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NorthWest Florida Report - by Herb Wills (FSU Relays Edition)

Published by
DyeStatFL.com   Mar 20th 2014, 3:39pm
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NorthWest Florida Report - by Herb Wills (FSU Relays Edition)

 

 

The Florida State University Relays come to Tallahassee this weekend, with the "Distance Showcase" on Friday evening, March 21. The Relays doesn't just bring hordes of high school athletes to Northwest Florida. In recent years the meet has earned a reputation for excellent high school competition. You can measure that objectively by looking at the Relays records, which stack up well against the records of any other in Florida. I thought it would be fun to look at those records in the distance events, see where the record-holders are now, and scour the entry lists for potential record breakers. After all, you have to do something while waiting for the races.

The youngest meet record among the distance events is Stefanie Kurgatt's 2:13.35 in the girls' 800, set last year when Kurgatt was a senior at Maclay School. Since graduating Maclay, Kurgatt has been studying at Georgetown University, where she has run cross-country and indoor track for the Hoyas.

Nichelle Scott, a senior at Bird High in Chesterfield, Virginia, comes into this year's FSU Relays having already run 2:13.32 last summer. More recently, she turned a 2:15.39 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals. Wakulla senior Madison Harris has run close to Kurgatt's record, posting a 2:14.39 back on March 1. Unlike Scott, Harris won't be logging any airline miles to get to the Relays--Wakulla is less than an hour's drive from FSU's Mike Long Track. Wharton freshman Bryanna Rivers is another sub-2:15 runner entered in the 800; Rivers ran 2:14.77 in AAU Junior Olympic competition last summer. Whether or not Kurgatt's record survives, on paper it looks like a great race.

The meet record in the boy's 800 is 1:52.28, set in 2012 by Lake Brantley senior Otniel Teixeira. Teixeira was back at the FSU Relays in 2013 running for the University of South Florida. Shortly afterwards he transferred to Florida State. Earlier this year Teixeira placed sixth in the 800 at the ACC Indoor Meet, running 1:52.23.

The entries in the boys' 800 field will need a breakthrough performance to knock off Teixeira's record. Bloomingdale senior Andrew Leblanc comes into the meet with a career-best 1:54.79, but that's last year's time. Niceville senior Nick Morken ran 1:55.27 just days ago at Pensacola Catholic's Vince Whibb Invitational; he may be the one to watch in the event.

Olivia Ortiz was a junior in 2012 when she set the FSU Relays meet record of 4:56.55 in the girls' 1600. After graduating from Lakewood Ranch, Ortiz headed to Tuscaloosa to study at the University of Alabama.

In this year's race, Fort Myers senior Emily Edwards has the best chance at cracking Ortiz' record. Edwards ran 4:53.91 last year, and leads the state this spring with a 5:00.46.

The meet record in the boys' 1600 is 4:11.76, set by Colonial's Andres Arroyo back in 2012 when he was a junior. Arroyo went on to have a phenomenal 2013 season (1:47.79/4:04.45/8:51.47) and signed with the University of Florida. As a freshman, Arroyo competed for the Gators at the SEC and NCAA indoor meets in the 800.

Of the entries in the boys' 1600, Wesley Pectol, a senior at Greeneville High in Tennessee, probably has the best chance at Arroyo's record. Pectol ran a 4:13.15 mile indoors this winter, and also posted a 4:13.93 while finishing fourth in the New Balance Indoor National mile. Orlando Freedom senior Connor Ferrentino might help keep the pace honest; Ferrentino ran a career-best 4:17.75 in the 1600 at the Kowboy Invitational on March 8.

The girls' 3200 meet record at the FSU Relays is 10:30.53, set by Lily Williams of Chiles during 2012, her senior track season. Williams is now in her second year at Vanderbilt, where she runs cross country and track for the Commodores. Williams has continued to improve her times while at Vanderbilt.

Of this year's entries in the girls' 3200, Our Lady of Lourdes senior Lourdes Brea has run 10:56.65 in 2013. In order to challenge Williams' record, she'll have to have made up about 130 meters in the past year. Bolles sophomore Mackenzie Wilson ran 11:07.67 in 2013, Wyomissing (Pennsylvania) senior Devi Jagadesan ran 11:07.28 in 2013, and Nease senior Karen Xiang recently ran 11:09.05. It should be a good race, but probably not a record breaker.

Finally, we come to the oldest record among the high school distance events at the FSU Relays, the boys' 3200. That one is 9:02.87, set by Matt Mizereck in 2010 when he was a senior at Leon. After graduating from Leon, Mizereck spent three years competing for the Gators at the University of Florida. This past fall he transferred to Florida State, so he'll be able to watch this year's crop of 3200 runners trying to break his record.

None of the athletes entered in the race has come close to Mizereck's 9:02.87, but Leon junior Sukhi Khosla has a state-leading 9:11.70 in the event. Khosla posted that time at the Bulldog Classic on March 8, after he had already run 4:13.02 1600 the same evening. At the FSU Relays, Khosla will be running the 3200 fresh. Greeneville's Wesley Pectol brings a 9:12.87 from 2013 into the event, and Nik O'Brien of South Carolina's North Augusta High ran 9:13.86 in 2013. On the plus side for Pectol and O'Brien, they may have improved since last year. On the other hand, both athletes are also entered in the 1600.

That's what and who I'll be looking for this weekend. I won't be disappointed if I see something or someone unexpected, though.

 

Northwest Florida Correspondent Herb Wills


Herb Wills' running career goes back to the 1971 boys' age-group mile at the Florida Relays. Since losing that race he has won the 1976 Florida High School class 4A cross-country championship, 1979 AAU USA junior titles in cross-country and the 10,000 meters, and the 1989 TAC USA 30K national championship. As a distance runner at Florida State University from 1978 to 1982, he was NCAA All-American three times in track and once in cross country, and won a silver medal in the marathon at the 1981 World University Games. Graduating Florida State with a degree in mathematics, in the following years Wills ran in the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in 1984, 1988, and 1992, and placed tenth in the Boston Marathon in 1989. After more than a few years of duty as a hurdle setter and lane judge at track meets, Wills discovered that the public address announcer not only got to sit down at meets but was also sheltered from the rain. Since that revelation you can hear him with a microphone in his hand at several track and cross-country events in the Tallahassee area. Writing is another activity you can do while sitting down, and Wills has written about running for Racing South magazine and Tallahassee's local newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat.

 

You can read more running related tidbits in his blog at http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/

 

Herb Wills NorthWest Florida Reports LINK



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