BCAA, GMAC Championships: State Record for Northwestern, Sanders Shines

Jason Byrne

South Florida lived up to its reputation of being a track and field hotbed this weekend as both Broward and Miami-Dade Counties had their respective conference championship meets. The Miami Northwestern boys hit a new STATE RECORD in the 4x400 relay at the GMAC.  Ebony Morrison, Keisha Richburg, Robin Reynolds, Amber Monroe, Dedric Dukes, Artie Burns, and Hugh Graham Jr. headlined individually for Miami-Dade in the GMAC Championships.  Jamika Glades, Shayla Sanders, Tremaine Banks, and Arman Hall represented for Broward in the BCAA Championship.

  

 

 

 

 

 

BCAA Championship

Meet Results

Jamika Glades Double-Win in Hurdles

What a week for Jamika Glades.  The junior from Dillard was truly at the top of her game for the conference championships. She dropped two seconds off of her 300H personal best, a second off of her 100H time, and added five inches to her previous best in the triple jump. She pulled off the double in both hurdles events and also managed second place in the triple jump.

Her 14.22 time in the high hurdles--that came after a 14.23 int he prelims--gives her the #1 position in the state rankings. Meanwhile she is in the fith position in the low hurdles after she edged out in-conference rival Jasmine King of Boyd Anderson with a 44.10 in front of King's FL #6 44.16.

Shayla Sanders: South Florida's Answer to Central Florida's Freeman/Gaither Duo

It's kind of rare that Central Florida this year is representing with the two top 100/200 runners in the state. Well Shayla Sanders is determined to take one back for South Florida. And she's doing a good job of making a statement!

Sanders, who surprised many by beating Gaither at Jimmy Carnes Indoors in January, roared to a new best of 11.57 in the 100 meters to come within .03 of Gaither's mark from last week. The time was .1 better than previous the 11.67 (wind-aided) from the Hallandale Invitational, and with only a .3 wind at her back (well within the legal limit) this one was legal for trade! The time came after an 11.77 in the prelims and an 11.77 earlier in the week at the North Central Qualifier.

Later in the night she came back to make it two BCAA championships with a 23.69 victory in the 200 meters going into the wind, which is just .01 off of her all-conditions PR from Hallandale (aided). She holds on to that number three position in the state rankings for another week.

Fortunately this will all be settled next week at the Florida Relays!! (at least at the 100 meter distance)

Three Golds for Arman Hall

Coming off of his huge 400 meter win last week at the Bob Hayes Classic--possibly the best race at that event ever in Florida--Hall back back with a fantastic triple at the conference meet. After going 21.51/47.52 in the prelims, he charged hard in the final and since he found no competitors who could stick with him long he attacked mainly the clock.

In the finals, he posted yet another sub-47 time in the 400 Dash with a 46.91 that was about a second and a half better than teammate Phillip Dorsett could muster (new SB of 48.32 for Dorsett). The he hammer a 21.17 in the 200 meters for a .6 margin of victory. He closed the night to help anchor his team--that included Dorsett, Joseph McClary and Jeremy Tatham--to a 3:16.77 win.

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GMAC Championship

Meet Results

Robin Reynolds: Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady...

It's a hard triple: 100, 200, 400. But Robin Reynolds made it look easy. She was able to put it on cruise control in the 100 with a 12.41 in the finals (after a fast prelim and a strong headwind slowed the field), picked it up a bit with a 54.73 second 400 that was about 1.5 better than second place Shannon Wright of Coral Reef (56.21), and then capped off the trifecta with an easy 25.30 200 into negative wind.

Richburg's Star Shines Yet Brighter

Last week I called Richburg a new superstar after she burst onto the scene with a US #2 time of 43.66 that was a season best by two seconds. Well this week she put up even faster times!

Earlier in the week she posted a 43.50 at the qualifying meet, which moved her into US #1 at the time. On Saturday, despite the windy conditions, she nailed it with a 43.23! That time propelled allowed her to keep that US #1 position over some really fast times at FSU and out in Arizona. That came after a 43.71 in the prelims and two hard fought 100 Hurdles races (14.86 and 15.64 both into a strong headwind).

Graham/Dukes Go at it Again in 400

Becasue we all demanded an encore! Last week it was a historic three-way battle for the 400 win at Bob Hayes. This week the two guys who finished second and third in that one, Dedric Dukes of Booker T Washington and Hugh Graham Jr. of Northwestern, went at it again.

This time around it was Graham getting the better of Dukes 47.47 to 47.50 in another near photo finish. Fortunately for us track fans in Florida this is a battle we are going to get to see a lot of this season as we witness the best class of sprinters to come through this state since the years that included Walter Dix, Xavier Carter, Jamaal Torrance, Ricardo Chambers, and company.

Graham Jr. also won the 100 meters (10.86/10.79), while Dukes took the 200 meters (21.58/21.41)... neither of which included each other.

And then Graham had even more reason to celebrate with a....

STATE RECORD FOR MIAMI NORTHWESTERN BOYS 4x400

Well, folks.... we put it as #7 in our Top Ten Records That May Fall article back in February.  A little over a month later and not even yet to the half-way point in the season and it has!

Jacksonville Raines set the previous mark 18 years ago way back in the MC Hammer years of 1993 with a 3:12.78... and Miami Northwestern just slashed it with a 3:12.56 that was helped along by some stiff competition from Booker T Washington (3:15.24) and Carol City (3:17.42).

The team of  state-leading hurdler Artie Burns (47.9), Hugh Graham Jr. (47.2), Shaquille Braham (49.4), and anchored by new freshman stand-out Jeffrey Green (48.0). The team averaged 48 seconds per leg to get that new state record for the true 4x400m relay. The only equivalent faster time in Florida history was the 1969 team from Miami Killian that ran a 3:11.8 in the 4x440 Yard Relay (converts to a 3:10.7) that was anchored by future Olympic silver-medalist Larry Black.

No team outside of California or Texas has ever gone under 3:10... could they do the unthinkable this year?

Congrats, guys! Go Bulls!

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