BOYS WINNER: Tyler Cue - Senior @ Flagler Palm Coast
Last year Tyler's best legal 200 meter performance was a 21.54 in the prelims of the 4A State Championship. This year he is wasting no time asserting himself as one of the best spinters not only in the state, but as a national force to be reckoned with. After a strong showing at the Jimmy Carnes Indoor meet in January, Cue knocked down a purportedly non-aided 21.01 to open the 2011 season.
For perspective, by season's end last year only one Florida athlete ran faster. Even the big returning names (Bellamy, Strainge, Bracy) didn't get within a tenth of a second of that kind of territory. And nationally that 21.01 would have earned him 14th place (legal or not) on the 2010 final rankings. So to OPEN a season in that territory is just downright sick! This may be one of the deepest years ever in Florida for the 200 meter dash and Tyler Cue has just upped that excitment level several more notches.
A basketball player for most of his life, Tyler only competed in a small handful of track meets prior to his junior season. Coach Dave Halliday laughs about it now saying, "he had come out for the first two weeks of track as a freshman and sophomore, only to decide track was too hard." After playing varsity basketball last winter, he put together a very successful season, culminating with a third place finish and school record of 21.38w at the 4A State Meet and a post-season 10.64 in the 100 meters. That success and new passion for the sport was enough to convince him to hang up his Air Jordans in favor of track spikes for 2011... and apparently it's already paying off!
Halliday describes him as "very quiet and unassuming... he let's his legs do the talking." Every time he touches the track Cue has that itch to improve on his previous day's effort. And while he was pleased with his breakthrough, national leading performance at the Embry-Riddle Last Chance meet last Saturday he's already itching to see that 20-point next time out.
GIRLS WINNER: Briana Pulido - Junior @ Archbishop Carroll
There aren't many events that the determined Miami youngster hasn't tried over the years. As we've seen her compete through the flrunners.com Middle School state meets and qualifiers since 2007 she's made a go at being a distance runner, hurdler, sprinter, jumper, and thrower... heck, everything but the vault! And done well at them!
Perhaps with a heptathlon in her future, Briana opened her 2011 season last week with three wins including a 45.93 in the 300 Hurdles, 5-4 in the high jump, and a 17-3 on just one attempt in the long jump. The high jump and hurdles were both meet and venue records.
It's funny that she has seemingly found her niche in the hurdles, which is arguably her best event. She loves that event with so much fervor that not too long ago you could find her in Miami parks during the off-season jumping over trash cans, so desperate to find a place to keep practicing! Even now she finds herself attending a school with no track, long jump or high jump pits. Not to be deterred, the honor student (who is ranked #1 in her class with a 4.81 GPA) finds a way by training at nearby Belen Jesuit or Tropical Park on open track days.
This year Pulido hopes to not only repeat her feat last year of medaling in four events at the state meet, but also putting the gold medal of a state championship around her neck--the one thing that has yet alluded her already prolific and impressive career. With such raw grit and desire that is now being focused by more formal technique training in her events, it's hard to imagine she'll let anything stop her.
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This weekly awards series is sponsored by our friends at Warrior Running Camps.
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