This past weekend, local 1A and 2A athletes competed in their State track meets. 3A tracksters participated in their Region meet, the last contest before their big dance.

Winter Park played host to both the 1A State meet on Friday and the 2A State meet on Saturday. Friday’s competition showcased the immense talent of the Big Bend’s small school athletes. On the girls’ side, Maclay was the top local team, finishing 11th overall. The Lady Marauders were led by a 4th place 4x800m relay team (9:45.02), a 1st place finish in the 800m run by Stefanie Kurgatt (2:14.93), and a 3rd place finish in the 3200m run by Jana Stolting (11:01.43). On the boys’ side, Maclay was, once again, the top local team, taking home 2nd place overall. The Marauder men were led by a 2nd place 4x800m relay team (8:17.52), a 2nd place finish in the 100m dash by Lee Williams (11.45), and a 1st place finish in the 3200m run by Patrick Swain (9:37.91). North Florida Christian finished 9th overall, led by an outstanding performance in the 800m run by Whitney Strickland, who won his 3rd straight 800m state title in a time of 1:55.67. He was followed closely by Wewahitchka’s Billy Naylor (2nd in 1:57.17). Footage of that amazing 800m race as well as full coverage of the meet can be found at http://fl.milesplit.us/meets/44883.

On Saturday, area 2A athletes gave it their all at their State meet. On the girls’ side, Florida High was the top local team, finishing 5th overall. The Lady Noles were led by a 4th place finish in the 400m dash by Elizabeth Ichite (57.17) and a 1st place finish in the 300m hurdles by Ena Johnson (43.76). The women of Godby and Rickards finished 20th and 22nd respectively. On the boys’ side, Godby was the top scoring team from the Big Bend, taking 4th overall. They were led by a 1st place triple jump by Quayshun Smith (49-01.75), a 2nd place 4x800m relay team (7:56.48), a 4th place finish in the 800m run by Terrell Bryant (1:57.30), and a 6th place finish in the 3200m run by Dieumy Duclos (9:50.13). Rickards High School finished 25th overall.

At the 3A Region 1 Meet, the Chiles women took home the overall title. Leon finished 15th overall, followed by Lincoln in 21st place. Local lady-qualifiers for the State Meet include: Chiles runners, Lily Williams (2nd in the 800m run in 2:17.06, 1st in the 1600m run in 5:22.66, and 2nd in the 3200m run in 11:42.30), Kaia Hampton (2nd in the 1600m run in 5:23.16 and 1st in the 3200m run in 11:41.47), Carly Thomas (4th in the 1600m run in 5:26.88 and 3rd in the 3200m run in 11:42.53), and Kendall Andrews (3rd in the 1600m run in 5:26.79 and 4th in the 3200m run in 11:45.42). On the boys’ side, Lincoln took the overall title followed by Chiles in 7th and Leon in 8th. Local male-qualifiers to look for include: Lincoln’s 4x100m relay team (1st in 42.28), Leon’s Matt Mizereck (1st in the 1600m run in 4:25.91 and 2nd in the 3200m run in 9:36.27) and Will Stanford (1st in the 3200m run in 9:35.89), and Lincoln’s Pat Olschlager (1st in the 200m dash in 21.80), and Jabriel Giddins (3rd in the 400m dash in 49.06).

With only one State Meet left in which their will be Big Bend representation, this track season is drawing to a close. It has been perhaps the most outstanding year, performance-wise, in recent memory, and promises to go out with a bang at next weekend’s 3A State Finals.