With track season finally over, we’ll catch our breath and spend the next couple weeks taking a look at some top South Jersey athletes who fell through the cracks this year that we didn’t have a chance to write about.
TODAY: Willingboro freshman Kaila Speight.
Willingboro’s Kaila Speight may have been overshadowed at times by Willingboro teammate Nester Wea, who won three state Group 2 titles and had a remarkable sophomore season for the Chimeras.
But Speight had a terrific season in her own right and was one of the top freshmen in New Jersey in two events.
Speight ran 12.30 in the 100, No. 4 among New Jersey freshmen and No. 2 in South Jersey, behind Pennsauken’s Sianni Wynn, who ran 11.82.
And she ran 24.83 in the 200, which made her the No. 2 freshman in New Jersey, behind only Wynn’s 24.38.
Speight was 2nd in the 200 and 5th in the 100 at the state Group 2 meet at Delsea, helping the Willingboro girls win their first state title in 21 years.
Overall, Speight ranked 5th in South Jersey in the 200 and No. 10 in the 100 this past spring. She broke the Burlington County freshman record in the 200 and tied the county freshman mark in the 100, set in 2007 by Willingboro’s Asja Goode.
Speight was also a regular leg on every Willingboro relay team. With three freshmen – Speight, Aaliyah Robinson and Jaden Murry – and Wea, a sophomore, the Chimeras reached the Northeast Championship 4-by-1 at Penn and ran 48.78, and won the South Jersey 4-by-4 for the first time in 13 years with the same four girls.
At states, Speight led off the 4-by-1, which won in 48.36 (Robinson, Murry and Wea also ran) and ran on the winning 4-by-4, which ran 3:56.18 and also included Sunny Oyibo, Robinson and Murry.
At the Meet of Champions, Speight split 58.85 and joined Oyibo, Robinson and Murry on the 5th-place 4-by-4 with a season-best 3:55.08. Speight led off the 4-by-1, which was 2nd in 47.78, with the usual lineup – Speight to Robinson to Murry to Wea. That 47.78 is No. 7 in Burlington County history and fastest by a Willingboro 4-by-1 since Tiffany Butler, Sherron Lawson, Kim Hargrove and Kia Van Wright ran 47.45 in 1994 – 29 years ago.
Here’s where Speight (and Wea) rank on the all-time Burlington County lists:
11.42 … Michele Glover [Willingboro], 1981
11.61 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
11.82 … Annie Johnson [Shawnee], 2012
11.95 … Aliyah Taylor [Rancocas Valley], 2017
11.96 … Nester Wea [Willingboro], 2023
12.00 … Andrea Conway [Bordentown], 1986
12.05 … Anu Ward [Moorestown], 2000
12.08 … Kim Hargrove [Willingboro], 1996
12.11 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], 2009
12.11 … Nia Lawrence [Pemberton], 2012
12.15 … Rageana Marigna [Palmyra], 2008
12.20 … Mya Jackson [Delran], 2023
12.23 … Morgan Gordon [Rancocas Valley], 2009
12.25 … Halimah Bashir [Willingboro], 2002
12.30 … Kaila Speight [Willingboro], 2021
12.30 … Asja Goode [Willingboro], 2007
23.69 … Michele Glover [Willingboro], 1981
24.01 … Amandi Rhett [Moorestown], 2000
24.17 … Michelle Brown [Seneca], 2008
24.18 … Sheriyah Nutt [Rancocas Valley], 2019
24.31 … Morgan Gordon [Rancocas Valley], 2009
24.49 … Annie Johnson [Shawnee], 2012
24.55 … Daneille Myricks [Willingboro], 2000
24.61 … Aliyah Tayor [Rancocas Valley], 2018
24.63 … Nester Wea [Willingboro], 2023
24.72 … Halimah Bashir [Willingboro], 2002
24.79 … Darynn Minus-Vincent [Rancocas Valley], 2018
24.81 … Jasmine Staten [Lenape], 2015
24.83 … Kaila Speight [Willingboro], 2023
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 