Day 1 FHSAA Class 1A state track winners in their own words
By Brian Miller, Special to Distance Preps

We at DistancePreps thought it would be a good idea to catch up with as many state champions as we could, so we did, sloshing our way around in rain and mud to hear what was on their mind. Here are the thoughts of numerous winners, immediately following crowning achievements in their high school track careers.

FHSAA Class 1A state winners

4x800 (G) - Gainesville Oak Hall, 9:35.22
"I'm not nearly the fastest 800 runner on this team," senior Brittney Olinger said about her lead leg. "I'm the fourth fastest, so I knew if I put these three girls in a good position they'd finish it. I've been on the 4x800 team since seventh grade and this is the first time we've won a state championship. There's no feeling that describes it."

4x800 (B) - Tallahassee Maclay, 8:09.03
"For the most part this season, my 800 has been on and off versus last year," said Steven Simpkins, whose strong second leg was a PR. "I was just thing, I have to do it for my team. I can't be the person to hold us back. It was great. My voice is still sore because I was just cheering on my team."

High Jump (G) - Desiree Nathe (Bishop McLaughlin), 5-02.00

High Jump (B) - Terrel Phillips (Westminster Academy), 6-02.00

Long Jump (G) - Daryth Gayles (Holy Trinity), 19-02.50
"It was kind of intimidating, because she won last year and she's really tough," said Gayles about NFC's Darrielle McQueen. "I think competition makes you better, so I'm glad I had some girls kind of near me to push me. I'm happy with the performance because it was rainy and windy."

Long Jump (B) - Gabriel Moore (Freeport), 22-05.75

Triple Jump (G) - Darrielle McQueen (North Florida Christian), 38-06.25
"I completely feel blessed, because there's no other way to describe how I feel," said McQueen, who has won a state title every year since eighth grade and seven total. "I would have liked to have swept the long jump, but it just wasn't my time for that event. We'll practice some more and I'll keep competing over the summer. That way I can fix some things and start to see some numbers in the long jump."

Triple Jump (B) - Jonathan Saintil (Dade Christian), 44-05.25

Discus (G) - Hunter Sullivan (John Carroll), 117-10

Discus (B) - Alan McFarland (Father Lopez), 167-09
"Staying calm, controlling your emotions is the biggest thing," McFarland said. "If you have one come out of the side of your hand and it hits the pole, you can't get down on yourself. I made a mental mistake on my very first throw. I was a little nervous, a little anxious, threw off my mark and stepped right over the wrong way. I was out of the front of the ring and they were yelling scratch. I was like 'Wow, I put myself down on the first throw.' we use music to relax us, but we don't have that out there. You have to find a place in your head where you can breathe and relax."

Shot Put (G) - Hunter Sullivan (John Carroll), 36-08.75

Shot Put (B) - Chris Miller (First Academy), 53-09.50

Pole Vault (G) - Bobbi LaBrant (Indian Rocks), 10-00.00

Pole Vault (B) - Drew McMichael (Evangelical), 14-06.00

100 Hurdles (G) - Brittany McGee (Admiral Farragut), 14.83
"It's kind of stressful, I'm sitting around waiting, and as I'm jogging around waiting it's going in my eyes," McGee said about how the weather impacted her. "You just have to focus a lot. It's more muscle memory than anything because you've practiced and competed so much."

110 Hurdles (B) - Michael Taylor (First Academy), 14.67
"Hard work, tiring, tiring, hard work," said Taylor, who put his hands to his chest in euphoria. "I was worried I wouldn't put enough hard work in. I put enough in. I'm so relieved. I'm so happy."

100 (G) - Teahna Daniels (First Academy), 11.74
"It's a little disappointing because I wanted to come out here and run my best at state, but the conditions were tough," Daniels said. "I still tried hard and gave all I got."

100 (B) - Michael Timpson Jr. (First Academy), 11.01
"I just remembered what I did in practice and how I was coached," Timpson Jr. said. "We practice coming off the blocks, little techniques, so we can run a perfect race."

4x100 (G) - Holy Trinity, 49.04
"We have to trust our marks and stay focused," Daryth Gayles said about avoiding miscues in the rain. "We just needed to keep our heads in the zone. I think we did that."

4x100 (B) - First Academy, 42.61
"Because we're all together, we push ourselves to be better, to be competitive," anchor Jahquez Durham said. "New times, new PRs, we keep coming together. We push each other to do our best."

400 (G) - Gabrielle Gayles (Holy Trinity), 54.60
"I was trying to PR, but the conditions weren't there so I wanted a good time," Gayles said. "My coach told me to run a fast first 200. It was a good way to end my senior year."

400 (B) - Christian Philpott (North Florida Christian), 48.17
"I've been working non-stop since last year to make it to state in the 400, so it feels good," Philpott said. "It's all mental. If you keep your mind strong when you're running, you'll be able to finish it."

300 Hurdles (G) - Brittany McGee (Admiral Farragut), 46.44
"It was from the start, it just kept getting progressively worse," said McGee, who hurt her ankle on the first jump and collapsed in pain at the end, being helped off. "I just told myself to keep going, that I could still win. It was the last race, it wasn't prelims, so I just kept going until I finished."

300 Hurdles (B) - Michael Taylor (First Academy), 39.74
"I'm happy it came at the beginning and not at the end, because that would be bad," said Taylor, who fell while leaning at the finish. "I was just trying to keep going, I hear someone coming from behind, but I'm like no, this is my race, this is my last race. I saw someone, but I thought I got it."

200 (G) - Teahna Daniels (First Academy), 23.68
"I knew (Gabrielle Gayles) was a strong competitor, so I tried to get out and get in front," said Daniels, who started in Lane 8. "We battled at the end, but I made sure to get out fast."
200 (B) - Christian Philpott (North Florida Christian), 21.59
"I wanted to (defend)," Philpott said about back-to-back titles. "You just have to stay focused."
1600 (G) - Sarah Candiano (Evangelical), 5:04.79
"First three laps go really fast," Candiano said. "There's no room for error. I almost tripped and if I'd done that I'd have been gone."
1600 (B) - Franco Martins (Windermere Prep), 4:22.33
"I knew coming in I had a PR faster than most everyone else," Martins said. "Regions didn't go very well for me. These past week's workouts were really perfect and I knew I was in good shape. The plan was to go out, run my own race and have no one near me, then last lap conserve myself for the 3200."
800 (G) - Emily Stallings (Providence), 2:17.67
"It was a difficult mile (earlier), because we didn't know how we'd run it with all the rain," said Stallings, who bounced back from a sub-par run. "It was strategic. I knew we had really good girls in this race so I tried to stick with them, then kick it out the last one."
800 (B) - Daniel Welch (Holy Trinity), 1:56.96
"That's the state meet for you," Welch said about his kick. "You get all that adrenaline. It comes for everyone. Everyone gets that kick at the end."
3200 (G) - Grace Casagrande (Cardinal Mooney), 11:01.54
"Truthfully, I didn't have a good (1600) race," Casagrande said. "My legs just weren't there, but it might have helped me in the two-mile to warm me up and get me hungry to win."
3200 (B) - Franco Martins (Windermere Prep), 9:26.01
"I know I'm strong, but every second counts, especially in a long run," Martins said. "A lot of people think if you get a bad start, you can still make up ground. For me, I try to focus on everything. I don't want to leave anything out and know it all counts."
4x400 (G) - Oak Hall, 4:02.19
"I just find it's so amazing that they wanted it so much, senior Nadiria Evans said about viewing her teammates win following her second leg. "They went all out. I love this team. And we're all young. I'm the only one who is a freshman. We've got many more years to come."
4x400 (B) - First Academy, 3:19.69
"It felt great starting off the leg knowing they're capable of doing what they did," senior Julian Middleton said. "I like to run hard. Then next guy, same thing, run hard. Third leg, run hard. Fourth leg, run hard."