Folders |
Florida State Meet Recap 2024 - American Heritage Boys Run All-Time State Best 4x100Published by
Florida's First Sub-40 4x100 Relay Goes No. 2 All-Time 39.39 At State By Todd Grasley of DyeStat Four days of FHSAA State Track and Field Championships action produced state records, new state leaders, nationally ranked times, and thrilling finishes.
Relays stole the show while one of the longest streaks in team championships came to an unfortunate end.
American Heritage 4x100 Becomes First Florida Team Under 40
It's hard to believe with the rich history of track and field and sprint pedigree that has come through the Sunshine State that no boys 4x100 meter relay team had ever dipped under 40 seconds. That changed on Friday night during the FHSAA Class 3A State Championship with the American Heritage quartet of Zamarii Sanders, Braylen Bennett, and Brandon Bennett, all sophomores, and senior Xavier Lucas. They clocked a jaw-dropping time of 39.39, US#2 all-time, and a new state record.
Their time is second behind Humble Atasocita TX, which broke the 26-year-old national record held by A.C. Wyatt this season. A total of six teams, five from Texas, have dipped under 40 seconds this year. Coach Greg Barnes is no stranger to fast relay teams. His 2018 squad which ran 40.14 featured U18 100-meter record holder Anthony Schwartz, Tyson Campbell, Patrick Surtain, and Ja'Den McBurrows. Schwartz, Campbell, and Surtain all are currently playing in the NFL. Dillard Girls Sub 9:00 4x800, Crack Top 10 All-Time
The Dillard girls 4x800 relay team kicked off the party at the 3A state meet with a new state record and US#3 time of 8:49.73, including clutch legs by Raquel Edwards and Abigail Richards, who finished fifth and sixth in the open 800 and Christiana Coleman, who won the 1,600/3,200 double with times of 4:53.58 and 10:50.88, respectively. They are the first team in Florida history to dip under 9 minutes and currently sit behind Flower Mound (8:46.30) from the Texas Relays and national leader Union Catholic NJ, which ran a national high school record 8:40.21 at Penn Relays. Dillard's time is No. 9 all-time. Socarras, Koon Score FHSAA State Record In Distance Showdown Leon High senior and Stanford signee Patrick Koon will go down as one of the best distance runners in Florida history, but in the 1,600 final he was tested by his friends from South Florida. Belen Jesuit, the best distance program in state history, had four runners in the field, led by University of Florida signee Joshua Ruiz, and one of the top freshmen in the country, Marcelo Mantecon. But it wasn't either of them who would pull away in the front, but junior Joseph Socarras, who ran an FHSAA state meet record time of 4:04.53. It was an eight-second PR for the junior who won the regional championship in both the 1,600 and 800. He opted to focus on the longer distance, and it paid off with his first individual state championship. Not to be denied, Koon ended his track and field career with a meet record in the 3,200 with a time of 8:56.92, shy of his personal best time of 8:41.46 from Arcadia and the state record of 8:39.71 set by Riley Smith at FSU Relays. It was Koon's third straight 3,200-meter state championship. He was second as a freshman. Miami Northwestern Girls Streak Ends It wouldn't be a state championship without a little controversy. The Miami Northwestern girls are the winningest program in state history and led by one of the sport's legendary coaches, Carmen Jackson. A no-show to the awards stand DQ'ed them from the event and cost them a valuable six points and gave Dillard a 76 to 73.50 win in the team standings, snapping a 13-year streak of consecutive championships. It was a tough break for another talented team with the likes of sprint star Tyra Cox ,who swept the 100 (11.72), 200 (23.24), and 400 (52.26).
In other team news, there was a rare tie in the boys 4A team standings between Niceville and Columbus with identical 70 points totals. Montverde Academy swept both the 2A team titles edging out reigning champion Bolles, which swept the titles last year. The Benjamin boys repeated as the 1A champions, while the Admiral Farragut girls (45 points) engaged in one of the closest team battles, edging out Palmer Trinity (43.5), and Maclay (43).
New State Leaders
New changes to the state leaderboard included:
- After anchoring the Fleming Island boys 4x800 meter relay to a state-leading time of 7:43.03, senior Roman Mollicone won the 800 meters in a state-leading time of 1:50.52. - Chiles senior Cade Swart broke the state meet record of 51.94 to win the 400m hurdles. The all-state record still belongs to Kai Evans of Lake Minneola who ran 51.73 earlier this season. - Swart's teammate Jason Atwood won the discus with a state-leading throw of 195-9. - Flagler Palm Coast junior Colby Cronk added his first state title with a win in the shot put, throwing 63-0.75. Cronk finished second in the discus. - Creekside ran away from the competition with the girls team championship and that was in large part due to Alyson Johnson, who had a massive day in the distance events. Johnson helped her 4x800 team to a runner-up finish, before winning the 1,600 meters in 4:53.34, and 3,200 meters in a state-leading time of 10:30.06.
- Olympia senior Omaria Gordon won the long jump in a state-leading.20-9. Gordon also placed fourth in the triple jump and fourth in the 100-meter hurdles. Team Champions - Class 4A- Columbus/Niceville boys 70 points, Creekside girls 84.5 points - RESULTS Class 3A - American Heritage boys 76 points, Dillard girls 76 points - RESULTS Class 2A - Montverde Academy boys 52 points, Montverde Academy girls 117 points - RESULTS Class 1A - The Benjamin School boys 89.5 points, Admiral Farragut girls 46.5 points - RESULTS More news |
