Christal Washington was indeed the athlete of the weekend for Florida. Her impressive 800 meter run was not only a five second PR for her and one of the top times in the nation this year, it placed her at #2 All-Time for the event in Florida. Her 2:05.83 is impressive for any level and the junior really put herself on the map. She won her sixth heat by a margin of three seconds, and would have been better served competing in the faster heat 7, where Chanelle Price of Pennsylvana blew the socks off of the competition with a could-go-pro-now 2:02.76. Washington can be assured that she will not be overlooked for the fast heat in any national level competition any longer.Orlando Oak Ridge won the national title in the Girls 800 Sprint Medley Relay with a time of 1:42.79. Their legs were Denae Fluellen, Amber Outing, Anjoure Teele, and Victoria Watson. The team, minus Teele and plus Odeika Bent, came back later in the day to finish second in the 4x100 Meter finals with a time of 46.51 against rivals Miami Northwestern who finished just a blink of the eye back with a time of 46.71 for fourth place.
But the Bulls would not be shut out by those Pioneers. The closed the meet with a smoking 3:39.89 to easily win the 4x400 title behind the amazing legs of Skyler Wallen, Brittany Pringley, Lizzie Harris, and Brittany McCord. This time it was Oak Ridge in fourth 3:46.67.
Jazmyn Shorter came back from a rough outing at Golden South to end up in sixth place at nationals with a 54.92.
Michael Putman finished with a third place throw of 63-11, which is a new best for him. Chris Ward and CJ Lockhart finished 7-8 overall (in different heats) with times of 47.06 and 47.24 in the 400 meters. This is the first we've seen from Ward in well over a month since he injured himself at the regional meet.
Joseph Franklin competed in the fast heat of the mile, finally getting his chance to face off against Ben Hubers, a match up many have been waiting for all year. Hubers is the top miler from our neighboors to the north, Georgia. Hubers had a good night, finishing with a time of 4:04.98, second to Sam Borchers of Ohio's time of 4:03.33. But it was not a great night for Franklin who came back after an 800 meter championship at Golden West last week to finished in a disappointing 16th place, 4:13.57. Connor Revord, competing in the first heat where he was fourth, finished in 26th overall in 4:16.06.
And Jarius Cooper cleared the 110 meters of hurdles in 14.22 for 5th place in the finals.
Other Floridians on Day Three:
Girls Discus - Christina Raphael finsihed 10th overall with a throw of 144-11. That is the furthest throw this year by a Floridian.
Girls 400H - J'zotta Rolle ran a 1:02.95 for 12th place overall.
Girls 200 - Shataya Hendricks qualified for the finals with a time of 24.10. She finished in eighth place in the final round with a time of 24.27.
Boys Pole Vault - Riley Egan 15-3.75, tenth place.
Boys Long Jump - Tilden Matthews 17th 22-9.75
Boys High Jump - Mike Edwards 6-5, 13th place.
Boys 400m - Corvin Lamb, 19th 48.64.