Over 1,000 track and field athletes from 26 clubs came to compete at the fourth annual Chris Smith Track and Field Invitational at Boyd Anderson High School. The Lauderhill Cheetahs Track and Field Club hosted the event.
Cheetahs coach Josh Wimbley and his volunteer staff have built up the program to 202 members. He said he was pleased with the attendance and the quality of the competition.
“Chris Smith is a great guy and a pillar in the community,” Wimbley said. “We are doing very well today with a lot of kids getting PR [personal record] times and doing very well in their age group. I am very pleased with our performance.”
A strong rivalry has existed over the years between the Fort Lauderdale Track Club and the Lauderhill Cheetahs. The friendly competition has created better athletes and brought out strong performances.
“The kids are friends, but they are also rivals and we push each other to get better,” Wimbley said. “At the end of the day, it is all about the kids. I want fast competition and you need that in this sport. It usually comes down to a battle between us and Fort Lauderdale. Our boys’ 13-14 age group is very strong this year and last year they were AAU All Americans. They had the second-fastest time in the nation.”
The Cheetahs’ Antonio Smith struck gold in the boys’ 100-meter 13-14 division with a time of 11:56 and added another gold medal as the anchor of the boys’ 13-14 4×100 relay team.
“I’ve been with the Cheetahs club for a year and the coaches have been very helpful in my development,” Smith said. “I compete in the 100, 200 and 4×100 races. My PR in the 100 is 11.2 and I did 11.5 today. Fort Lauderdale is my main competition and I know all the guys because I use to run with them. I get motivated running against them.”
The Lauderhill Cheetahs boys’ team were the 2021 defending champions, while the Fort Lauderdale Track Club girls’ team took the 2021 title. The final tally for this year’s track meet was a clean sweep for the Fort Lauderdale Track Club with the boys’ and girls’ teams finishing with 125 points and 145 points, respectively.
The Cheetahs boys collected 89 points and the girls had 106 points to capture second place. The Harlem Wolves Athletics Club took third place in the boys’ division (86) and the Five Star General Athletics girls came in third place (91).
Lauderhill Commissioner Lawrence “Jabbow” Martin came to the track meet to support the Cheetahs and all the young athletes competing. Martin has maintained strong roots in Broward County. He was born and raised in Broward County and attended Plantation High School and the University of Florida.
“Any time we can do anything to promote our kids and their athletic abilities while also monitoring their educational opportunities it is a positive,” Martin said. “It’s all about the young kids and keeping them grounded. The Lauderhill Cheetahs is a tremendous support program.”
It was a long day for the athletes to be competing and they remained loyal by sticking around and rooting for their teammates. The volunteers and the parents came out in force to support the meet and the children.
“These young athletes are resilient to be here all day and the endurance of the parents out here supporting them is amazing,” Martin said. “I’m happy to be out here supporting everyone. All these track and athletic programs pride themselves on teaching discipline and respect and we are here to celebrate our kids.”
