Sparling, Ellis, & St. Thomas Aquinas girls proving to be nation's best recording 3 US #1's

New Girls 200m US Leader - Krystal Sparling (St. Thomas Aquinas FL) 23.35

Photo by Jonathan Calderon
 

The St. Thomas Aquinas girls are proving themselves early in the 2014 outdoor season to be one of the nation's best high school track & field programs currently. No better proof than their recent results from the Broward County (BCAA) Championships meet on Saturday at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A total of three US #1 performances were record from their program in the single meet with Krystal Sparling rolling out a swift and wind legal US #1 23.35 clocking in the 200 meter dash, teammate Kendall Ellis becoming the first girl in the country under 54 seconds in the open 400 for the 2014 outdoor season at 53.93, and their 4x100 meter relay featuring Sparling and Ellis bolting for a nation's best 45.97 for the quartet in the finals of the event.

Their dominance was exhibited through all three relays with victories in the 4x100 (45.97) and 4x800 (9:37.57) and close second in the 4x400 meter relay (3:47.59) to a Daeshon Gordon-led Northeast High School squad (3:47.00). The 200 meter dash finals was a power display as well for the St. Thomas Aquinas girls sweeping the top four places with Sparling (1st, 23.35), Diamond Spaulding (2nd, 24.17), Khalifa St. Fort (3rd, 24.34), and Ellis (4th, 24.50). Spaulding and St. Fort also went 1-2 clocking times well under 12 seconds in the 100 dash finals. Most teams are lucky and fortunate to have one girl that can dip into the 24 second range for 200 meters, but St. Thomas Aquinas is loaded with at least four girls easily capable of running such a quick time.

The boys' program at St. Thomas Aquinas is not too shabby themselves. They also swept the relays at the BCAA Championships with stellar times as well between 41.27 in the 4x100, 3:16.34 in the 4x400, and 7:58.52 in the 4x800. Ryan Crozier was their top individual performer with a 179'10" mark in the boys discus.

The meet as a whole was loaded with national caliber performances including a 13.76 clocking in the girls 100 meter hurdles and 42.04 performance in the girls 300 meter hurdles by Daeshon Gordon (Northeast HS), which both rank among the top 5 fastest in the country. Hallandale's Kimani Rushing remains a steady leaper over 40 feet in the girls triple jump as the current US #5 ranked (41'0" season best) Rushing won the competition this weekend with a mark of 40'6.50".

Boyd Anderson junior Javon Patterson went to work in the boys 800 from the gun and his efforts earned him a US #3 time of 1:52.53. After watching Daeshon Gordon run a US top 5 time in the girls 300 hurdles, Antwuan Musgrove of Hallandale decided to replicate in the boys' race with a US #4 clocking of 37.63. 

 

More Coverage:

 

BCAA Championships (FL) 

Meet Results

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights