Second to none

The tradition continues with the Central girls track team.

The Tigers had another solid season in 2005 with a second-place finish in the SEMO Conference and a third-place district finish in Class 4.

"Since I have been here, and even before that, we have always been pretty strong in track," Central coach Lawrence Brookins said. "They have a good history, and these girls this year have a chance to make more history."

The Tigers have a mix of established performers and talented newcomers.

Junior Nicole Jackson is the most proven of the Central girls. She broke the school record in the 200-meter dash last year and finished second in that event at the Class 4 state meet.

"Her success was amplified by the fact that she had to fight hamstring problems through midseason," Brookins said. "We had to be careful with her and hold her out of some meets. But the medical training staff did a great job and Nicole came through.

"We fully expected her to be one of the top performers at the state meet, and she was."

The 200-meter state champ, Lauren Fisher of Hazelwood Central, was a senior last season, which means Jackson will be a contender for the gold this season.

"Nicole is a good workout kid, and right now she is in good shape," Brookins said. "Her goal is to polish up her running technique a little. She is ready to go."

The same could be said of Nicole's sister, Roxannne Jackson. Roxanne was a state qualifier last year as part of the 800-meter relay team that included Nicole Jackson and two runners who have graduated.

"Roxanne has a lot of potential," Brookins said. "She is bigger and taller than her sister. She is long-legged and muscular. I can visualize her as a hurdler in addition to the sprints."

Central also should be solid in the distance events this year. Senior Linnea Woldtvedt is the lone returning member of the state qualifying 3,200-meter relay team. But there is a lot of young talent in the distances, led by freshman Brittany Moreland, who was an all-state performer in cross country in the fall.

"Brittany has the potential to be very outstanding," Brookins said. "She set a lot of the junior high records in the distance events, and she has a legitimate opportunity to break some school records during her high school years."

Brittany also has a talented sister. Junior Renee Moreland just missed out on qualifying for state in the 300-meter hurdles last spring.

The Tigers also return junior Brianna Egbuka, who finished ninth in the shot put at the state meet as a sophomore.

Senior Dani Gross is a returning state qualifier in the long jump, while sophomore Nadia Cox qualified for state in both the long and triple jump as a freshman.

"We have some very good talent on this team," Brookins said. "My concern right now is keeping them healthy. That is so key. My main goal as a head coach is to mix in the nice pool of young talent with the veteran girls.

"The team has a goal to be the conference and district champs this year. I would also like to qualify more than a handful of these girls to the state meet."