Florida highlights from the third day of the 2022 New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 18th.
Palm Beach Central's Brielle Mindley qualified for the finals of the freshmen girls 100 meter dash with a 12.20 clocking as the fourth fastest qualifier. In the finals, she held the same spot in fourth place but with a faster time dipping under 12 seconds again with a 11.92 performance at Franklin Field.
Mindley also qualified for the finals of the freshmen girls 200 meter dash with a time of 25.21 in the opening round as the third fastest qualifier. Tamia Benton (7th, 25.68) of Miami Southridge also will join her in the finals.
Shaddai Carter of Christopher Columbus was the second fastest qualifier in the freshmen boys 110m hurdles at 15.74, but unfortunately was disqualified later in the finals.
Miami Northwestern's Paris Baker was the last qualifier from the prelims to the semi-finals of the championship girls 100 meter hurdles with a 14.88 clocking in her heat, but was unable to advance in the next round.
Tocoi Creek's Jayden Dailey finished fourth in the freshmen boys 100 meter dash with a 11.15 clocking. Dailey had broken 11 seconds twice this season including a 10.90 PR at his regional meet.
Jassani Carter of Flanagan earned All-American honors in the championship girls 100 meter dash with a fifth place time of 11.76 in the finals on Saturday. One of her last high school races before she heads off to the University of Southern California as a four-time state champion.
Atlantic Port Orange junior Aidan Dixon earned All-American honors in the championship boys 400 meter dash with a third place clocking of 47.71. Dixon will be one of the top returning 400 meter runners in Florida next year with a 46.97 PR this season and as the 2A state runner-up.
St. Francis Catholic senior Twaneise Johnson had traveled all the way to the West Coast earlier in the week to compete in the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle and flew back to the East Coast to win her heat of the 400 meter dash and finish 8th overall in the championship girls 400 meter dash just off her season best in a 54.61 clocking.
Palm Harbor University's Giselle Uvieghara medaled in the freshmen girls 400 meter dash with a 59.63 clocking.
Her older sister Rachael Uvieghara later in the day qualified for the finals of the championship girls 200 meter dash winning her preliminary heat with a 24.17 as the fifth fastest qualifier for Sunday's finals.
Meanwhile, Adrian Cardero of Christopher Columbus won the freshmen boys 400 meter dash title at New Balance Nationals as the lone competitor to break 50 seconds at 49.79.
Creekside sophomore Christian Miller moved smoothly through the first round of the championship boys 200 meter dash to qualify for the finals on Sunday with a swift 21.32 clocking to win his heat as the third fastest qualifier.
St. Thomas Aquinas junior Jason Olivera Jr. was a runner-up in the rising stars division of the boys pole vault competition with a successful clearance on his second attempt at 4.40 meters or 14'5.25".
Two Florida girls qualified for the finals of the rising stars 200 meter dash between Janay Moorer (3rd, 24.72) of Bolles and Maisha Atkinson (6th, 24.83) of FAU High both dropping sub 25's in the prelims.
After a great Friday including a national title and national runner-up finish in two relay races, the Miami Southridge girls kept that momentum going into Saturday as the second fastest qualifier and winning their heat in the championship 4x100 meter relay prelims at 46.71. Palm Beach Central will also join them in the finals as the sixth fastest qualifiers at 48.01.
Miami Southridge girls then finished the day strong how the started the prior day as national champions winning the 800 meter sprint medley relay in a time of 1:44.94 with a lineup including Tamia Benton, Brianna Harper, Cynteria James, and Alyysa Jones.