By Carla Burke
On June 25-27 we went to the AAU state meet in Sebastian, Florida. We all had new very hot warm-ups that had our CCCC trademark on them. We arrived at the hotel in Vero Beach, Florida to put our stuff up at around 3 or 4 o’clock p.m. We went to the mall and then went to the track to view what we were going to be competing on and to see Casey Perkins run the 3k.
The girls did an excellent job on the first day of the meet. Sade Gardner, who ran the 100 and the 200, qualified for the finals in both of the events. Tedra Jones also qualified for the finals in the 200 meter run coming in 7th place. I (Carla Burke) ran the sub-midget (born in 1988) 400 meter dash with a time of about 72 seconds. That same night the midget girls (born in 1987 and 1988) ran the 4 x 100 relay and came in third place. The team included Nadirah Gardner, Tedra, Ashley Bennett, and Sade, and had a time of 55.51 seconds.
On the second day of the AAU state track meet I ran a 2:45.9 in the sub-midget 800 just coming in 4th place with a very strong finish and my best time by three seconds. Lashaunta Arnold (youth – born in 1985 and 1986) jumped 29’5” in the triple jump coming in 4th place which is a nationals qualifier. Then Sade Gardner does it again. She qualifies for nationals in the sub-midget 100 with a time of 13.58 seconds and in the 200 with a time of 28.5 seconds. Finally, the last event of the AAU state track meet, the 4×400 relay. The midget girls 4×400 relay team including Tracey Rollins, Nadirah, Carla, and Ashley came in 2nd place with a time of 4:44.06.
Other girls who competed in the state meet were Asha Brewer (youth 800), Ivori Chambers, Eboni Rolle and Danielle Davis (shot put), Faleisha Ervin (youth 100 and 4×100), Cheaquita Gardner (hurdle events), Brittany and Keivonya Garrett (100 and 200), DeCetti Ligon (youth 4×100), Ashley Thomas (youth 400), Shawntelle Tucker and Jovelle Ward (youth 4×100 and sprints), and Lori Rollins (young women 100).
This was the AAU state track meet in Sebastian, Florida and congratulations to all of the people who competed in this meet.