LAPLACE — Her coach says Sarai Gaines is a “veteran” member of the St. John Legend track team.

After she finished second in three sprint finals at last weekend’s annual Governor’s Games held at New Orleans’ Tad Gormley Stadium, Gaines certainly stood out.

Gaines is 7 years old and a rising second  grader at East St. John Elementary School.

“She is a veteran on the track,” Legends coach Mark Creecy said. “She’s been doing this for two years now.”

Gaines was just one of several youngsters who had outstanding performances at the track meet, which is part of a series of more than 50 athletic events put on by the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The two-day meet brought together teams from around the country with children as young as 7 and as old as 16.

Creecy said he was thrilled with the team’s performance.

“As a team we did really well,” he said. “There was a lot of competition there, a lot of boys and girls of all ages. We had a good group that went to the finals.”

In the 7-under age group, Gaines finished second in the 50 meter dash with a time of 8.23, second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 16.40 and second in the 200 meter dash with a time of 35.68.

Her mother Johnika said Sarai first ran for her school last year — with a pair of borrowed spikes.

“Her principal, Stacy Bradford,  went to his truck and got a pair of spikes that belonged to his son,” Johnika Gaines said.

“She just soared. She ran with them all year and just outgrew them.”

Said Sarai: “They were my lucky spikes but I had to get new ones.”

Sarai also says she is going to the Olympics some day.

“I like the 200 because I get to push myself,” she said.

“It was very fun. I’m running for my Paw Paw this year because he passed and he always told me to do my best.

“My favorite thing about running track is it feels like I’m flying.”

Another notable performance came from Tr’nahja Smith, competing in the 12-year-old age group, who finished second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.38.

She was fourth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 29.00.

Creecy said Smith is one of the top sprinters in the country in her age group.

Also track veterans (they started at age 4) are sisters Anya and Aja Creecy and their cousin Kharma Creecy. Aja and Anya are the daughters of Coach Creecy; Kharma is his niece.

“I started them all when they were about 4,” he said.

Aja won the 10-year-old shot put with a throw of 19 feet, 9 inches Anya was third in the 12-year old discus (65.08), third in the 80 meter hurdles (18.20) and fourth in the 12-year old shot put (28-2.50).

Kharma won the 11-year-old discus with a throw of 48 feet, 2 inches and was second in the 11-year-old shot put with a throw of 26-5.50.

“It’s fun to have competition and be outside in the sun,” Kharma said.

The weekend event was a big deal for the Cammon family.

When Ciera Cammon, 8, won a medal for placing third in the long jump competition it brought back memories for her dad, Chad, who ran track for East St. John and even won medals at Tad Gormley Stadium.

“My dad did it,” Ciera said. “I like running.”

Ciera finished third in the 9-year-old long jump competition with a leap of 11 feet, 0.25 inches.

Her sister Chani, who competed last year,  reached the 7-8-year old 50, 100 and 200 meter finals for the first time.