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4A State Meet Recap by Herb Wills - Florida FHSAA Outdoor State Championships 2015

Published by
DyeStatFL.com   May 3rd 2015, 12:57pm
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There may be a better place to hold the FHSAA State Track Meet than the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium, but I don’t know where it is. The stadium’s track has nine lanes. The stadium itself seats 9,000. There’s a practice track right next door suitable for warm-ups. I suppose you could complain about the weather, UNF graduation traffic, or goose poop. But on balance I’m glad that the 2015 State Meet was at Hodges Stadium on Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2.



Class 4A competed on 2 May 2015 and the first results came from the girls’ 4 x 800 relay. Wharton and Winter Park went back and forth with the lead for the first three legs, but Winter Park got the baton to frosh anchor runner Rafaella Gibbons a step ahead of Wharton’s anchor, Rania Samhouri. Samhouri grabbed the lead, but Gibbons continued to shadow her, then charged to the front at the bell. Wharton’s Samhouri managed to stay just a step behind Winter Park till 200 meters to go, then Gibbons started to put some real estate between them. The frosh brought the Winter Park baton home in a winning 9:19.61. Ferguson overtook Wharton to take second in 9:23.58. Wharton was third in 9:26.33.



It was the first event of the day but it would be a long day. Three of Winter Park's relayists were coming back in later events. Rafaella Gibbons would return in the 3200, and frosh Melanie White in the 800. Junior Katherine Kuhn was scheduled to be back in the 1600, but was looking peaked after the relay. Would she be ready for the 1600?



“Yeah,” insisted Kuhn. “I just need to cool down and relax.”



Winter Park girls are tough. Possibly not as tough as they think they are, but tough.



Dr. Phillips took the lead on the second leg of the boys' 4 x 800. Behind them Coral Reef moved up into second then started to whittle away at the Dr. Phillips lead. On the homestretch Coral Reef was gaining, and the Dr. Phillips anchor appeared to sneak a peek just before the finish line, but the Dr. Phillips team got the win in 7:48.72, a new Florida #1 time on the season. Coral Reef was second in 7:50.14, and Lake Mary third in 7:56.67.



In the girls' 1600 Lake Brantley junior Sinclaire Johnson, the defending champion, was content to run just off the outside shoulder of the leader, Fletcher sophomore Kayley Delay, at least until the bell lap. Right before that fourth and final circuit of the track, Johnson passed Delay and started the drive for home. She made it there in a winning 4:59.03, just ahead of Riverview frosh Bailey Hertenstein, the runner-up. Delay was third in 5:03.04.



The boys’ 1600 also saw the return of a defending champion, Plant senior Jack Guyton. Guyton had pulled off a successful 1600 / 3200 double in 2014, and was looking to repeat the trick in 2015. After a 68-second split on lap number two, Guyton moved up to take the lead from Coral Reef junior Carlin Berryhill. Berryhill wasn't going away, though. On the bell lap Guyton started his kick. Berryhill was still right behind. Then on the homestretch it was Berryhill's turn to strike. Turning up the heat Berryhill slowly gained on the Plant runner. Guyton tried a desperation lean at the line and did a face-plant on the track as Berryhill took the title, 4:16.91 to 4:16.96. Lyman junior Jordan Armstrong was third in 4:20.11.



Wellington junior Maddie Beaubien led the first lap of the 4A girls' 800, splitting 61.02. On the second lap, though, Lake Brantley junior Sinclaire Johnson took over. The defending state champion and now the reigning 1600 champion, Johnson made it two 800 titles in two years, rocketing home in 2:08.71. It was the fastest time in Florida in two years, and carved a good chunk off of Johnson’s previous best of 2:10.04.  It's also now the FHSAA State Meet record taking down Miami Northwestern Skyler Wallen's 2009 record of 2:09.44.



“A two-second PR is incredible to me!” said Johnson. “It’s more rewarding than any win ever. I knew I was under 2:10, but under 2:09! I’m just really happy.”



The State Final marks the end of the 2015 season for Johnson. “I’ve been battling an achilles tendon problem, so I need to take some time off and get that healthy for cross-country season next year.”



Getting ready for cross-country isn't something that Johnson takes lightly. She was the runner-up in the State Cross-Country Final in 2014. We'll miss her on the track in the summer, but look forward to seeing her compete on the trails in the fall.



The athletes in the 4A boys 800 left the starting line fast, but Columbus junior Humberto Freire finished fast as well. Freire overtook Flagler Palm Coast junior Justin Pacifico on the second lap of the two-lap race to win 1:53.03 to 1:53.46. Coral Reef junior Derwin Moultrie was third in 1:55.18.



Colonial senior Armani Wallace won the boys' triple jump with a mark of 51' 2.25". That was more than five feet farther than the runner-up, McArthur senior Michael Cambridge, who went 46' 2". So Wallace went around 10% farther than the next jumper. If you won the 3200 by 10%, you'd be 320 meters ahead of the next runner. In short, Wallace's dominance of the State triple jump is like a 3200-meter runner nearly lapping the entire field. That wouldn’t be remarkable in a local meet, but this was the State Final.



There was no wind reading on Wallace’s performance, but it was the best by a Florida athlete this season. Fortunately, he’ll have some more opportunities to get a wind-legal mark:

 

“I’m going to Golden South,” said Wallace. “I’m going to New Balance Nationals, also.”



And what about next year?

 

“I haven’t committed yet.”



After Saturday, the college coaches should be calling.



Three of the sixteen athletes competing in the girls’ 3200 were coming back from the 1600, but not Rafaella Gibbons, the 2014 State Cross-Country Champion. The Winter Park frosh had anchored her team’s 4 x 800 relay, but that run had taken place more than eight hours earlier.



“My plan was to sit on someone going at a fast pace and negative split,” said Gibbons. “I was supposed to go with 1200 meters left, but I got impatient and went 200 meters early.”



After launching into the lead half-a-lap earlier than scheduled, Gibbons snuck a peek to the rear just before the end of the fifth lap. As if she were startled by what she saw, Gibbons really took off on that lap, opening a 20-meter margin on the field. By the bell lap the gap had grown to 40 meters. The Winter Park wunderfrosh only got farther ahead on the last lap, racing home to a 10:51.27 win. Fletcher sophomore Kayley Delay was second in 11:02.85, and Lake Mary sophomore Daniela Urzua took third in 11:07.67. The defending champion, St. Thomas Aquinas junior Alexa Cruz, was fifth in 11:12.60.



Track isn’t over for Gibbons yet this year. “My team and I are planning on going to New Balance Nationals and running the DMR.” she said. “I’d like to run the 3200, too.”



After trailing Sickles senior James Zentmeyer for seven laps in the boys' 3200, Lyman junior Joshua Jacques took charge of the race with just over a lap to go. With a ferocious finishing kick, Jacques covered the last lap in 61.66 seconds, giving him a finishing time of 9:11.00. It was the fastest time run at the State Meet this year in any class, beating the 9:20.38 Sukhi Khosla ran to win 3A, the 9:21.15 Connor Vaughan ran to win 2A, and the 9:16.67 that Franco Martins ran to win 1A.

 

“I didn’t expect that,” said Jacques.

 

Zentmeyer was second in 9:22.56. Plant senior Jack Guyton, the defending champion in the event, was third in 9:28.39.



“I try to go out and do the best I can every race,” explained Jacques. “I’ve really been training for this and looking forward to it.”



Now that the State Meet is over, what is Jacques looking forward to next?



“I’m going to take a little break and then start training for cross,” said the 3200-meter champion. “Our goal is to win as a team again.”



Jacques doesn’t mention a goal to repeat as the individual 4A cross-country champion, but you can bet that’s on the agenda, too.



The St. Thomas Aquinas girls won the 4 x 400 in 3:44.30. Miami Southridge was second in 3:47.92, and Northeast third in 3:47.33. The ten points that Aquinas collected for the win ran their team total up to an impressive 79 points, enough to win Aquinas yet another team champion trophy. Southridge was second in the team standings with 45 points, and Northeast third with 43.



In the boys' 4 x 400 relay American High put together a 3:13.23 to edge St Thomas Aquinas (3:14.03) and Dr. Phillips (3:14.23) for the win. Dr. Phillips earned only six points for the third-place finish, but it was enough for a team total of 56 and the 2015 FHSAA 4A team title. Lyman was second with 46 points, and American took third with 40.



The 4 x 400 relay and the subsequent awarding of team trophies brought the 2015 State Track Meet to a close. If the State Meet has a new home in 2016, I can only hope that it’s at least as good as Hodges Stadium.



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