91. Al-Qamar Rojas ran for first in the 400 with a PR of 1:08.50. Amari Akakpo took first in both the 800M with a PR of 2:36.92, and 1,500M. The 4×100 9-10 Boys relay team of Matthew Twyman, Anthony Mack, Kai Winston and Gavin Naar took first place, and the 9-10 Boys 4×400 boys team of Amari Akakpo, Matthew Twyman, Dylan Williams and Al-Qamar Rojas also took first place. To round out the 9-10 boys medals, long jumper Kai Winston took third in the pit. The 9-10 girls also came to run with Nia Freeman taking second place in the 400 with a PR of 1:09.94, Peyton Hollis running it down for second in both the 800M and 1,500M, and the 9-10 Girls 4×100 team of Kaia Alcime, Kaori Hector, Chloe Smith and Bryce Twyman taking second place.
The 11-12 boys races were at the line finishes with 100’s of a second determining the winners. Sprinter McKenzy Pierre took second in the 100M finals with a PR of 13.26. Xavier Donaldson took second in the 200 with a PR of 27.45, and teammate McKenzy Pierre took third with a close time of 27.48. Mid-distance runner Edison Friday took second in the 400M with a PR of 1:03.84 and also ran for second in the 800M. The 4×100 11-12 Boys Relay team of McKenzy Pierre, Edison Friday, Leo Grace and Xavier Donaldson continued their dominance in this event, and placed first.
The 13-14 Girls took a first place sweep in all of the relay events. The 4×100 “A Team” of Jordan Robinson, Natalie Gibson, Ruth Pasteur and Savannah Lee took first, and the “B Team” of Emily Northover, Tionne Murphy, Olivia Grace and Nancy Marie Jones took third. The 4×400 “A Team” of Ashley Bush, Morgan Williams, Savannah Lee and Olivia Grace took first, and the “B Team” of Emily Northover, Olivia Grace, Natalie Gibson and Morgan Jackson took second. The 4×800 team of Ashley Bush, Morgan Williams, Jenna Keith and Morgan Jackson took first place. Rounding out the Youth (13-14) performances, sprinter Ruth Pasteur took third in the Girls 100M finals, long jumper Jordan Robinson took second place, and Brandon Hernandez took second in the shot put with a PR of 10.70m.
The older Jaguars (15-16) would not be outdone by the younger runners. Kayla Hudson took first in the Girls 800M, and Ethan Johnson took third in the 400M with a PR of 53.23.
The Jaguar Track Club congratulates an amazing group of student-athletes and dedicated coaches and wishes good luck to all of the runners at the USATF Region 2 Championship in Philadelphia, and AAU Championship in Orlando, Fla.
Be sure to follow all of the Jaguar action on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/jaguar.track.
About the Author
