Sharks and Terriers Bite Into Charles Johnson Invitational

Charles Johnson Invitational
Andy Warrener



On-Site Coverage

The 19th Annual Charles Johnson Invitational got some north-Florida infusion on Saturday. Typically, a Hillsborough County-heavy tournament, many area teams split off for the Wharton Invitational, opening up slots for teams like Sebastian River and Tallahassee Godby to mix it up with area teams. The Sebastian River Sharks, at least the girls team, will have a pleasant ride home as they took the team title with 105 points to Tampa’s Freedom with 91. Tampa-area Steinbrenner was third with 79. The Sharks had a champion in the, long jump in Kadasha Eliacin 15-9, also runner-up in the 100m hurdles (17.37) and 300m hurdles (49.99). Junior Tayler Smith was runner-up in both the shot (36-3) and disc (104-3). A second-place finish in the girls 4x400m at the end of the day sealed the win for the Sharks. On the boys side, Tampa’s Hillsborough won for the third year in a row. The Terrier boys did not win any individual events but placed second in five events, including high, triple and long jump as well as both hurdle events.

“It’s a really big honor (winning the Charles Johnson),” Sebastian River coach Chris Jefferson said. “We’ve got a lot of new girls that are finding success early, it will be a motivating factor for meets to come.”

Godby rose as high as fifth for the boys (68) and just ninth for the girls (34) but their sprinters shone bright against the black, rubber track at King High. Senior Caitlin Wilson (pictured above) won the 100m in 12.45 and meet MVP, then teammate Jasmine Crump won the 200m (25.94) and the Godby girls 4x100m relay team took first in 49.37. The Cougars honored two career coaches at the meet, the first being current coach Jesse Forbes. Forbes is still the active boys track coach, now in his 35th year.

“It’s still exciting, I still love the game, love track and field and the kids,” Forbes said. “I could go another 35 years.”

Forbes also got to participate in honoring his own former coach and USATF Hall of Fame member in Bill Wilson. The Godby Cougars will participate in the Jesse Forbes Invitational next Saturday.

Individual highlights featured Sprinstead’s Bobby Harris (pictured above) and Hillsborough’s Dwayne Lawson both clearing 6-6 in the high jump. Harris went on to clear 6-8 and tie the meet mark but failed to clear 6-10 on three tries. Harris, who is set to defend his Class 3A state crown this year is already jumping higher than he was at the beginning of last season.

The sprints saw some razor-thin times set down.

On the boys side, Middleton Tiger senior Shug Rhynes won both sprints, the 100m (10.71) and the 200m (22.18) en route to an MVP nomination. It is Rhynes’ first year running track and his times are already scorching. Middleton boys coach Derrick Rackard believes Rhynes could make the finals in 2A at states if he keeps up the hard work. Rhynes’ 100m time Saturday would have put him in the top five in Class 2A at states last season. Other Tigers that dominated were Daniel Dean winning both the boys 1600m (4:41.80) and 3200m (10:07.77). Lady Tiger, Deja Rodgers was runner-up in both the 100m and 200m sprints.

Host King saw some top performances. Freshman Micaela Torres, a 21:15 girls cross-country runner, finished second in both the 1600m (5:52.10) and 3200m (12:41.41). It was Torres’ first ever race in the 1600m. Teammate Sneha Sathish won the 3200m (12:34.15) and was ninth in the 1600m. Perhaps the most entertaining races of the day came from the host King boys relay teams. Both the 4x100m and the 4x400m overcame leads to win the respective events to a raucous ovation.

Tampa Catholic finished sixth as a team but saw a few athletes win titles. Freshman Alise Davis won the girls shot (37-00), sophomore Nicole Carroll won the girls pole vault (10-00), sophomore Betia Washington won the girls 400m (59.31). On the boys side, seniors Nathan Nammour won the 400m (49.29) and Jacob Rios won the boys shot (43-07)

Last year’s girls champion Freedom was not as stout with graduated studs in Faith Woodard and Sandra Akuchukwu but they still managed a second-place team finish along with an individual title from senior Lauren Arfaras in the 1600m (5:48.39). Anel Smith won the girls 300m hurdles in 49.08. The Patriots demolished the girls 4x800m field by more than 40 seconds.

Pasco County’s Anclote had memorable performances, especially in the jumps as sophomore Emily Gauvey cleared her top mark from last season of 5-6 and teammate Andrew Janus cleared 6-2 and claimed third in the boys high jump.



Elite Performances

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights