Tiffany Spain, Cardinal Ritter -- 2023 MTCCCA Class 5 Girls Track and Field Coach of the Year
In their third season since being bumped up to Class 5, the Cardinal Ritter stayed perfect in Class 5, winning their 3rd straight title in the largest classification. The Lady Lions scored 94 points to win by 31. That total improved upon the 85.5 and 64 points Ritter scored the previous two state meets.
Spain's Cardinal Ritter squad put themselves with the best teams in state history. Their talent and depth was unreal. The Lions qualified four athletes to Districts in the 100 and got three through to Sectionals. At State, they swept the sprint relays, winning the 4x100, 4x200, and the 4x400. If it wasn't for Raytown South's Zaya Akins moving up to Class 5, junior Aniyah Brown would have won a 3rd straight 100-meter dash.
Brown and Alexis Taylor settled for 2nd and 7th in the 100 while Brown and Charlyne Moody placed 3rd and 4th in the 200, as Brown came up short of a rare 3-peat in the event. Moody added a 4th-place 400 finish. After a runner-up 100 hurdles finish, Coach Spain's daughter Kyndall claimed her first state title. The sophomore won the 300 hurdles in 42.48, standing atop the awards podium like her mom and coach did two decades before as a state champion in the 300s.
Alexis Taylor claimed the long jump title with a big final jump of 5.94m/19-6. Nazariah James and Taylor placed 4th and 5th in the triple jump. That was one of four events Cardinal Ritter had two scorers in.
The Cardinal Ritter girls set a state record in early April at the Arcadia Invitational in California. Brooklyn Brady, Alexis Taylor, Charlye Moody, and Aniyah Brown ran 45.89 to place 2nd in the Invitational 4x100. Ritter's 1:39.66 4x200 at state was the season's #1 performance in the state, though, it's interesting to consider how fast the Lady Lions might have run in their events on fresh legs, or at least not with 3-5-7 races already on them over a day or two.
