East Lake Girls Soar, Countryside Boys Scratch Their Way to Wins at Kiwanis

Ed Wells Kiwanis Invitational
Andy Warrener



On-Site Coverage

The 52nd Annual Ed Wells Kiwanis Invitational at Clearwater saw the favored teams exert their collective wills with the East Lake girls cruising to a dominant victory with 135 points to runner-up Osceola with 73. It took the Countryside boys until the final two events to seal the deal but they delivered with Andrew Llewellyn taking sixth in the 3200m and the Cougar boys grabbing second in the 4x400m relay. Countryside out-paced runner-up Lakewood 103 to 75.5.
 
Individually, standouts shone across the county. The Most Outstanding Individual athletes were Jeanna Cube of Osceola on the girls side and Llewellyn on the boys side. Cube won both the girls high jump and the 300m hurdles, knocking down the meet mark with a jump of 5-5. She then ran her best time of the season in the 300m hurdles, a 49.89. Cube also claimed second in the 100m hurdles (16.23) and third in the long jump (16-1.5).
 

On the boys side, Llewellyn won the boys 800m in 1:59.40, narrowly defeating Devontae Persha of Lakewood, the 1600m (4:39.42) and was sixth in the 3200m. Llewellyn got a little boost from former Countryside state champion 800m runner Ricy Brown being in town for a few days during Spring Break. 
 
“I found out he (Brown) starts his kick at the 200 meter mark,” Llewellyn said. “That’s about where I like to start mine.”

 
The Dunedin Dynamic Duo of senior Ahmad Middleton and sophomore Olivia Welsh pushed the individual performances of the ones chosen. Middleton won the boys 110m hurdles in 14.89 and won the 300m hurdles in 40.76. Middleton also claimed second in the long jump (21-8) where he injured his arm and had to run all of his races at less than 100 percent. 
 
 
Welsh competed in two events and set down the meet record in both events. First it was the girls pole vault where Welsh claimed second behind Osceola’s Jennifer Kistemaker. Both girls cleared 11-1 but both failed at 11-7. Kistemaker won by virtue of fewer misses. The former meet mark of 10-6 never stood a chance. Welsh would follow it up with a scorching 14.91 in the 100m hurdle finals, setting down the meet mark from 2006. 
 
“Breaking 15 (seconds) was one of my goals,” Welsh said. “I got it at duals, almost at USF, I’m glad to be doing it consistently.”

 
Other multi-event winners were Jaquez President of Gibbs winning the 100m in 11.23 and the 200m in 22.33 and anchoring the winning 4x400m relay. President also finished second behind Countryside’s Robert Davis in the 400m. Davis, winner of the boys open 400m (49.90) would haunt President again at the end of the day in the 4x400m relay as Davis pressured President on the final stretch. President was fresh off a perspective-giving meet at USF last Saturday where he finished third in the 100m and fourth in the 200m.
 
“It (USF-Steinbrenner Invitational) showed even if you are the best in the county, there’s always someone better than you,” President said.
 
Teammate Jerosan Fletcher won the girls 200m (26.12) and 400m (58.95) races, marking her best time of the season in the 200m. 
 
The boys high jump was one of the highlight events of the day with three boys over the bar at 6-2. Boca Ciega’s Tyrie Adams and Largo’s D’Terio Petite both cleared 6-4 but neither could quite get 6-6. Adams took first based on his clearing 6-4 on his first try, after a jump off at 6-5 which neither weary athlete could clear. 
 
“(Adams) has been my only real competition, it’s been neck-and-neck since Pinellas Park (Richard Allen Relays),” Petite said.
 
Palm Harbor thrower, Sara Karuli won both events for the girls, 34-2 in the shot, setting down the meet record and 109-5.25 in disc.

 
The East Lake girls scored all over, Wednesday at Clearwater. Cienna Nichols finished runner-up to Gibbs’ Tysheira Adams (13.18) in the 100m. Nichols grabbed second in the 200m (26.89) and second in the 400m (1:02.10). She even ran a leg on the fourth-place 4x100m relay. Ramiah Vickers was second in the triple jump (34-4) to Daisha Brown of Largo (36-9), fifth in the 100m and sixth in the 200m.  In middle distance, Erica Lersch grabbed second in the girls 800m (2:27.38) and teammate Sabrina Siegel finished fifth (2:29.45). Siegel (pictured aboev) also ran the girls 1600m where she finished second in 5:29.58. 
 
“She (Siegel) is not used to running the 1600m then the 800m, we asked a lot of her today,” East Lake coach Britt Taylor said. 
 
Siegel was second in the 1600m to teammate Erica Lersch. The East Lake pair led the whole race and cruised to a dominant win, more than 11-seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Siegel continued her distance dominance with a 10-second win in the girls 3200m (12:05.14) running her best time of the season. Taylor’s pleasant surprise of the day came from Wednesday Terry, who claimed second in the 3200m (12:15.77). It was Terry’s fifth meet of her career, according to Taylor. 
 
Not finished with distance drama, Osceola’s Hunter McCann pounded down the field with breath-taking splits, finishing first in the boys 3200m in 10:14.41, just a second off his personal record from last season but well ahead of the field. McCann was 12th at USF on Saturday in 10:19.14 and had no one to push him Wednesday at Clearwater. Still, the sophomore has means to keep up the pace.
 
“I just try to listen for footsteps behind me, I just try to make sure I don’t hear them,” McCann, already the school record-holder in the event, said.
 
McCann did get a late charge from Northeast’s Nick Spring.
 
Host Clearwater’s Erin Avers won the girls 800m in 2:23.69. 

 
Osceola’s Carson Waters won the boys pole vault, clearing 14 feet and Northeast’s Daruis Lacy of Northeast hit his best mark of the season winning the long jump with 21-11. Lacy was also second in the triple jump to Victor Thompson of Boca Ciega (43-0).

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights