Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Ten-year-old Baldwin Middle School sixth-grader Kaylyn Sutherland will compete in the 49th Colgate Women’s Games, beginning later this month.
The annual event is the nation’s longest-running indoor amateur track and field series for girls and women. Girls as young as first grade can participate, and the event runs from Dec. 29 through Feb. 1 at the Nike Track & Field Center at the Armory in Manhattan.
Kaylyn registered for the competition last month with her father, Kimarley Sutherland. She admitted feeling a mix of nerves and excitement when she walked through the Armory doors. She also got a glimpse of the track she would eventually run on.
Kaylyn has competed in track since third grade, but she is too young to run for the middle school team. In the meantime, she runs for the Our Lady of Lourdes Church team in nearby Malverne.
There, she discovered, through words of encouragement from her coaches and teammates, that she was good, which prompted her to sign up for the Colgate series. Qualifications for the games include being enrolled in school and being able to participate in the preliminaries for her favorite event, the 200-meter dash.
“I feel like it would be a great experience for me,” Kaylyn said. “This is my first time going to the Colgate Games, and I feel like it’ll be a good experience for me to try.”
For nearly 50 years, the event has promoted athletic and academic excellence for young girls and women, giving them a platform to showcase their talents and build confidence. Nearly 2,000 athletes participated in the last two events, and the series’ alumnae include Junior Olympians, national champions and Olympians, with many competitors returning year after year.
The event will return to its tradition of being held indoors, as the last two events were held outdoors at DaSilva Field Track at St. John’s University due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kaylyn will compete in the series’ Middle School division, which includes events from the 100 meters to the shot put. But she has her eyes on the 200. Training for the distance requires a combination of speed, power and endurance. She told the Herald that last week, she began working on drills with her coaches and teammates, while also reviewing video footage of previous races to fine-tune her technique.
Her preliminary heat in the Colgate competition will take place this month on Dec. 29 and Jan. 5, 2025. The semi-finals will take place on Jan. 19, with the finals on Feb. 1.
She has come to enjoy not only the intensity of competition, but also the way the sport fosters friendships, even among competitors. That was what made her realized why she loved running.
“I remember one time I was at a track meet, and this other girl from another team was so nice to me,” she recalled. “It doesn’t matter if you want to win or not — you can still make friends.”
