In Between Thunderstorms, Records And Fantastic Finishes Highlight FHSAA Finals

By Todd Grasley of DyeStat

Complete Results

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The two-day FHSAA Florida Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium endured multiple downpours interspersed with lightning delays that threw athletes out of their routines and caused multiple delays. The final two races of Friday night's schedule, the 3A and 4A boys 3,200 meters, were moved to the end of Saturday's final session.

Despite the wet conditions on the track, the showers did help to cool down the blistering Florida sun. With the meet winding down on Friday, East Lake High junior Parker Valby made some history by running a new all-time Florida best time of 10:10.45, good for US#4 this year. . proved her time of 10:24.03 at the FSU Relays wasn’t a fluke.

“There were like five rain delays,” Coach Britt Taylor said. “We warmed up and had to stop twice.”

Valby was stride for stride with Foot Locker National finalist Valerie Lastra through one mile. When the duo came through the line around 4:59, Valby, who owned a previous best of 10:24.03 at the FSU Relays, made her move. She passed the likes of of Florida greats Jenny (Barringer) Simpson,and Ashley Brasovan, the record holder since 2007.

“I was surprised,” Valby said. “I actually bet my coach that I would go 10:10 or below because that’s what I wanted. When I saw it though, I was still in shock. As far as the record, I really look up to those girls and just to be mentioned with them is incredible to me.”

Her time ranks fourth in the country behind Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland NY (9:53.30), Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West IL (9:59.57) and Ericka Vanderlende of Rockford MI (9:57.01).

Valby, who finished second to Lastra's 4:50.62 on Saturday in the 1,600, admitted she is going to take a short but needed break before she resumes competition later this month.

“I’m going to take a few days off because I’m exhausted, but I am really looking forward to this summer,” she said. “My first stop will be a tune-up at Golden South, then the Adidas Dream Mile in Boston, and finally USA Juniors.”

Five More State Meet Records Fall Saturday

The Chiles girls and Oviedo boys didn’t set records, but they did make some noise to kick off the running finals on Saturday. The Timberwolves girls, who qualified for NXN in the fall, showed their distance prowess by clocking a US#3 time of 9:07.81 in the 4x800, just shy of Miami Northwestern’s 9:05.00 record from 2007. Oviedo, the 4A cross country state champion, beat Miami Columbus by nearly nine seconds to win the boys event in a US#4 time of 7:45.95.

Florida has had a storied past of Olympic track and field athletes who have got their starts in the Sunshine State. One of the best to ever do it was Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross, the U.S. record holder at 400 meters (48.70). While that record may take some time to fall, her high school state meet record did go down, to a FRESHMAN. 

Aaliyah Butler, the younger sister of FSU sprinter, and 2018 4A state champion Daeqwan Butler, is keeping the family legacy alive. The youngster who boasts personal bests of 23.65 in the 200 meters and 53.11 in the 400, lowered those numbers and came away with her first individual crown in the 400 by running 52.25. Richards-Ross' meet record was 52.51 and she still owns the all-time Florida record of 50.69.

Speaking of St. Thomas Aquinas, Emelia Chatfield stole the show for the Raiders and contributed some big-time points for the South Florida power, who won the 4A team title. With Nikia Smith and Eddiyah Frye tallying nine points for the squad in the 100-meter hurdles, Chatfield followed that up with a victory in the 300-meter hurdles. Her time of 41.19 broke the state meet record of Miami Northwestern alumni Tiffany Ross, who ran 41.34 in 2000. Ross would go onto win U.S. titles in the 400-meter hurdles in 2007 and 2008.

“The 300 hurdles was a great race,” Chatfield said. “It felt good and Raniyah (Jones) helped me push through strong. In the 4x4 I had to strategize how I was running in order to get a great outcome and help my team win gold.”

If there were a set of relays that stole the show it was the 4x100s. The Miami Northwestern girls, who seem to break records every time they step on the track, ran US#3 45.40 with a lineup of Lamaria Washington, Markalah Hart, Christon Kingcade, and Jacoria Burton. That broke a meet record previously held by a Boyd Anderson (2012) group that contained stars Shayla Sanders and Kali Davis-White.

Not to be outdone, the Dunbar boys may have been one of the surprises of the meet. Coach Guy Thomas and his staff put together a quartet of Tyler Kennedy, Jarvis Jones, Major Williams and Seneca Milledge, who blitzed the field with a US#2 and meet record time of 40.27 seconds. Runner-up Lake Wales was a second and a half behind in 41.79.

“Seneca Milledge and Major Williams came back to win the 4x100 relay championship and contribute to a team title,” Thomas said. “They both are team players and all about their team, very unselfish. Our goal this year was 40.60 so they were in shock just like I was. We left a mark on the state meet that is going to be hard to break. Every year they will mention our name at state when they speak of that record.”

No state meet is complete with a fantastic 4x400. In Florida it brings people to their feet even if it's 9 p.m. at night and they've been in the sun for 12 hours. The Miami Carol City boys came to play and brought their “A” game with a state meet record and nation-leading time of 3:11.50, breaking a 26-year-old record from Raines High School of 3:12.78 set back in 1993.

Sukeil Foucha from Piper won the boys Class 4A 800 meters in a US#2 time of 1:51.00. Four of the top eight times int he country so far came out of the Florida state meet.

Sophomore Jessica Edwards of Canterbury ran US#6 2:08.40 to win her second consecutive Class 1A title in the 800. 

Jevon Willliams of Blanche Ely won the Class 3A hurdles titles. He ran US#1 36.54 to take the 300-meter hurdles and won the 110s in 14.08.

Orange Park junior Alex Collier ran US#2 46.33 to win the Class 3A 400 meters. 

Jacob Lemmon of Fort Myers won Class 3A titles in the shot put (56-1.50) and discus (204-3).

Caleb Snowden of Dunbar won the 2A high jump with 6-11.50.

Destiny Castillo from Hallandale won the 2A long jump with US#6 20-3.

Asherah Collins from Columbia (Lake City) jumped 41-3.75 in the 3A triple jump to match US#4.

National Stars Stay Relatively Quiet

Coming into Saturday’s finals there was a lot of discussion over what stars Tamari Davis, Briana Williams and Tyrese Cooper might do. Davis and Williams are two of the fastest U18 sprinters in the world and Cooper has been a 100/200/400 threat for four years. 

In the first race of the day, and her first time compting in the 1A championship, Davis eased her way to a 100 meters crown with a time of 11.47 into a -1.4 m/s headwind. Her nearest competitor was nearly one second behind. It was impressive, but not close to her 11.13 personal best from a year ago. The same could be said for her 23.76 in the 200 meters, which ranked second on the day regardless of the class behind Southern Cal signee Jan’Taijah Ford’s 23.45. She also added relay gold in the 4x100.

Williams, who was coming off another stellar Carifta Games MVP performance, did not compete in any individual events at state, which was part of her season plan all along. Instead, the IAAF U20 Championships double gold medalist focused on the 4x100 and 4x400. The short relay took second and the 4x400 (3:41.32) ran a US#2 for the win. 

And Cooper? The Oregon signee who has starred at this meet since his freshman year was a non-factor in Jacksonville.  According to the official results, he was disqualified in the 100 meters final for “unacceptable conduct,” DQ'd again in the 400-meter final for “unsportsmanlike conduct,” and failed to start in the 200 final. He ran prelim times of 10.69 in the 100 and 47.19 in the 400. According, to his coach, Darius Lawshea, Cooper has tending injuries since the Florida Relays.

“He hasn’t practiced since then because he is trying to nurse his knee,” Lawshea said. “After the 100 meters at that meet, he put on the breaks and hasn’t been the same. He got disqualified the first time because he didn’t go to the awards stand after the 100. He wanted to go get his knee checked out, but the higher powers wanted him to go to the awards place.”

Team Scores: State Champions/Runners-Up By Class

If the results look familiar, it’s because traditional powers once again made the podium. TFA boys, Hallandale girls, Miami Northwestern girls and boys, and the St. Thomas Aquinas girls seem to be state championship team fixtures. No program is more dominant than the Bulls of Northwestern, though, who swept 3A. The girls scored an astounding 98.25 points, the most by any classification and also by the largest margin of victory. Coach Carmen Jackson’s girls have won 11 consecutive championships and 16 overall.

1A Girls: Evangelical Christian (51), Lakeland Christian (49)

1A Boys: First Academy Orlando (65), Mt. Dora Christian (55)

1A Adaptive Boys: Cedar Key (28), Florida Deaf & Blind (10)

1A Adaptive Girls: Cedar Key (28), St. Johns Country Day (10)

2A Girls: Hallandale (66), Cocoa (64.25)

2A Boys: Bolles (64), Rickards (50)

2A Adaptive Boys: Frostproof (30), Astronaut (24)

2A Adaptive Girls: Bishop Moore (30)

3A Girls: Miami Northwestern (98.25), Chiles (46)

3A Boys: Miami Northwestern (56), Hillsborough (30)

3A Adaptive Boys:  Ed White (48), Riverdale (10)

4A Girls: St. Thomas Aquinas (82), Miami Southridge (44)

4A Boys: Miami Columbus (45), Flagler Palm Coast (41)

4A Adaptive Boys: Fort Lauderdale (50), Sandalwood (20)

4A Adaptive Girls: West Orange (30), Flanagan (16)