The Colgate Women’s Games opened up their 45th season over the weekend at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with opening meets Friday, Saturday and Sunday continuing through the semi-finals in January and the championships scheduled in February at the Armory, the New Balance Track and Field Center in upper Manhattan.
The Colgate Women’s Games provide a major platform for college recruiters and host some of the nation’s most heavily recruited student athletes. In the past, competitors from New England to Georgia and beyond register to participate. There were more than 9,000 applicants last year.
Personal best performances and a record-tying high jump marked an exceptional start to the indoor track season as thousands of girls and young women from all over the East Coast competed in the opening preliminaries.
The High School division saw an opening weekend personal best from newcomer Rori Lowe of Columbus High School (Bronx), winner of the 55 meters in 7.31, and from Harlem Children’s Zone’s (Manhattan) Mariam Cisse, who tossed the shot put 11.33 meters. Adia Palmer from Bishop Laughlin High School (Brooklyn) won the 800 meters, time 2.23.45. Phoebe Myers of Young Women’s Leadership School in Queens won the 55 meter hurdles in 8.46 time, and Brianna Brown of Collegiate Institute for Math and Science in the Bronx won the 200 meters in 25.61.
In the Mid School division, four-time Colgate Women’s Games record holder Avery Lewis of Westtown School in West Chester, Pa., achieved another personal best in the 55 meters in a very fast 7.12. She also won the 200 meters in 25.37. Lewis has been recognized as the nation’s fastest sprinter of her age every year since first grade.
Tai Sheppard of Community Partnership Charter School (Brooklyn) took first in the 55 meter hurdles in an impressive performance and personal record of 8.37. Eyota Bey of Cedarbrook Middle School won the 400 meters in 1.00.12.
In the Elementary B division, 11-year-old fifth-grader Kiara Davis from the Wilbur Elementary School in Bear, Del., achieved two personal bests, tying the high jump record by clearing 4-foot-9, her first time competing in this event at the Colgate Women’s Games. Davis also won the 55 meter hurdles in a swift 9.78.
Meet director Cheryl Toussaint stated to start the season, “From thousands of first timers who might not otherwise participate in an organized sport, to hundreds who have developed into the nation’s top talent, to an incredible 26 alumni who have achieved Olympic fame, we are all most proud of the countless lives changed for the better by the experience of participation.”
