2016 Fall Dragon

Prior to competing in the state meet, the girls’ track
team captured the West Alameda County Conference,
North Coast Section Bayshore Meet, and North
Coast Section Meet of Champions titles for the first
time in school history. This was the second consecutive
year the team won the NCS Meet of Champions
title.
O’Dowd Track
& Field Reaches
Historic Heights
KaRa Awakoaiye ’16 broke a school record in the
100-meter hurdles, with a time of 13.78 seconds, when
she placed 4th in the event at the 98th annual California
Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track
& Field Championships held at Veterans Memorial
Stadium-Buchanan High School in Clovis, California,
June 3-4. KaRa is headed to Howard University this
fall on a full academic scholarship.
She also helped lead the girls’ 4x100-meter relay
team, which also included Tierra Robinson-Jones
’18, Lauryn Moore ’17 and Marnae Glover ’18, to a
7th place finish. Their time of 46.63 from the trials
was a season best and new school record, followed
closely by their 46.82 finish in the finals.
“During the last month of the season, KaRa was really
dialed in and did a phenomenal job of focusing and
executing,” O’Dowd Director of Cross Country/Track
& Field Jamal Cooks said. “For her to end her high
school track career as the school record holder in the
100-meter hurdles was outstanding.”
The previous record in the event (13.83), set by Bisa
Grant, had stood since 1994.
Tierra placed fourth in the girls’ 400-meter dash,
clocking a 54.05, surpassing her previous personal
best time and breaking the O’Dowd record she’d set
last year in the process.
Other highlights included Natalie Mitchell ’16 competing
in the shot put in her first ever state meet appearance,
placing 18th with a throw of 38-feet, 1-inch,
and Hana Johnson ’18 competing in the triple jump
and notching a furthest jump of 36-feet, 2-inches.
In addition to the three new school records, the girls’
track & field team had two athletes ranked in the top
30 in the U.S., and had two of the top relay teams in
the state. It was the best performances by the team
since 1994.
Cooks said that the relay team performances were
particularly notable since injuries had kept some of
the athletes off the track at various times. “We had
nine different people in the 4x100 relay and eight
different people on the 4x400 relay throughout the
season,” he said. “We were constantly challenged to
find the right combination and chemistry.”
“Marnae got injured at the Meet of Champions in
April, so we had to piece together a 4x100 relay team
until she was healthy. Jordan Jones’19 filled in as
anchor until Marnae was back for the state meet,” he
said. “That says a lot about our depth and the kids
being prepared and step up in the moment.”
Tierra and Lauryn were mainstays for the 4x400 relay
team, with Jasmine Powell ’19 coming back from a
broken foot in the last few weeks of the season and
soccer player Aliyah Walker ’16 joining the track
and field team later in the season.
With only KaRa graduating, the future looks bright
for the girls’ track and field team.
Fall Magazine 2016 // 51