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3A State Meet Recap by Herb Wills - Florida FHSAA Outdoor State Championships 2015

Published by
DyeStatFL.com   May 3rd 2015, 12:34pm
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I appreciate cross country as a team sport, but team scoring in track and field has always seemed artificial to me. Over here is an athlete running long minutes to the point of exhaustion, there is another one sprinting for a few short blinks of an eye, yonder is another tossing around heavy chunks of metal. And then there are the folks who are leaping toward the sky, and the other folks leaping toward the horizon. Somehow we’re supposed to believe that this asylum is a team, all working toward the same goal. We give them each points, total those points, and come up with a team score. It’s not comparing apples and oranges; it’s adding up apples and oranges.



People like it, though. The International Olympic Committee insists that there is no nation-vs-nation team competition in the Olympic Games, but every newspaper in the world runs medal totals and unofficial team scores. Team scoring in track and field may not make sense to you, but we’re stuck with it.



On 2 May 2015, team scoring at Florida’s 101st annual State Meet was very important to Miami Northwestern and Tallahassee Chiles. Northwestern was trying to repeat as girls’ team champs, and Chiles as boys’ team champs in class 3A. Team scoring was also important to the schools dreaming of unseating on of those reigning champions.



The first track final came at 9:00 AM that Saturday morning in Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida’s Jacksonville campus-- the 3A girls’ 4 x 800-meter relay. A Miami Northwestern - Estero showdown was anticipated, and that’s what the fans got. Northwestern took it out from the start of the first leg, with Estero and Carol City their closest pursuers. Midway through the second leg, the Estero runner came up to challenge for the lead; the Northwestern runner seemed to wake up and surge back ahead. At the second exchange it was still Northwestern, Estero, and Carol City.



Northwestern’s lead was doomed, though. Estero’s third leg finished with a strong second lap for her team, moving them into the first. Estero started the anchor leg with a 20-meter lead on Northwestern. Carol City was no longer in the hunt.



Estero’s anchor fought off a Northwestern challenge with about 600 meters to go, but after that it was all Estero. The Wildcat margin grew on the final lap and Estero won the state title in 9:15.16, the girls' best effort of the season. Northwestern was a distant second in 9:22.15, and Ocala Vanguard took third in 9:37.11.



Tragically, Estero coach Jeff Sommer collapsed and died at the meet that morning. He leaves a vast legacy in the lives he enriched with his coaching.



The 4 x 800 is the only running final in the morning section at the State Meet. Sometimes the event is treated like an afterthought, but it’s really one of the most exciting races on the track. That was certainly the case with the 3A boys’ relay. In the fast section, eight of the nine teams entered were on the homestretch at the same time, including a who-wants-the-gold-medal-more scramble involving the anchors from Bartram Trail, Boyd-Anderson, and Creekside. Boyd Anderson senior Javon Patterson delivered for the Cobras, anchoring a 1:54.02 leg and giving his team a winning mark of 7:52.99. Creekside thundered over the finish line next in 7:53.48, and Bartram Trail was third in 7:54.58. In the previous section, Chiles High had posted a 7:57.35, giving the Timberwolf boys their first four points in their quest to repeat as team champs in class 3A.



Miami Northwestern junior Timetria Mitchell won the girls 100-meter hurdles in 13.59, the best time in the event by a Florida athlete this season. In the boys’ 110 hurdles Lincoln senior John Burt turned a 13.56. His time was wind-aided, but that didn't change the fact that Burt won the state title in the event by a huge margin over the runner-up, Milton senior Dominique Craig (14.03). The Lincoln senior didn't do nearly as well in the 300-meter hurdles. That longer race over the barriers was won by Gaither senior Samson Moore in 36.53, a new Florida #1 performance. Timetria Mitchell did have a successful hurdle double; she won the girls’ 300 hurdles in 41.82.



Suncoast sophomore Annie Allmark set the pace in the 3A girls' 1600 for most of the first three laps, but Fort Myers sophomore Kristlin Gear had Allmark in her sights the entire time. Just before the bell lap Gear grabbed the lead then started the drive for home. At the top of the homestretch Chiles junior Emma Tucker swung past Allmark and started after Gear, but the Fort Myers runner was too far ahead. Gear won the race in 5:00.08, with Tucker second in 5:02.05. Allmark was third in 5:04.06.



If you wanted to spot defending champion Sukhi Khosla during the first lap of the 3A boys' 1600, you could find him near the back of the pack, running a 64-second split. If you wanted to spot Chiles senior Avery Bartlett, you could find him a few inches behind Khosla. On the second lap, after the optimists could no longer hold their fast early pace, you could find Khosla at the front of the pack, running a 64-second split. You could find Bartlett a few inches behind Khosla. On the third lap you could still find Khosla at the front of the pack, running a 63-second split. You could still find Bartlett a few inches behind Khosla.



The bell lap was faster. 250 meters out, Bartlett moved to make it faster still, moving in front of Khosla early on the final turn. Bartlett drove for home, followed by Khosla and Merritt Island junior Steven Cross. The three fought all the way to the finish line, but Bartlett got there first in 4:12.76, Florida's best 1600 time this season. Khosla was second in 4:12.85, and Cross third in 4:13.97.



Daesha Rogers had won State 800 titles twice before in 2012 and 2013, but that was in class 2A as an American Heritage athlete. Now she was back in 2015 to try again as a Northwestern sophomore. Taking off like a rocket, Rogers was ahead immediately. Then farther ahead.

And still farther ahead. 2:11.78 after she had started, Rogers had won her third FHSAA 800 title. Fort Myers sophomore Kristlin Gear eked out second place just in front of Fort Walton junior Brooke Crane, 2:16.32 to 2:16.37.



In the 3A boys’ 800, defending champion Avery Bartlett of Chiles, back for this third race of the day, started in lane two. 300 meters later he was running ninth in the field of nine runners. But before the bell lap, he had already started to move up. A place here, another place there, Bartlett continued to work his way up through the field. Just before the final turn, Bartlett stepped on the gas, grabbing the lead and starting to drive for home. None of the other eight runners had an answer, and Bartlett crossed the line first in 1:53.10, his second straight 800 title and the tail end of a successful 1600-800 double. Boyd Anderson senior Javon Patterson was second in 1:53.85, and Vanguard senior Boston Fitzpatrick was third in 1:55.02.



Continuing to pile up points, the Miami Northwestern girls swept the top three places in the 200 meter dash. Sophomore Twanisha Terry won in 23.55, senior Lakayla Harris was second in 23.67, and frosh Shamarah Shannon was third in 24.21.



“We knew from regionals that we could do it,” said Terry. “After the prelims we made it a priority. I knew we had done it right before I crossed the finish line.”



Beyond the State Meet, Terry has a busy summer of track and field. “I got selected to NSAF in Cuba, the World Youth Trials in Chicago, and New Balance Nationals in North Carolina.”



Hardly the end of her season, the State Meet is more like the middle.



By the halfway point of the girls’ 3200, Vanguard senior Elizabeth Mulford had opened a 20-meter gap on the field. Seniors Jessica Taylor of Creekside and Mallory Towe of Fort Myers maintained a pursuit, but Mulford continued to pull away. During the final 100 meter, as Mulford was driving toward an 11:03.51 win, Chiles junior Alex Wallace suddenly burst in on the race for second.



“I started on the homestretch,” said Wallace, “I wasn’t expecting it, but I saw them [Taylor and Towe] ahead of me and went for it.”



Wallace flashed by Taylor and Towe to take second in 11:12.69. Taylor was third in 11:14.58, and Towe fourth in 11:14.96.



When they started the boys’ 3200, Sukhi Khosla of Leon and Steven Cross of Merritt Island were still smarting from their loss to Avery Bartlett in the 1600 earlier. Cross started his race for redemption by leading the first lap. Khosla, the defending champion in the event, started a bit more conservatively, ending the first 400 meters in seventh. His teammate, Leon senior Hunter Scott, was right behind him. While Cross continued to lead, the two Leon runners moved up through the field. At the end of five laps, it was Cross and Khosla up front. Then Khosla struck.

 

“I was just going to wait and go with 800 left,” said Khosla. “I felt good, so I went at 900.”



Cross tried to follow, but Khosla continued to pull away. Cross accelerated. Khosla accelerated more. In the last hundred meters Cross seemed to gain slightly, but Khosla had the race won.



“I tried to stick with him,” said Cross. “I should have stayed closer, but I let him get away. He’s a great athlete, and I’m going to be back next year.”



Khosla got the win in 9:20.38, with Cross second in 9:22.73. Hunter Scott was third in 9:26.90.



“I feel hungry,” said Khosla after the race. “I don’t want this to be my last high school race. I really don’t want to be done yet.”



Hunter Scott is ready to move on, though. “I thought it was pretty fun out there. But that’s it for me. Summer is next, training for cross-country season at Florida State.”



With their performances in the 3200 Khosla and Scott had added 16 points to the Leon boys’ team total. But in the same race seniors Tyson Murray (4th, 9:29.56) and Allan Hernandez (5th, 9:29.57) had added 9 points to Chiles High's score, clinching the team title for the Timberwolves.



With the 4 x 400 relay remaining the Leon boys were in third, trailing second-place Boyd Anderson by two points. Boyd Anderson had no entry in the relay, but Leon did. The Lions needed to place at least sixth to move up.



Miami Northwestern won the 4 x 400 in 3:16.25, Leon's relay squad ran 3:18.72 for second, and Dillard was third at 3:20.06. Chiles placed fifth in 3:22.20, giving their team another four points and a winning score of 56 points. For the second year in a row, the Chiles boys were the champions of class 3A. Leon's eight relay points gave the Lions 42 points and their first second place finish since 1927. With 36 points, Boyd Anderson was third. As a Leon alumnus, I have to confess that in the 101-year history of Florida's State Meet, the Lions have never won the team title. And as a longtime Tallahassee resident, I feel compelled to mention that Lincoln was fourth with 31 points, making it three Tallahassee schools in the top four.



In the girls 4 x 400 relay, Miami Northwestern won in 3:43.48, with Boyd Anderson second in 3:47.86, and Carol City third in 3:49.90. Northwestern's relay performance earned their team 10 more points, a situation that calls to mind the phrase, "the rich get richer." Northwestern's final point total was 155 points, more than any other girls' team has ever scored in the history of Florida's State Meet. Lakewood Ranch was second with 30.50 points, and Ponte Vedra a close third with 30.



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