Cairo track and field teams stand out at region meet
Published 8:36 am Friday, April 28, 2023
- {span}HEADED TO SECTIONALS: D’Laesha Spencer placed fourth in the 100m, securing her bag to sectionals.{/span}
CAIRO – Talk about a turnaround for the Cairo boys and girls track and field teams this year. Cairo had a stellar week at the Region 1-4A meet in Albany. The boys finished second behind Westover, while the girls placed third behind Westover and Bainbridge.
The fantastic finishes come a year after both teams finished last in region. Credit is due to the athletes and first-year coach Chester Hightower.
“It’s still surreal, and I’m still at awe about the kids’ performances. Like I told them (Wednesday), we laid out a gameplan and knew going into it we needed our shot put, disc and long jump, triple jump, basically, the field events to come out strong,” Hightower said. “The student-athletes went out there and executed and were rewarded with runner-up in the region on the guys side.”
Corey Baker led the strong showing with region championships in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He was also part of the 4×200-meter relay team, along with Khris Stewart, Jerome Williams and Octavian Teall, that won region and set a new school record.
Teall, Stewart, Baker and Terrance Peoples were also part of the 4×100-meter relay team that finished region runner-up.
Peoples finished runner-up in the triple jump, while Teall placed second in the long jump.
Dmauri Wooden placed second in the shot put, while Zorian Harvey was runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles.
The Syrupmaids team was led by two relay teams. The 4×200-meter relay team of Zykierra Hightower, D’Laesha Spencer, Taylor Hudson and Anna Spencer finished region runner-up. The 4×100-meter relay team of Hightower, D’Laesha Spencer, Anna Spencer and Robyn Conyers placed second in the region as well.
“The goal as a team was not to finish last. The student-athletes bought in, they’ve believed it and showed the last couple of days,” Hightower said. “We only had 10 girls to compete, but everybody competed well. The majority of everybody that competed is moving on to the next round at sectionals.”
The top four in each event advanced to the state sectionals on Saturday, May 6, at Central-Carroll High School.
