Arlington ISD 2024 AAU Junior Olympians train at Ousley
There’s a growing track and field powerhouse program in south Arlington. And the epicenter is Arlington ISD’s Ousley Junior High School.
That’s where Coach Robin Reed-Campbell is a teacher and coach. And it’s also where she trains her AAU track and field team.
The former Texas Longhorn sprinter lives and breathes track, and she’s passing her love for the sport on to her students and athletes. In fact, her coaching and enthusiasm propelled seven talented Arlington ISD students to the AAU Junior Olympics this past summer in North Carolina. All seven of those athletes are, were or likely will be Ousley students.
The seven range from 6th grade – at Bryant Elementary – to 12th grade – at Seguin High School – and all are members of Reed-Campbell’s all-girls AAU team, the So Swift Jaguars.
| Arlington ISD 2024 AAU Junior Olympians |
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Samaria Richards, sixth grade – Bryant Elementary – 80m hurdles, turbo javelin Kennedi Banks, sixth grade – Bryant Elementary – 80m hurdles, turbo javelin Ariee Richards, eighth grade – Ousley Junior High – 800m, 1500m, triple jump Rileigh Patterson, eighth grade – Ousley Junior High – shotput, javelin Chy’ann Richards, ninth grade – Seguin High School – 3,000m, 4x800m (third place – All American) LaSaya Lewis, 11th grade – Seguin High School – javelin (All American), 4×800 (third place – All American) Aliya Henry, 11th grade – Seguin High School – triple jump, 4x400m (All American) |
A FAMILY AFFAIR
Coach Reed-Campbell describes her AAU track team as “like a family.” But three of her runners are family for real.
The three sisters haven’t always been into track though.
It started with Ariee Richards about two years ago. Now an Ousley eighth grader, Ariee first joined Reed-Campbell’s team in the spring of her sixth-grade year at Bryant Elementary. By last July, Airee was running the 800 meters at the National AAU Junior Olympics in Iowa.
Then Ariee got one of her younger sisters and her older sister into track.
It turns out, they’re fast, too. Both finished their first year on the team by qualifying for the Junior Olympics, along with Ariee. Samaria Richards, a sixth grader at Bryant – and a future Ousley student – competed in the 80-meter hurdles and the turbo javelin. Chy’ann Richards, the older sister, ran the 3,000m and 4×800 meters. Her 4×800-meter team placed third at the event, earning the runners All American status.
“I really was just doing it [track] to get better endurance for basketball, but then I really liked track, and I really like running,” Chy’ann said.
Now the ninth grader at Seguin High School has fully embraced the sport and is running cross country for the Cougars this fall. And she’s off to a fast start. Chy’ann opened her high school career by winning the 3-mile race at her first cross country meet.
More Than Speed
The talent level among the seven student athletes is clearly high. But these girls bring more than talent to the track and field. They’re driven to do their best and are willing to work hard and be coached.
“I felt like I did good,” Ariee said with some hesitation to describe her performance at the Junior Olympics. “But I could have done better.”
That’s from an eighth grader who ran the 1,500 meters – one mile – at the national meet in a blistering 5 minutes, 24 seconds.
But she always wants to go faster and is driven to improve with each race.
That drive to get better is shared by Kennedi Banks, a sixth grader from Bryant, who joined the AAU track team last year. She competed in the 80-meter hurdles and turbo javelin at the Junior Olympics and isn’t afraid of a few bumps and bruises in the pursuit of her best.
“When you go over hurdles and fall, it’s actually kind of fun,” Kennedi said. “Because then you get to do it again, and then you improve.”
Improving is something Kennedi and all the girls have done a lot of.
“I’m so proud of them,” Coach Reed-Campbell said. “It seems like every time they step on the track, they get faster. They’ve worked very, very hard.”
And they plan on continuing to work hard. They all have their sights set on next year’s Junior Olympics in Houston where they plan to run even faster and throw and jump even farther.