Princeton senior Sydney Smith, left, won the TAAF Games of Texas state title in the 18U girls’ 100-meter dash and also placed third in the long jump, while senior Aaliyah Crisp, middle, placed second in the girls’ 18U 300-meter hurdles. Photo by Jerry Winfrey / C&S Media

By David Wolman

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One of the final meets that high school track and field athletes compete in before they prepare for the start of a new school year is the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Games of Texas.

Five student-athletes from Princeton High School recently made the trip to Bryan and all five came away with a solid showing and one state champion was crowned.

Sydney Smith ran to first place in the 18U girls 100-meter dash with a time of 14.37 seconds at Merrill Green Stadium. She overtook Garland’s Kelcy Horace (14.93) on the sixth hurdle and created further separation as the two runners approached the final hurdle. 

Smith added a third-place finish in the long jump with a clearance of 19 feet, 1.25 inches.

Aaliyah Crisp finished in the top six in two events, highlighted by a second-place finish in the 18U girls 300-meter hurdles (44.73). Crisp teamed with Mimi Owens, Makenzie White and Leah Boadi in the 18U girls 4×100, and they went on to capture sixth place (47.99).

Crisp’s time in the 300 hurdles is a new personal record.

Earlier this year, Crisp broke the school record with a 45.58 at the Texan Twilight Invite and added a second gold medal in the 100 hurdles with a 14.69.

Princeton’s 4×100 ran to first place at its home meet in March with a 47.42 and Crisp added a second-place finish at the same meet, the Maurice Hill Invitational. 

Meanwhile, Smith was ranked as high as No. 4 in the state for the girls’ 100-meter hurdles and as high as No. 12 in the country in the long jump. She reduced her 100 hurdles time from 13.98 to 13.67 and had a season PR of 19-11.5 in the long jump. 

Ranked No. 1 in Region I-6A in the 100 hurdles, Smith broke the school record at the area meet, finishing in a time of 13.67. She added a third-place finish in the long jump and went on to finish her junior season at the regional meet in Arlington. She broke the school record in the long jump this year.

Smith, who recently concluded her first season at Princeton after transferring from Allen, picked up an offer from Kansas on July 18, and has also received interest from Purdue, SMU and Utah.

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