3 days ago
Northwestern's Tyra Cox is the Miami-Dade Girls' Track and Field Athlete of the Year
Legendary Miami Northwestern girls' track and field coach Carmen Jackson recently called senior sprinter Tyra Cox, 'The Goat.'
That's high praise when you consider the extensive list of great athletes Jackson has coached over the years.
One thing is for sure, Cox graduates with a firm place among the Bulls' all-time greats after a stellar senior season to cap a stellar career.
Cox added two more individual state titles and a relay title to her trophy case in May and is this year's Miami Herald Girls' Track and Field Athlete of the Year for Miami-Dade County.
Cox, who competed for Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna her first two years of high school, finished her career with six individual state titles overall.
Not counting relay titles, Cox's state championship total ties the most ever for a Northwestern athlete. Cox, a University of Florida commit, is tied with former Northwestern stars Lizzie Harris and Twanisha Terry. Five of her state titles came while running for the Bulls. Cox won her first when she won the 400 meters as a sophomore at Chaminade-Madonna.
As a junior, Cox had already won three individual state titles in the same meet, joining a feat once accomplished by another Northwestern great, former Olympian Tiffany Williams.
Cox secured state titles this season in the 200 meters with a time of 22.99 seconds and in the 400 meters, where she broke a state meet record with a time of 51.44 seconds.
That time is second all-time in Florida history behind only former Olympic gold medalist and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas standout Sanya Richards-Ross' time of 50.69 seconds.
Cox also helped Northwestern's 1,600-meter relay team set a new state meet record in that event with a time of 3:38.91.
Cox also had the fastest time in the county at state in the 100 meters, despite finishing third, after running 11.77 seconds. But Cox ran the fastest time all season in the state in the 100 meters when she ran a time of 11.39 seconds at the Bob Hayes Invitational in March.
Her performance followed a junior season in which she won all three events at state and earned Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Track and Field honors.
