Copperas Cove runner Layllah Dumerand qualifies for Junior Olympics
A 9-year-old Copperas Cove runner earned a Junior Olympics berth with sixth in the 400-meter dash, and her family is raising $1,000 to get her there.
One sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash turned a local youth season into a trip to Norwalk, California, for 9-year-old Layllah Dumerand of Copperas Cove. The Copperas Cove runner also competes in the 100-meter and 200-meter events, and her family is now trying to raise $1,000 by July 15 to cover travel, gas, meals, lodging and spikes.
Dumerand qualified for the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships, which are scheduled for July 27 through Aug. 2 at Falcon Stadium on the campus of Cerritos College. USA Track & Field requires athletes to qualify for the meet, and in Layllah’s case, the margin was tight: her sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash landed her in one of the final qualifying spots.
Layllah said she ran as hard as she could to get there, and her father, Peter Dumerand, said he is proud not only of her athletic progress but also of the way she balances track with school and music. For the Dumerand family, the trip carries another layer of meaning, too. They see it as a chance to represent their Haitian heritage, a connection tied to Haiti’s 1804 independence from France and to a history built through the Haitian Revolution.
Layllah’s rise is also a sign of how much local structure sits behind a child making it to a national meet. Five athletes from the CTX Cheetahs Track Club in the Copperas Cove and Killeen area qualified for Junior Olympics this year, and coach Christopher Moorehead said the area is getting more recognition for track and field. That recognition still depends on the same pieces every family has to line up: coaching, transportation, entry into meets, and enough money to keep a child on the road.
The cost barrier is part of the story in Copperas Cove, where youth athletes and parents have already had to fundraise for Junior Olympic travel in past seasons. Layllah’s path follows that same pattern, with a local family trying to stitch together the expenses that turn talent into a national trip. Copperas Cove has already produced athletes who reached elite levels, including Steffin McCarter, who grew up in the area and competed with the Five Hills Track and Field Club before becoming an Olympian.
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