For the Detroit Cass Tech girls track and field team, the whiff of success in 2025 proved alluring.
And on the heels of a season that proved promising and ultimately motivating for head coach Ravyn Baxter’s team, the Cass Tech girls have thrived this season. Led by upperclassmen who helped set the foundation a year ago, Cass Tech has raced to a regional title and hopes to challenge Oak Park atop Division 1 for the team title at the end of the month.
“So we know that physically they have it and they’re capable,” Baxter said. “It’s just like mentally being able to lock in and believe in yourself, trusting your abilities, trusting your training and coaches. And that’s usually the biggest piece, and that’s where we saw a lot of our change this year, is with them being mentally prepared, to be able to compete on the level that they’ve been on.”
Seniors Laila Hawkins and Malise Brown, plus junior Caylin Ivy headline a potent group.
Brown is among the fastest competitors statewide in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races, and Hawkins similarly excels as a hurdler, among the top athletes statewide in the 100 and 300 meter hurdle races.
Ivy runs in the 200 and 400, and holds top-10 times statewide in both of those events. All three qualified for states in the aforementioned events.
Senior Layla Phillips is heading to states in the 800, and sophomore Jordin Nichols also will compete at states alongside Hawkins in both hurdle races. Senior high jumper Moriah Williams also will compete at state finals.
The Cass Tech girls also have three relay teams — comprised in large part by the above runners — that have recorded top-10 times in the state in the 400, 800 and 1,600 relays, and qualified for states in all three of those races plus the 3,200 relay.
And with a team full of talent, Baxter thinks the experiences of last season competing but falling short during big meets — finishing as runners up in the city championships and regionals, finishing eighth at states — were key in shaping and motivating this group.
It fueled an offseason that had the Cass Tech girls starting from a strong spot in 2026, and Baxter has noticed there’s been a heightened level of leadership and urgency from the upperclassmen who were close to achieving some big goals last season.
“The leadership from our upperclassmen was huge,” Baxter said. “They’ve helped create a culture where the younger athletes now believe that they belong on this stage too, to be able to compete on a championship level. And they learn how to handle pressure.”
Cass Tech still has the 2026 city championship meet for the Detroit Public Schools coming Friday, and will send a bevy of runners to compete at the Division 1 finals on May 30. And in both instances, it will be a Cass Tech team that is shaped for the better by how close it came last year.
“We came back with a fire from last year,” Baxter said. “My group showed flashes of talent, but this year they really just matured mentally. They understood what it took, what it takes to compete at a championship level.”
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Cass Tech girls track team surging after tasting success last year
Reporting by Andrew Graham, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
