Rockdale track stars made a good showing in their first year at the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation State Track Meet in College Station, and the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa.
“The kids did really well,” said Charles Miles, coach of 100 Miles and Running, a competitive summer track team, “We’re happy with how well they competed.”
Ki’ara-Ann Jones and Chloe Miles placed twentieth and twenty-ninth repectively in the 50-yard dash, eight and under division on Thursday, July 26 in College Station. Jones ran a time 8.98 seconds and Chloe Miles ran 9.099s in the preliminary events. The runners who placed in the top eight advanced to the finals, which took place on Sunday, July 29. Jones competed in the 8 and under division as a six-year-old. Had she run in the six and under division her time of 8.98 seconds would’ve broken the meet record, according to Charles Miles.
The day after Jones and Chloe Miles competed against each other in the 50-yard dash, they raced together. Along with Jaelah Green and Jordyn Huff, they ran for a chance at a state championship in the 4x100 relay. In the preliminaries, the girls placed sixteenth out of twenty-seven other state-qualifying teams with a time of 1:11.74.
The relay team made up of Jones, Chloe Miles, Green, and Huff was also scheduled to compete in the Junior Olympics on Friday, Aug. 3, after qualifying with a fourth place finish in Converse.
Unfortunately, a couple of the members of the relay team weren’t able to make the race in Des Moines, said Charles Miles. However, 100 Miles and Running team member Canaan Miles made the trip to Des Moines with famiy and was asked by another area team, 4 Star Track Club, based in Lee County, to be the first-leg of their 4x100 team, after one of their members was unable to race.
“He’d never run the sprint relay before,” said Charles Miles. “I had to go to the store and buy him track cleats before the race.”
The team placed fourteenth in the preliminaries with a time 1:02.79. The top eight teams move up to finals.
“This was our first year doing summer track,” said Charles Miles. “Next year, the kids will be experienced and more mature when the season comes around again.”
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