The 3A State Championship meet guarantees to be a fast one with top notch performances. Flrunners will be on-site with tons of coverage from our team of Todd Grasley, Mike Leary, Randy Settle, Andy Warrener, and Donald Lamb. Stay tuned for photos, videos, results, and a complete recap of all the action as it happens!
(Photo by Donald Lamb)
Freshman Kaylin Whitney has been on fire in her first year at East Ridge High School. She has been training in Clermont under Olympians Dennis Mitchell and Damu Cherry who are in charge of the Star Athletics program. Cherry told me recently, she has known Whitney since she was seven years old and used to give her spikes, but she has since grown out of them. Through the years, the youngster has made her mark on the AAU circuit, but Friday night marks a new chapter. The 3A State Finals could be the first of many championships. Whitney took 3A Region 2 titles in both the 100 and 200 with times of 11.57 and 23.30. She told me earlier in the season she wanted to run 11.3 and 23 low before the season's end. If she is to run a new personal best in the 100, it will be because of a strong field that includes Carol Hardy of King, Chelsea Francis of Atlantic and Regine Williams of Hallandale.
Those four along with Shakima Wimbley of Dillard and Sharrika Barnett of Evans will challenge for the 200 crown. Whitney, Williams, and Wimbley are the only three to have brown the 24 second barrier this season. Wimbley was second in this event last year. It will be interesting to see how much energy Wimbley and Barnett will have following their 400 meter final. Last year's champion in the quarter mile, Kyri Tabor is now a freshman at Alabama, but that has opened the door for Wimbley, Jordian Orway, and Barnett who finished 2-3-4 in 2012.
It will be a tough battle for the 800m crown with five girls having gone under 2:16. Lakewood Ranch senior and Southern Miss commit Kristin Zarrella and Naples senior and LSU commit Danielle Avery were neck to neck last week in their 3A Regional 3 meet in Charlotte with Zarrella coming on top with a personal best and ranked first with a time of 2:14.06 over Avery in a close second in 2:14.49. Sebring senior and University of Florida commit Taylor Tubbs, ranked third in 2:14.18 will be predicted to also in the lead group. All three seniors in a fast 800m race, looking to grab their first individual state title, but who will come on top?
The top ten girls in the 1600 are all capable of going under 5:10. Emily Edwards ran 4:53.91 at the conference meet and Taylor Tubbs has gone 4:54.50 at a small meet in Sebring. Rachel Givens, Kacy Smith, and Caroline Barlow went 3-4-5 last year at state. Look for the girls to go out hard and it wouldn't be a surprise if more than one girl runs under five minutes.
Rachel Givens the senior out of Chiles looks to be the favorite in this race. She is the defending 3A Cross Country Champion and a season best of 10:44.66. She will be pushed by Catherine Blaney of Belleview, the younger sister of Anne-Marie Blaney, who finished second in this event last year. Solis, Barlow, freshman Emma Rudman are also entered and should make for a competitive field.
Pine Forest senior Johna Whitaker comes in as the defending state championship in the 100 meter hurdles, but the University of Kentucky signee will face a tough test against Lia King of Hallandale. Whitaker has the best time in the state of 13.62 which she ran last week at the 3A Region1 Championships. King won the prestigious Florida Relays in a time of 13.89. Nobody else in the field has gone under 14 seconds. The 300 hurdles returns a majority of the field from last season. Leading the way, is 2012 runner-up Kimani Austin- Reese. The Miami Central junior battled some injuries early on in the season, but was in solid form for the postseason. She finished fifth in the 100's so will be focusing solely on this event. Whitaker will be a strong contender as well. Their regional times are separated by just a tenth of a second. She was third last year.
Miami Northwestern will rack up a ton of points in throwing events with Lloydricia Cameron, Jontavia Dykes, and Akassja White. Cameron who is the reigning champion in the shot put, and runner-up in the discus worked on her strength and technique in the offseason and has not lost a meet during her senior season. The loss at the state meet came to Carol City's Jasmine Williams who is also entered. Lamia Miller of Pine Forest will threaten in the shot put. The field is very deep containing a majority of athletes who made the finals in both events last year.
The horizontal jumps don't look to be as competitive as we've seen in the first weekend of state championship action. However, there are several girls who have gone over 18 feet in the long jump including Wilena Little of Springstead (18-4), Kadijah Brown of Liberty (18-3), and Brittany Bowald of Atlantic Coast. Chaise Cook-Martin of Boca Ciega and Deja Hillman of Haines City have both cleared 38 feet, but Cook-Martin has a six inch advantage on the sophomore, and a third place showing at last year's state championship to go with it.
Ponte Vedra sophomore Nicole Greene is a perfect blend of consistency and experience. She has been to the state meet two times and come out with a gold and silver. This year, she has gone 5-6 or higher in most meets and cleared 5-10 twice including last week to win a regional championship. Two others, senior Elizabeth Woodard of Belleview and Taylor Day of Evans have cleared 5-8. Only two girls in Florida history have gone over six feet. Can Greene make it three?
Jennifer Kistemaker of Seminole High School was fourth last year in the pole vault with a mark of 10-6, but this year has gone 11-0, 12-0, 11-6, 11-6 in her last four meets. Will the momentum continue? Last year, 11-6 won the event.
The 4x800 will kick off the afternoon's festivities and it will be a competitive race between Estero and Bartram Trail. The Wildcats are loaded with distance depth in Ole Miss signees Kacy Smith and Katy G. Solis. I like them to win this race. Stanton Prep and Miami Northwestern will go at it in the 4x100 meter relay. Miami Norland also looks to be a factor in this race. Northwestern has the fastest time in 2013 and is the only squad to dip under 47 seconds, going 46.99 at the Florida Relays. MNW, and Stanton Prep also will duke it out in the 4x4 as the Bulls cap off another successful state meet.
Miami Northwestern does it again. The Bulls look to be on pace for their fifth consecutive title and their 9th in 14 years. Pine Forest, who finished fifth last year, is predicted to finish second while a slew of teams battle it out for third.
More Coverage
The 3A State Championship meet guarantees to be a fast one with top notch performances. Flrunners will be on-site with tons of coverage from our team of Todd Grasley, Mike Leary, Randy Settle, Andy Warrener, and Donald Lamb. Stay tuned for photos, videos, results, and a complete recap of all the action as it happens!
(Photo by Donald Lamb)
Freshman Kaylin Whitney has been on fire in her first year at East Ridge High School. She has been training in Clermont under Olympians Dennis Mitchell and Damu Cherry who are in charge of the Star Athletics program. Cherry told me recently, she has known Whitney since she was seven years old and used to give her spikes, but she has since grown out of them. Through the years, the youngster has made her mark on the AAU circuit, but Friday night marks a new chapter. The 3A State Finals could be the first of many championships. Whitney took 3A Region 2 titles in both the 100 and 200 with times of 11.57 and 23.30. She told me earlier in the season she wanted to run 11.3 and 23 low before the season's end. If she is to run a new personal best in the 100, it will be because of a strong field that includes Carol Hardy of King, Chelsea Francis of Atlantic and Regine Williams of Hallandale.
Those four along with Shakima Wimbley of Dillard and Sharrika Barnett of Evans will challenge for the 200 crown. Whitney, Williams, and Wimbley are the only three to have brown the 24 second barrier this season. Wimbley was second in this event last year. It will be interesting to see how much energy Wimbley and Barnett will have following their 400 meter final. Last year's champion in the quarter mile, Kyri Tabor is now a freshman at Alabama, but that has opened the door for Wimbley, Jordian Orway, and Barnett who finished 2-3-4 in 2012.
It will be a tough battle for the 800m crown with five girls having gone under 2:16. Lakewood Ranch senior and Southern Miss commit Kristin Zarrella and Naples senior and LSU commit Danielle Avery were neck to neck last week in their 3A Regional 3 meet in Charlotte with Zarrella coming on top with a personal best and ranked first with a time of 2:14.06 over Avery in a close second in 2:14.49. Sebring senior and University of Florida commit Taylor Tubbs, ranked third in 2:14.18 will be predicted to also in the lead group. All three seniors in a fast 800m race, looking to grab their first individual state title, but who will come on top?
The top ten girls in the 1600 are all capable of going under 5:10. Emily Edwards ran 4:53.91 at the conference meet and Taylor Tubbs has gone 4:54.50 at a small meet in Sebring. Rachel Givens, Kacy Smith, and Caroline Barlow went 3-4-5 last year at state. Look for the girls to go out hard and it wouldn't be a surprise if more than one girl runs under five minutes.
Rachel Givens the senior out of Chiles looks to be the favorite in this race. She is the defending 3A Cross Country Champion and a season best of 10:44.66. She will be pushed by Catherine Blaney of Belleview, the younger sister of Anne-Marie Blaney, who finished second in this event last year. Solis, Barlow, freshman Emma Rudman are also entered and should make for a competitive field.
