Fort Walton Beach High School hosted an exciting meet. The event started off with the 4x1600 meter relay in which both Fort Walton girls and boys not only won the event, but also new school records. “Our relay team has been trying to break the record for a couple of years, so there was a lot of pressure,” commented Sam Ammons, a Junior at Fort Walton. “We have two seniors on our relay team, so we had to do it this year.” Sam ran a strong first 1600 with the team in third as he crossed the finish and then Jake Dearmon and Matt Bevil each taking another place ahead. The team's anchor, Luc Lawrence, secured the lead.
The home team advantage was a recurring theme throughout the day as several other school records were broken and the Fort Walton girls and boys secured the overall first place win. Niceville High School place second overall for both girls and boys.
A tradition at the Viking Relays is the Fat Man Relay. Participants of this race have to be coaches or discus and shot put participants or any one else who does not do a lot of running for their team. The baton is some type of food. This year it was a banana. Each leg of the race is 100 meters and the final runner had to eat the banana at the finish line before a final time would be given. The winning team was the team who finished their banana first.
National Elite Performances