Cougar Girls Take Second at Nike Natls - Updated Photos

The legacy of the 2010 Cougar girls track team as the best in school history and one of the best in the state's history was cemented this weekend with a second place finish at the Nike National Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Columbia put an exclamation point on a tremendous season (including a conference, county, section, group and national championship), scoring 7,528.17 points, just 193 points behind Chandler. Three different Columbia girls placed second nationally, two finished in third place, one in sixth and one in seventh.

"Had we put up our normal numbers, and it could've come from anywhere, we would've won," said CHS head coach Lisa Morgan. "We were winning up until the last two events. …There were a lot of lessons to be learned, for me and the athletes."

Senior TyVonna Johnson ran a personal best 55.42 in the 400 meter event to take second. Battling a leg injury, Brittney Jackson finished in second place in the 800 (2:11.12) and took third place in the high jump (5' 3"). Kayann Richards was leading through seven of 10 hurdles in the 100 meter hurdles, which usually means game over for the competition, but Richards clipped the eighth and ninth hurdles, bowled over the tenth and was just edged by nine one hundredths of a second.

"Kayann had an amazing start. I think that she just got so excited and wanted to win so badly," Morgan said.

Up and coming freshman star, Amber Ballew claimed third place in the long jump. Senior sprinter Jasmine Carter ended her high school career with a sixth place finish in the 100 meter dash (12.16) and moves on to Kansas City Community College. Morgan said that Carter is another one who has a lot more potential to grow at the next level.

"Not only is she going to get herself squared away academically, but athletically as well," Morgan said. "I guarantee in a few years she'll be one of the premier sprinters in the country."

Columbia had the lead with two events to go, but those events weren't their strongest, in the shot put and the mile. Chinyere Ozuzu took tenth overall in the shot put and Adebunmi Gbadebo, battling a hamstring grade two strain, placed seventh in the mile.

Morgan said that after winning the New Balance National Championship two weeks ago, that she hadn't made such a big deal of the event and was looking at it as a final team bonding experience.

"We looked at this as a fun trip at the end of the season," Morgan said. "The experience was incredible and it sets my seniors up for next year."

Track and field season is officially over for the Cougars, who will have to find some room in CHS for all of their trophies and medals. The Red and Black girls return with defending MOC 100 hurdles champ, Richards (who was undefeated in the state this season), and with freshman standout, Ballew, who will look to dominate the state in jumping events next year.