Fairfield Central’s Aliyah Miller (left) crosses the finish line in first in the 100-meters Saturday.
Fairfield Central’s Aliyah Miller took home gold Saturday after winning the girls’ 100-meter dash in a time of 12.31 seconds at the state meet at Lower Richland High School in Columbia. Miller, along with Jada Martin and the girls’ 4×100-meter relay team boosted Fairfield Central into eighth place out of 33 schools in the girls’ 2A total team score.
“They like to say ‘when the lights come on it’s time to perform’. Our kids, they can perform well,” Cedric Simpson said before the meet. “Jada Martin, she has a chance today. She needs an opportunity and today is an opportunity. She’s a warrior and we expect nothing but the best from her. Our sprinters will do well, they have a great coach in coach Wright. He does a great job with our sprinters. They are ready to rock and roll. We need to bring something home for Fairfield Central.”
And bring something home they did. Miller again ascended the podium in the girls’ 200-meter dash, finishing second by a mere five one-hundredths of a second behind the winning time. Miller was also a member of the 4×100-meter relay along with Jada Martin and two other Lady Griffins. The Griffin team blazed around the track in 50.08 seconds, almost a second quicker than their qualifying time.
In the girls’ field events, Martin could not quite equal her state qualifying jumps in the girls long jump and triple jump, being a foot short of her qualifying jump on each. She had to settle for sixth place in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump.
Best placed of the Griffin boys was Devonte Foster in the boy’s 100-meter dash. The Fairfield Central junior posted a time of 10.91 seconds, good enough for fourth place in the event. Foster also competed in the boys’ 4×100-meter relay, which claimed fifth place with a time of 43.27 seconds.
