The Columbia girls track team took another step towards living up to the high expectations of Head Coach Lisa Morgan. Powered by an outstanding four gold-medal performance from Brittney Jackson, the Cougar girls could have stopped trying after the first day, winning their third straight county crown by an astounding score of 128-52.
“We have to try to keep the winning tradition,” said Morgan. “One of my goals when I came in last year was to bring back that winning tradition for the girls and the boys.”
Jackson took first in the high jump, 400 meter hurdles and in the 800. Her strongest performance of the event may have been in the 4x400, concluding Saturday’s events. As the anchor, Jackson received the baton while trailing East Orange. Jackson sprinted ahead of the competition before the first turn of the final lap, changing a 30-meter deficit into a 100-meter blowout win. Brittany Padmore, Jasmine Carter and Whitney Jackson were the other CHS runners in the event.
“She’s just extremely talented and confident. That‘s what it takes in the quarter mile. You have to know that you are going to win,” Morgan said.
Joining Jackson in the winner’s circle for Columbia was senior Melissa David, who won both the 1,600 and 3,200 meter races with lots of room to spare. Still, Morgan was looking for more from her lone senior, saying that she knows David had a lot more left to give on the track.
“This is just the county level. At the state level competition, the times are much faster,” Morgan said.
In the 400 meter dash, TyVonna Johnson, Kelsey Jackson and Kayann Richards finished first-second-third and really set the tone for the entire competition. Richards ended up taking second in the 100 and 200 meter races. Johnson earned a second place spot in the 800 and a fifth place finish in the 200. Jackson took fourth in the 200, while Carter was third in the 100.
The Columbia girls basically had the meet won by the end of the first day, with the closest competitor nearly 20 points behind going into Saturday.
The Cougar boys didn’t have much of a showing in the counties, finishing in ninth place with 21 points.
The Red and Black tracksters now shift their focus to the sectional championships this weekend at South Plainfield, where the girls are expected to be right in the thick of things.
The original version of this article incorrectly said the championships take place in Millburn. The correct location is South Plainfield.
