Plenty of history was made by the Durant High School track and field team with several state champions while many records fell at the Class 5A State Meet in Oklahoma City.
The Lady Lions placed eighth in the team standings but the biggest moment for the squad came in the 400-meter run when junior Amira Woods eclipsed not only her personal record and the DHS school record but also the 5A state record with a title clinching time of 55.13 seconds. That broke the previous record of 56.10 seconds set by Duncan’s Amonica Wiggins in 1998.
Senior Laila Ahmed became a three-time state champion in the high jump with a title clinching leap of 5 feet, 6 inches.
Fellow senior Kaydon Mimms continued his dominance in the boys’ hurdle events, shattering school records once again to capture the 110 high hurdles title in 14.51 seconds as well as the 300 hurdles in 38.13 seconds while spurring the Lions to an 11th place team finish.
For the Durant girls, Avery Sager contributed a 12th place mark of 2:27.94 for a personal best in the 800 meters as well as ending fifth in the 1600 at 5:31.58. Iyana took sixth in the 300 hurdles at 49.17 seconds with Woods wrapping up fifth in the 200 at 24.93. Ahmed checked in 10th in the 100 hurdles with a mark of 16.75.
The Lady Lion 1600-meter relay unit took 12th with the combination of Jamiah Allen, Woods, Xakayla Cox and Sager recording a time of 4:17.15. Also, the girls’ 800 relay squad of Wilson, Cox, Kaitlen Rush and Woods checked in eighth in 1:45.79.
Durant’s 1600 relay grouping of Jamiah Allen, Judi Free, Kyra Dry and Laynee Emert claimed 16th with a time of 11:01.01.
On the boys’ side, Aiden Sager was state runner-up in the 800 meters with a new personal best and school record time of 1:53.12. He was also sixth in the 400 meters in 49.43 seconds. Damien Almos tossed in a 10th place personal best mark of 15.96 seconds in the 110 hurdles.
The Lions were eighth in the 1600 relay as the unit of Braylen Lyday, Mimms, Justin Smith and Aiden Sager clocked in at 3:25.52. In the 800 relay, the pairing of Lyday, Sager, Jaylon Saxon and Mimms broke the school record for the second time this season and placed 12th overall at 1:29.76.
“We are proud of all our kids and the success they have had this season,” assistant coach Amanda Reynolds commented. “When you have good kids that work hard it makes it even more special to watch them set goals and break records. We are losing some powerhouse seniors whose shoes will be hard to fill and their legacies will be remembered for a long time. Laila Ahmed, Kaydon Mimms and Aiden Sager have had amazing careers and it has been an awesome ride for us to come along on. We look forward to watching them at the next level.
“Lyday and Saxon played soccer and came out for the first time since middle school and were a huge asset to our 4x200 team. Watching them battle each meet to break the record was fun. Amira ran the 400 this season for the first time since her freshman year when she was runner up at state. It was amazing watching her break the state meet record. We witnessed a lot of history be made in the Durant track program this year. It was definitely one for the books.”