FHSAA Region 1-3A 1600m Run, 30 April 2009

America loves the one-mile run, and America loves it's milers--Glenn Cunningham, Wes Santee, Jim Ryun, Marty Liquori, Steve Scott, et al. The mile is the only non-metric distance still recognized by the International Association of Athletic Federations, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association is missing a good bet by not running the mile and instead running the 1500m, which no true American cares about. Likewise, the Florida High School Activities Association is missing the same bet by offering competition over 1600m instead of the mile. Still, 1600m is only a bit over 9 meters short of a mile, so on Thursday (30 April 2009) evening I headed over to the Chiles High School track in Bradfordville to watch the Region 1 championships in the mile 1600m run.

The girls were up first. The Chiles runners--Lily Williams, Kaia Hampton, Kendall Andrews, and Carly Thomas--moved into the lead early and stayed there. Chiles is dominant in girls distance running, as evidenced by having placed five runners in the top ten at the state cross country championships back in November. Certainly, there was no one in Region 1 who could touch them. The top four runners advance from each Region meet to the state championships, and in the Region 1 1600, all four of those runners were from Chiles.

Girls 1600 Meter Run
=======================================================================
Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points
=======================================================================
1 Williams, Lily             9 Chiles HS              5:22.66    10
2 Hampton, Kaia             12 Chiles HS              5:23.16     8
3 Andrews, Kendall          11 Chiles HS              5:26.79     6
4 Thomas, Carly              9 Chiles HS              5:26.88     5
5 Vinson, Kayla             10 Ridgeview              5:38.67     4
6 Powers, Rae               11 Gainesville            5:39.33     3
7 Poidevant, Lauren         12 Ridgeview              5:39.94     2
8 Tyler, Karlee             11 Navarre                5:45.36     1
9 Oram, Jessica             12 Pace                   5:48.49
10 Faist, Taylor             09 Pensacola Washin       5:57.56
11 Pena, Briann              11 Ed White               6:13.39
12 Lloyd, Heather            09 First Coast            6:54.03
13 Martin, Hanna             12 Wolfson                6:54.80
-- Flemmings, Paris          12 Ed White                   DNF
-- West, Madison             09 Fleming Island             DNF
-- Flaws, Rachel             12 Pace                       DNF 

The boys' 1600m was somewhat more competitive. At the gun, Lippett William, a sophomore from Jacksonville Wolfson, flew out into the lead. His 400m split was reportedly 63 seconds, a trifle ambitious for a runner whose previous best was 4:54.71. The rest of the field ran at a more judicious pace, ignoring William's early charge. By 800m they had overtaken the early leader.

On the third lap, Matt Mizereck, a two-time state cross-country champion from Tallahassee Leon, moved up through the field and into the lead. Most of the pack remained bunched up behind him, but the field began to string out on the last lap as Mizereck pushed the pace. By 200m to go, only Fort Walton Beach Choctawhatchee's Hakeem Tarpley and Pine Forest's Donald Davis III remained in contact with Mizereck, but the Leon miler continued to accelerate. A dash down the final straight sealed Mizereck's win in 4:25.91, Tarpley and Davis trailed in 4:27.17 and 4:27.87. Chris Haynes of Jacksonville Robert E. Lee finished fourth in 4:31.07 to become the last state qualifier out of Region 1.

Boys 1600 Meter Run
=======================================================================
Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points
=======================================================================
1 Mizereck, Matt            11 Leon HS                4:25.91    10
2 Tarpley, Hakeem           10 Choctawhatch           4:27.17     8
3 Davis III, Donald         12 Pine Forest            4:27.87     6
4 Haynes, Chris             12 Robert E. Lee          4:31.07     5
5 Scott, Brandon            11 Columbia               4:33.30     4
6 Heikkinen, Thomas         12 Rutherford H           4:34.18     3
7 Carr, Darin               09 Milton                 4:36.07     2
8 Fricke, Peter             10 Pensacola Washin       4:36.46     1
9 Boston, Zakaria           12 Navarre                4:38.05
10 Poidevant, Tommy          12 Ridgeview              4:41.83
11 Bayles, Ben               09 Fleming Island         4:45.07
12 Gibbons, Cody             10 Nease                  4:49.92
13 William, Lippett          10 Wolfson                5:00.63
-- Robertson, Alan           12 Englewood                  DNF
-- Stanford, Will            10 Leon HS                    DNF  

It was a good pair of races, even if neither was quite a mile. Maybe next year the FHSAA can be convinced to add the 9 meters and 344 millimeters to the 1600 to make it a true mile.

Links:

• Full Region 1-3A results at FLRunners.com
  http://fl.milesplit.us/meets/48685/results/90349
  
  
• More photos of the 1600m races
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2633274&id=5215641&l=f12d02d3dc