The second week of the 2026 Colgate Women’s Games featured vibrant competition. Runners, hurdlers, high jumpers and shot putters participated in the second preliminary competition of the historic 50th season of the Colgate Women’s Games (CWG)the nation’s longest-running indoor track and field series for girls and women, supporting education through sports.
With the January 4 competition wrapping up the preliminary rounds, athletes now gather at the state-of-the-art Nike Athletics Center at The Armory in Manhattan for the semi-final event to be held on Sunday, January 18 and the final on Wednesday, February 4.
In this very final of the event, more than 100 educational scholarships will be awarded to the athletes with the highest scores thanks to the sponsoring company Colgate-Palmolive.
Sprinter and double Olympic champion at Paris 2024, Sha’Carri Richardson, will join CWG alumni and world-class athletes Ajeé Wilson, Natasha Hastings and Dalilah Muhammad on the final day.
Additionally, participants and spectators will enjoy a performance by the renowned New York Marching Cobras percussion band, which will lead a grand parade of finalists on the Armory’s oval track.
Legendary track and field coach Fred Thompson founded the Colgate Women’s Games in 1974 with the support of Colgate-Palmolive, an innovative and committed growth company that is reimagining a healthier future for all, to provide athletic and educational opportunities for girls and women.
In the preliminary rounds of CWG 2026, athletes participated in multiple events, but will only compete in a single event in the semi-finals and final.
Veteran Westchester Striders Track Club coach Ted Bitters said athletes, parents and coaches make the decisions and submit a “declaration” form designating the individual event chosen by the athletes for the deciding semi-final and grand final stages.
“We look at their points at the time, not knowing what event the others will sign up for,” said Bitters, who has coached successful CWG finalists for 25 years. He calls the deposition procedure a “math game” and also a “guessing game.”
Rushing to meet the registration deadline, assistant coach Tanjanika Branch of Brooklyn’s Panther’s Track Club was busily filling out a declaration form for Elementary B division runner Amilli Evans, a competitor in the 55-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash.
Evans opted to run the hurdles in the final two trials of the series. “His best time was over hurdles, and he wants to achieve his personal best,” Branch said of Evans.
Skyy Cornwall, 5th grade student. grade from Northeastern Adventist Academy in Brooklyn, ran the 200 and 400 meter dashes in the Elementary B division in the preliminaries. “In the semifinals, I want to concentrate on the 200 meters,” he commented.
On the other hand, at 3 years old, Aubree Powell’s need for speed was evident, as she “raced” cars that slowed down to cross a speed bump near her house. His mother suggested athletics.
The junior from Newark, New Jersey, earned some points in the 55-meter dash in the Elementary A division, but her event chosen for the semifinals is the high jump. The points leader easily won the division’s high jump in both preliminary events.
Middle School division shot put leader Brielle Hudson, Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympic Games medalist and age category record holder, also competed in the high jump, but will focus on the shot put in the semifinals and finals.
To see all events from the 50th season of the Colgate Women’s Games click here.
For more information about the Colgate Women’s Games at The Armory, visit www.colgatewomensgames.com .
(Reporting by Jared McCallister)
