2013 has come and gone with some major performances as we ring in 2014 we will be taking you back throughout the year to commemorate some of the bigger runs of the year!
January
Jimmy Carnes – With the opening of the indoor track season, the big question on everyone’s mind was how good can Levonte Whitfield be this season? Levonte’s cousin and biggest competitor, Marvin Bracy, had set the track on fire the year before and was now racing for FSU. The 2013 Jimmy Carnes Invitational was Levonte’s chance to break away from his cousin’s shadow and show that he was the king of Florida sprinting. Unfortunately, for Whitfield, his competitors had something else in mind. Intrigued? Check out the meet coverage page below!
We also saw Avery Lopez tear up the mile and 3k. Daeshon Gordon broke the 55m Hurdles meet record with a time of 8:47. Kali-Davis White won both the 55m and the 200m. Kendal Williams impressed with his 21.62 200m dash, edging out Ceolamar Ways by .01 Seconds! (21.62 vs. 21.63)
Check out the Meet Coverage
University of Florida Lands 2 Major Recruits – Andres Arroyo and Nick Uruburu
February
Brooks PR Invitational – Kali Davis-White lead an elite group of Florida athletes at the 2013 Brooks PR Invitational. Inviting only the crème of the crop, the top sprinters and long distances runners went head to head at Dempsey Indoor Stadium in Seattle, Washington. Kali Davis-White of Boyd Anderson won the 60m Dash in a very quick 7.31! Other notable performances included Deja Parrish running 55.58 and Kendall Ellis running 56.07 for 400m, Levonte Whitfield running 6.64 and Kendal Williams running 6.71 for 60 meters, and Andres Arroyo running 1:51.1 for 800m.
Check out the meet coverage page here
*** Florida State University Nabs Bridget Blake!
March
Holy Trinity Invitational – Arroyo opens up one of the most impressive outdoor campaigns for a Florida distance runner by running a solo 4:10 1600m!
Lake Brantley Invitational – Kaylin Whitney introduced herself to the high school running scene in a big way with wins in the 100m and 200m. Kaylin’s times of 11.95 and 24.05 only foreshadowed what we would see this season, and what we can hope to see through out her running career! We also saw Reggie Glover and Bryan Slay open the season with two very fast 400’s, 47.59 (Glover) vs. 47.81(Slay).
Coverage Here
NCAA Indoor Championship - Aurieyall Scott wins the 60m Dash for UCF’s first ever NCAA Championship! The Florida Men’s team placed second to Arkansas in the team standings.
Meet Page is here
New Balance Indoor Nationals – Kali Davis-White followed up her Brooks Invite win with a national indoor title in the 200m. After a false start DQ in the 60m dash, Davis-White edged out her competition in the 200m with a meet record 23.48.
Kali wouldn’t be the only Florida Runner to win a 200m national title. In the boys race, Ceolamar Ways of Nease High School, shocked nation by winning in a very quick 21.37.
Florida’s 3rd National Indoor Champion was Jeremiah Green of Hillsborough High School. Having already set the US #1 in the Triple Jump at Jimmy Carnes, Green beat his competition by over 2 feet with a jump of 51’ 6.5”.
For Flrunners coverage here
Metro Conference – Having run 1:51 indoors and 4:10 to open the season, Arroyo followed up his amazing start to the track season with a 4:04 1600m. Whats more impressive is he did this, days before running at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Also running well at the Metro Conference was Levonte Whitfield. Whitfield won the 100 (10.4) , the 200(21.4) and his 4x1 team edged out Olympia (41.75 vs 41.97)
Metro Conference Coverage
IAAF Coverage
April
Florida Relays – In what now should be called the Spring of Andres Arroyo, one could only expect magic when Arroyo stepped on the track. At the 2013 Florida Relays, Arroyo did not disappoint. Running in a stacked field of 800m runners, with 26 of them under the 2 minute mark, Arroyo managed to win by nearly 5 seconds. His time of 1:47.79 was US #4 All Time for a high school boy. 2 days later Andres traveled to Embry Riddle in Daytona and ran 9:01 for 3200m.
Also, running very well were the girls from St. Thomas Aquinas. They dominated every relay event setting US #1s in the 4x100m (46.49) and the 4x400m (3:40.74). Levonte Whitfield won the 100m in a wind legal 10.28, Bridget Blake won the 1600m in 4:54, 8th Grader Daesha Rodgers won the girls 800m in 2:11 and Jeremiah Green tripled jumped his way to a nation leading 52’ 1.75.”
Florida Relays Coverage
Embry Riddle Meet Coverage
Brian Jaegar Classic – In a normal track season, an athlete (Reggie Glover) tripling 10.6, 21.7, and a US #1 46.46 would absolutely dominate the headlines. In a normal track season, Bridget Blake’s 2:16, 4:58, and 11:06 triple would turn some heads. If we’ve learned anything, this season is far from normal. Who dominated the headlines this week? You guessed it……..Andres Arroyo. In the 3200m, Andres decided to start lapping people 1200m in and ran the FL #2 all time mark of 8:51.47. Arroyo became 1 of 5 to ever break 1:50 for 800 and 9:00 for 3200 while in high school. Other names on the list include Jim Spivey and Alan Webb!
Brian Jaegar Coverage
Levonte Whitfield calls it a season as tendonitis ends his bid at defending his state title.
(Photo by Donald Lamb)
3A Region 2 – Freshmen sensation, yes, the future of Florida track and field, probably, the best female sprinter in the country, maybe. Kaylin Whitney completely dominated her region by running the US #1 200m time of 23.2 and the US #5 100m time of 11.57.
Meet Coverage
3A Region 3- With Whitfield out for the season someone was bound to capture the sprint headlines that someone happened to be Trayvon Bromell. The senior from Gibbs high school won the 100m in a time of 10.14! Bromell also went on to win the 200m in 21.57.
Meet Coverage
1A State Meet -
Girls
In the biggest meet of the year and the last state meet of her career, Stefanie Kurgatt came up big for Maclay. Kurgatt started her day off by anchoring the winning 4x8 team, she then followed that up with a win in the 1600 (5:06.26) and the 800m (2:16.47) Kurgatt’s triple helped Maclay win the team title over Holy Trinity (76-53).
The girls pole vault could have been one of the most competitive events of the day as 3 girls all vaulted over 12’. Emily Gale ended up winning with a vault of 12-6 over Kelsey Stern and twin sister Amanda Gale. Darrielle McQueen won both the lon jump (19-3) and the triple jump with a US #12 performance (40-04.5).
Boys
The day started off with long distance powerhouse, Holy Trinity, winning their first ever 4x800 title in a time of 8:08 over St. Petersburg Catholic (8:13). Holy Trinity went on to dominate the other distance events going 1-2 in the 1600m and 2-3 in the 3200m. Holy Trinity won the team title with 80.5 points.
2A State Meet
Girls
The American Heritage Girls team was in a league of their own at the 2A state meet. After winning the 4x800m in 9:21, 8th grader Daesha Rogers matched the feat of Stefanie Kurgatt by winning the 1600m in 4:59, then following that up with a win in the 800m and a time of 2:12. But to say American Heritage girls won on the shoulders of Rogers would be unfair. Deja Parrish won the 400m in a time of 55.06, Diamond Spaulding won the 200m in 23.59, and the girls won the 4x400 in a time of 3:50.29.
Boys
The boys from Lakewood won in a squeaker over Wahington (Miami) 67 points to 66. Lakewood was lead by hurdler Timothy Holmes who won the 300mH in 37.98 and placed second in the 110mH in a time of 14.18, behind Walter Tucker’s 13.95. Also scoring for Lakewood was Shaquem Griffin who won the boys long jump in 23-05 while his twin brother Shaquill won the Triple Jump in 49-10.
2A State Meet Headquarters
May
3A State Meet
Girls
Rain, Rain, go away unfortunately it stayed this day. (Is it just me, or am I always singing at the state meet?) Due to gloomy conditions the meet officials decided to push the events up in hopes of beating the coming storms. If the day belonged to anyone, it would be sprinters Kaylin Whitney and Johna’ Whitaker. Kaylin won the 100m in 11.79 and the 200m in 23.40, she also became the first freshmen to be invited to run in the Adidas Dream 100m. Whitaker finished her final state meet in a big way by taking both the 100mH (13.92) and the 300mH(42.72). Miami Northwestern won the team title with 74.5 points.
Boys
Going into the last event of the 2012 3A State track meet, the top 4 teams were separated by only a couple of points. On paper any one of these teams could win the title based off of where they placed in the 4x4. With 1 runner to go, it was anyone’s race. In the last 40 seconds of the race, Bartram Trail Junior, Nick Uruburu took the baton and brought the home crowd to their feet as he hawked down his competition. Bartram Trail ended up winning the 4x400 and secured the team title. How could 2013 live up to the hype? Would you believe in the same exact fashion?
Fast forward to 2013 and we see Uruburu continuing his winning ways by taking the 400m title in a time of 48.28. He came later to place 3rd in the 200m with a 21.52. Going into the final event, Miami Northwestern had a lead in the race for a team title, but unfortunately didn’t have a 4x4 team racing. In order to win Bartram Trail needed to place at least 6th to defend their title. When all was said and done it was Uruburu doing as he had done in 2012, by anchoring his team to a 4x4 title and securing the team title.
Other big performance included Artie Burns winning both the 110mH and the 300mH, Trayvon wins the 100m, and the boys from Niceville take the individual honors in both the 1600m and 3200m. (Morken – 1600m & Howell – 3200m)
3A State Meet Headquarters
4A State Meet
Girls
Kali Davis-White, of Boyd Anderson, capped of her senior year regular season with wins in the 100m, 4x100m relay, and a state meet record in the 200m (23.05) despite horribly rainy conditions. Also, capping off a stellar career was Dr. Phillip’s senior, Bridget Blake. Bridget took home the gold in the 1600m and the 3200m, while taking silver in the 800m. Bridget was just shy of completing the famed triple, which was last successfully completed by Lily Williams, who now runs for Vanderbilt. The team title went to St. Thomas Aquinas as the won with 92 points.
Boys
4:15 , 1:54, and 9:30. These were the winning times for the boys 1600m, 800m, and 3200m. They also were the times that Arroyo ran as he was able to successfully accomplish the big triple. The last time this was accomplished on the guys side was by Justin Taylor of St. Josephs Academy with times of 4:18, 1:55, and 9:31. The boys team title went to Olympia High School with 49 points.
Golden South – Deanna Hill of Lake Highland Prep showed up in a big way by winning the girls 100m in a time of 11.63. Hill’s goal was to make the Dream 100 and with the win she punched her ticket.
On the guys side, Trayvon Bromell continued to impress as he won the 100m in a time of 10.27. In the 200m, Stanton Prep Standout Kendal Williams bested the reigning indoor national champion Ceolamar Ways. (20.64 vs 20.78)
Golden South Meet Headquarters
Marvin Bracy calls it quits at FSU and signs with Adidas!
Adidas Grand Prix- With all the hype for the event, the AGP was a little lack luster in regards to the Florida athletes as Ceolamar Ways was the top placer from Florida in any event. Ways finished 2nd in the 100m behind Cameron Burrell with a time of 10.59. Kali Davis-White finished 3rd in the 100m while frosh Kaylin Whitney finished 5th and became the only freshmen to ever be invited to run in the Dream 100m.
Adidas Grand Prix meet coverage
New Balance Outdoor Nationals- Ceolamar shows up and does it again. The indoor 200m National Champion captured another 200m title when he beat Trayvon Bromell 20.85 to 20.91. Capturing another triple jump National Crown was Jeremiah Green with a 52-2! Trayvon Bromell continued his impressive senior campaign by winning the 100m in a 10.41. Also capturing a national title were the boys from Lakewood as they won the 4x200m relay. In an event not contested in Florida, Brittany McGee of Admiral Farragut, picked up the national title in the Girls Heptathlon.
New Balance Coverage Here
USATF Outdoor Championships – Trayvon Bromell picked up the Junior title with a 10.56 in the 100m.
World Youth Trials – Lloydricia Cameron of Miami Northwestern had a great weekend as she won the discus with a throw of 158-10 and place 4th in the shot put.
July
Athlete Profile Redesign - Did you miss the profile redesign? If so, make sure to search your favorite athlete and check it out.
AAU Club Nationals – Daesha Rogers impressed as she broke to AAU National records by running 55.82 for 400m and 2:10.28 for 800m. She also won the 1500m with a time of 4:35.4.
Meet Coverage Page
UNF Wins Another State Meet Bid – This time the state meets will take place on a single weekend with all 4 classifications going on either Friday or Saturday.
More here
August – Cross Country is back, Jack!
Daesha Rogers Changes Schools – American Heritage State Champion, AAU National Champion, and National Record holder decided her high school career was going to be spent running at Miami Jackson High School. The 4 time consecutive team champions, American Heritage, will be hurting come track season as they just lost a bucket of points.
More Here
Ridgeview Bob Hans Invitational – In the first meet of the season we saw Karen Xiang make a strong statement as she ran away for the field, winning the 5k in a time of 18:42. The senior from Nease high school beat the second place runner by over 50 seconds. In the boys race we saw the Chiles boys absolutely decimate the field. Cade Zimmerman won the race in a time of 16:26, while leading his team to the overall title.
Meet Coverage
September
Fort Myers Optimist Meet- Araceli Leon of Estero upset Emily Edwards for the overall win while leading her team to an overall win over Sarasota high School. (52-89) The would be the first of many back and forth’s between Edwards and the girls of Estero. In the boys race, Tyler Bennet of Fort Myers, won in a time of 16:03 over Zackery Summerall of Sarasota High School.
Meet Coverage
Katie Caples Invitational – Karen Xiang proved once again she was the real deal as she beat a star-studded field and won the 5k in a time of 18:52. Timber Creek Sophomore, Brandon Marquez, won the boys race in a time of 16:14.
UF Mountain Dew Invitational – Tyler Bennett broke away from the field early and won the race in a very quick 15:24. In the girls race, Julie Wollrath of Holy Trinity, showed great race maturity when she came from behind to win in 18:17 over Estero’s Bethany Jenkins (18:27).
Meet Coverage
Alligator Lake Invitational – Sukhi Khosla of Leon High School cemented himself as the 3A state favorite when he broke away from track state champions, Nicholas Morken and Thomas Howell, and ran 15:08 for the 5k. On the girls side it was Emma Rudman of Fort Walton Beach winning in a time of 18:40.
Flrunners.com Invitational - In one of the most anticipated meets of the season, the best runners from the state of Florida gathered in hopes of being crowned the FlRunners Champion. In the girls race, the surprise star of the year, Karen Xiang continued her domination on the state by winning in a very quick 17:52. Runner-up, Emily Edwards, finished 12 seconds back with a time of 18:04. Nick Diaz of Miami Sunset pulled of a great upset and won the meet in a time of 15:15, just 1 second better than Nicholas Morken of Niceville.
October
FSU Invitational / Prestate - Belen Jesuit entered the meet and got beat. Again, Belen Jesuit toed the line and finished second. For those who follow the sport, you know that when Belen Jesuit lines up they rarely get beaten. In fact they probably have less losses in the past 5 years than you have fingers on one hand. Who managed this big upset? The hometown boys from Chiles high School won with a score of 165, 10 points better then Belen who finished with 175. The overall boys winner was Sukhi Khosla in a very impressive 14:59.
On the girls side, Estero continued to reign supreme. Estero scored 121 points to beat Holy Trinity who scored 138. The winner of the girls race was Caroline Barlow of Gulf High School. Barlow beat Emily Edwards by 7 seconds, with a winning time of 17:53.
FSU Meet Coverage
November
FLYRA Middle School State Meet - Lake Weir Middle School Runner, Joey Fitzpatrick, won the overall boys race in a time of 9:48 for 3k. In doing so, Joey broke the course record held by Brandon Marquez of 10:21. On the Girls side it was Rafaella Gibbons who won the race in a time of 11:05, beating Pine Crest’s Tsion Yared by 10 seconds.
2013 Cross Country Finals
1A State Meet
Girls
Julie Wollrath captured her third individual title with a winning time of 18:14. Wollraths team also captured the overall team title, her first as a high school runner, with 48 points. In second was Oak Hall with 52 points.
Boys
In the boys race we saw a surprise winner in Franco Martins of Windemere Prep. Martins edged out Holy Trinity’s Andrew Cacciatore by 3 seconds, 15:44 – 15:47. Not all was lost for Cacciatore as his team won the state title with 69 points. In second was the Maclay School with 101 points.
2A State Meet
Girls
In the battle for the individual title it was defending state champion Julia Montegomery versus very good competition in Daesha Rogers, Immokalee’s Anita Munoz, and Mackenzie Wilson from Bolles. Montgomery was able to secure another title by winning in a time of 18:22, over Rogers (18:29). The team title was a close one between Montgomery’s, Pine Crest, and 2A perennial powerhouse Bolles. The girls from Bolles managed to win the title with 42 points, beating Pine Crest who scored 55.
Boys
Lionel DeLacruz of Immokalee took the overall honors winning in a time of 15:50. Trinity Prep won their newly assigned state meet with a total score of 76, beating the returning state champions Bishop Kenny by 30 points. (106)
3A State Meet
Girls
The race for the girls individual title was one of the biggest story lines on the day, as there were 5 girls who could realistically be crowned champion. In this race we had Karen Xiang, Emily Edwards, Caroline Barlow, Araceli Leon, and Emma Rudman. These 5 girls traded wins in most of the major competitions of the 2013 season. In the end it was Emily Edwards who captured the title in a time of 18:09. Barlow, just 6 seconds back, was the 3A runner-up. Estero, not surprisingly, captured another team title with a score of 83 points. Sarasota finished in second with a score of 96 points.
Boys
Much like the girls race, the boys had a number of competitors capable of taking the 3A crown. By the second lap it was apparent that the Pre-State champion, Sukhi Khosla would take home another victory on this course as he left the field and won in a time of 15:08. Tyler Bennett finished 15 seconds back with a time of 15:23. In the race for the team title, we saw the Belen Jesuit boys redeem themselves as they turned the table on Chiles high school. Belen won the meet with a score of 86, while Chile placed 2nd with 116 points.
4A State Meet
Girls
Alexa Cruz made winning look easy as she won by 26 seconds over Ketherine MacNeal 18:02 – 18:28. St. Thomas Aquinas, lead by Cruz, won the meet with a score of 63 points. In second was Winter Park with a score of 125 points.
Boys
On the boys side we saw FLrunners Invitiational Champion, Nick Diaz cap off an impressive regular season winning in a time of 15:22. Finishing 1 second behind Diaz was James Zentmeyer of Sickles. Capturing the team title were the boys from St. Thomas Aquinas with a total score of 101 points. With 128 points, Coral Reef placed 2nd.
NXN South Regional – Nick Diaz continued to impress as he placed 9th in the Championship race and earned a ticket to run at the National Meet in Portland. The Winter Park boys placed 2nd in the open division. The Estero girl’s finished 5th in the meet.
Foot Locker South – 3A standouts Tyler Bennet and Karen Xiang both managed to punch their tickets to the Foot Locker National Championships with top 10 finishes in the perspective races. Bennet ran 14:52 which was good for 7th in the boys race, while Xiang finished the girls seeded race in 10th with a time of 17:20.
Meet Coverage
December
Nike Cross Nationals – Miami Sunset Junior finished his Junior Cross Country campaign with a 79th place finish at the Nike Cross National meet. Diaz ran the challenging 5k course in a time of 16:04.
Meet Coverage
AAU National Cross Country Championships – Florida Middle School State Champion, Joey Fitzpatrick, added a National title to his resume with a win in the boys 4k race. His winning time was 13:05, beating out second place by 1 second. Placing 5th in the race was Winter Park freshmen, Alex Boucher in a time of 13:24. The Florida Girl’s Middle School State Champion, Rafaella Gibbons, placed 3rd in the 4k race with a time of 14:34.
Meet Coverage
Foot Locker Nationals – Tyler Bennett and Karen Xiang finished out the senior cross-country season with the Foot Locker National meet in beautiful San Diego, California. Racing the top 40 runners in the country, Bennett placed 31st with a time of 15:57. In the girls race Xiang finished 37th with a time of 18:55.
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