Saxton sets CD 100-meter mark

It only took a few meets into Central Decatur freshman Caitlyn Saxton’s career for her to make her mark on the Cardinal program.

Saxton raced to the gold in the 100-meter dash April 12 in Afton at the East Union Invitational with a clocking of 12.72 seconds. That mark set a new school record, which had sat untouched since 1987. Barb George set the record of 12.9 that season.

Saxton won in convincing fashion against a loaded field. The runner-up was Courtney Auxier of Villisca and third-place finisher was Mariah Kruse of East Union. Both placed in the top six in the 100 in Class 1A at the State Meet last season.

After a pair of false starts by other runners, Saxton got out of the blocks in a hurry in the third start to the race. She pulled away from Auxier in the final 30 meters and defeated Kruse by nearly a half second.

The Cardinals finished eighth out of 10 teams at the meet with 41 points.

Saxton also won the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.24.

A trio of Cardinals took home fourth-place finishes. Jennifer Dominguez was fourth in the 3,000 with a time of 14:10.09. The 4x100 relay team of Desi Gentry, Tricia Thompson, Mary Akers and Saxton placed fourth in 56.94. The Cardinal sprint medley relay foursome of Gentry, Thompson, Chaundra Ridgway and Akers finished fourth in 5:20.11.