Monday, May 3, 2010

Conclusion of the rain-checked FHSAA Region 1-3A meeting

When the last part of the FHSAA Region 1-3A Track & Field Championships got rained out last Friday (30 April 2010), the events couldn't just be canceled. The Regional Meet, after all, is the final qualifying round before the state championships. So a make-up day was scheduled for the rain-delayed events--the girls' 800m run, the boys' 800m run, the girls' 3200m run, the boys' 3200m run, the girls' 4 x 400m relay, the boys' 4 x 400m relay, the boys' pole vault, and the boys' high jump. This meant that Monday, 3 May 2010, would be the last day of high school track and field in Tallahassee this year--a unique, only-four-days-before-the-state-meet chance to see some prep athletics.

If the weather didn't cause the officials to postpone this one as well.

But Monday at 1:00pm in Tallahassee was sunny and warm, so athletics could resume at the Chiles High School track. The action opened with the second section of the girls' 800m. The first section had been run before the weather delay, but the results of the event couldn't be determined until both sections had been run. As it turned out, all four qualifiers came out of the second section, which was won by Pine Forest's Darronisha Lott in 2:12.83. Lott had already won the girls' 1600m back on rainy Friday. The other athletes advancing to state in the 800m were Ariel Allen of Forrest (2:14.14), Marla Collins of Gainesville (2:17.71), and Sarah DeVaux of Fort Walton Beach (2:21.54).


Milton's Davon Grimm won the first section of the boys' 800m with a 1:56.42. Then it was time for section two, and the wrecking crew from Okaloosa County stepped onto the track. Simon Lawrence of Fort Walton Beach took the field out hard, but began to fade around 500 meters. First Matt Bevil slipped by him, then Choctawhatchee's Hakeem Tarpley. The three thundered through the final 200 meters, with Bevil breaking the tape in 1:50.29, Tarpley finishing runner-up in 1:52.59, and Simon hanging on to third in 1:53.35. Grimm's time from the first section was good enough for fourth and a ticket to state.


Because of the weather delay, the preliminaries in the 200m dash had been three days ago, so when the sprinters got in their blocks on Monday they were more rested than they had ever been for a final. The girls advancing to state were Latorria Bell of Pine Forest (24.79), Gelela Cooley of Gainesville (24.80), Tyler Smith of Wolfson (25.36), and Phoebe Johnson of Columbia (25.42). The state championship qualifiers in the boys' 200m were Karl Barr of Forrest (21.97), Taurus Simmons of Wolfson (22.11), Stephen Haye of Fort Walton Beach (22.15), and Duane Brady of St. Augustine (22.64).

Next it was time for the girls to take the track for the longest event in FHSAA track and field, the 3200m run. Ridgeview's Angie Epifano set the pace for the the first 600 meters, after which Lily Williams of Chiles took over the lead. Holly Stanton of Fort Walton Beach and Carly Thomas of Chiles tucked in behind Williams, and the three runners built up a lead on the rest of the field. Williams continued to lead through seven laps, then Thomas, the 2009 state cross-country champion, moved to the front, followed by Stanton. Dropping Williams, Thomas and Stanton drove for the finish line, fighting for first. Stanton prevailed, edging out Thomas for the regional title 11:31.31 to 11:31.73. Williams was a few meters back, taking third in 11:35.70. The fourth spot went to Chiles' Jodie McGuff (11:45.87), who ran down Creekside's Kaitlin Rodriguez (11:51.38) and Ridgeview's Kayla Vinson (11:51.99) in the last 200 meters to qualify for state.

I doubt that anyone expected someone other than Leon's Matt Mizereck to lead in the boys' 3200m. Three-time FHSAA 3A state cross-country champion, defending FHSAA 3A state champion in the1600m, fifth fastest on the all-time list of Florida high school 3200m runners--Mizereck's complete list of accomplishments wouldn't be light reading. So the Leon High senior did set the pace, and by halfway he had shaken off everyone except for Kamal Koroso of Terry Parker and Jimmy Clark of Creekside. Koroso and Clark clung to Mizereck's heels through seven laps, but then without so much as a "goodbye," Mizereck took off on the last lap and raced to a 9:22.02 win. Clark outdueled Koroso for the runner-up spot, 9:26.42 to 9:27.09. Behind them, Leon's Riley Doherty had caught Eric Ochoa of Bartram Trail on the sixth lap. Doherty and Ochoa battled over the last two laps for fourth place and a spot in the state championships, but in the end Doherty prevailed, 9:43.90 to 9:49.12.


Pine Forest won the girls' 4 x 400m relay in 3:48.28, with Gainesville (3:52.62), Milton (3:55.97), and Forrest (3:57.47) also qualifying relay teams for the state championships. In the boys' 4 x 400m relay, the state qualifiers were Fort Walton Beach (3:16.29), Lincoln (3:18.59), Pensacola (3:20.08), and Gainesville (3:24.31). Running events didn't conclude with the 4 x 400m relay, though. Following the relay there was an unusual one-man section of the boys' 400m run, scheduled for Bartram Trail's Derek Taylor after he was interfered with by Eugene Cobbs of Palatka during the Friday evening final.

But there were field events still in progress. In the boys' pole vault Morgan Smith of Lincoln (13' 0"), Michael Epps of Creekside (12' 6"), Pierre Strother of Pine Forest (12' 6"), and Kevin White of St. Augustine (12' 6") took the top four places and advanced to the state championships. The top four spots in the boys' high jump went to Washington's Sharif Hudson (6' 8"), Leon's Marcus Walker (6' 6"), Pine Forest's Cole Fountain (6' 6") and St. Augustine's Joshua Sanks (6' 4"). After that it was all over and everyone headed home, the qualifiers knowing that they'd have it all to do over again in just four days at the FHSAA 3A State Championships in Winter Park.

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Posted by Herb Wills at 5:57 PM
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