EDWARDSVILLE – Jaida Moore was not readily distinguishable from the 100-plus high school girls competing Friday at the Southwestern Illinois Relays.

“It wasn’t too long ago that I was out here,” she concedes.

With a fresh face and a big smile just three years removed from college at Eastern Illinois University, Moore is in her first season as Alton Redbirds girls track coach.

She was a sectional champion and state qualifier in the 100 and 200 meters as a senior at Alton in 2010 and continued her track career at EIU. Now, she embraces the challenge of rebuilding the Redbirds.

“It’s amazing,” Moore said on the infield at the Winston Brown Track and Field Complex. “When I stepped on this track, it seemed like yesterday that I was here competing. And now coaching, I still get the same adrenaline rush.”

The rebuild at Alton comes with the graduation of its most decorated athlete and the retirement of its longtime coach.

LaJarvia Brown claimed nine state medals and was a four-time state champion, winning three titles in the triple jump and one in the 100-meter hurdles. Brown single-handedly produced Alton’s first state trophy in girls track in 2016, contributing 35 of the team’s 37 points that earned a runner-up finish in the Class 3A meet in Charleston.

Gone with Brown, now a freshman at Texas A&M, is Terry Mitchell, who retired after 18 years in charge of the AHS girls track program. In steps Moore, who inherits what she calls a “very young team.”

With that youth comes new opportunity for the new coach.

“They’re not too stuck in the Mitch ways, because he’s been around so long,” Moore said of her former coach. “Now, I can create it around my vision.”

That vision is not shared by some who opted out, paring down a roster that already had depth issues.

“They are used to the laid back,” Moore said. “I’m very competitive. So, it’s this is what we’re going to do and this is how we’re going to get better. A lot of people didn’t respond well to that, so we lost some numbers. But quality over quantity.”

Quality returns in junior high jumper Kate Mans, a two-time state medalist who accounted for the two state points Brown left on the table last season. Mans placed eighth in the event at state as a freshman and seventh last season.

Her first major meet of 2017 brought victory Friday at Edwardsville. Mans cleared 5 foot, 4 inches to win the high jump and lead Alton to a sixth-place finish in the 12-team field.

The Redbirds also got a second-place effort from senior Ty’Riss Holloway, who went 9-6 in the pole vault. Sophomore Jeanea Epps took third in the 100 meters in 12.88 seconds, and the 4×200 relay of Daysha Lacey, Epps, Rashia Johnson and Alleyah Tuggle in 1 minute, 45.54 seconds.

It was an early step in an approach Moore believes can yield success. But there are obstacles to clear.

“I’m excited to bring more discipline to my program, that’s what we struggle with now,” Moore said. “Getting the girls to buy into my system — especially with me looking so young and being so young — is what I am dealing with now. Just making sure that they trust me and trust that I’m going to guide them in the way they need to go.”

East St. Louis won the team title at the Southwestern Illinois Relays. Edwardsville was runner-up with 87 points, two-time defending relays champ O’Fallon (84) was third, followed by Cahokia (79.5), Rock Island (77), Alton (69), Belleville West (32), Belleville East (30), Rockwood Summit (21), Collinsville (21), Madison (5) and Granite City (4).

The host Tigers are also under a new coach, with Camilla Eberlin replacing MiKala Thompkins, who relocated to Chicago. Eberlin, a math teacher at EHS, was a multi-sport athlete at Greenfield High and Illinois College. Her parents Jim and Roberta Trump started the girls athletic programs at Greenfield.

Edwardsville got a first-place finish from sophomore Abby Schrobilgen, who ran the 1,600 meters in 5:32.82. Julianna Determan was second in the race in 5:36.48.

The Tigers also won two relays. Haley Allard, Elise Krone, Maddie Miller and Victoria Vegher completed the 4×800 in 9:56.22. The 4,000-meter distance medley unit of Melissa Spencer, Jaycie Hudson, Miller and Abby Korak won in 12:42.80.