Spring break is in the air and while some of their counterparts might have taken the weekend off, the girls and guys of St. Thomas Aquinas and Teahna Daniels of The First Academy headed out west to the Lonestar State to take part in the prestigious Texas Relays. The event held in Austin, at the University of Texas plays host to some of the top talent from in-state and across the country. Last year the Lady Raider's made the trek alone and came home with some serious hardware, This year they are on pace to do that again along with the guy's team, and first timer Teana Daniels is looking to do the same.
The three day event kicked off Thursday, but Florida athletes didn't get underway until day two. St. Thomas Aquinas made the most out of a tough situation early in the Division 2 800m (4x200) Relay. Despite a near disaster first hand-off from Kendall Ellis to Krystal Sparling, with Ellis stumpling into her and clipping her in the first few stride, the Raiders were able to get it together, posting a US#1 time of 1:36.14 to advance to the finals. With a four-some of Ellis, Sparling, Khalifa St. Fort, and Diamond Spaulding the meet record of 1:35.06 is definitely in jeopardy today! They weren't done setting their mark on the national rankings. Sparling, Spaulding, Jean-Baptiste and Ellis teamed up in the Division 2 1600m Relay (4x400)prelims clocking the fastest time on the evening of 3:44.09, over a second faster than Long Beach Poly of California to advance to the finals. That was the second national leading relay time of the day for the squad from South Florida.
The four-some of St. Fort, Laidlaw, Jean-Baptiste, and Kalis were third in the finals of the SMR with a time of 4:04.53 while the girl's distance medley relay team of Jean-Baptiste, Cruz, Kalis, and Lewis was 7th with a time of 12:25.56.
The Raider boys finished 16th in the Division 2 800m (4x200) Relay after finishing third in their heat and did not advance to the finals. The competition was so fierce that less than two seconds separated their 16th place showing from the first place team. They were also fifth in the SMR with a team of Oliphant, Doda, Tatham, and Butler. Three of the four fastest times came from their heat with all four times dipping under 3:30, a second and a half faster than STA's 3:31.08. Butler, one of the few athletes to run as an individual as well was 32nd in the boys 1600m run with a time of 4:31.90. The senior was also on the team's 13th place 1600m medley relay (4x400 along with Oliphant, Barrow and Tatham. He ended his night as a member of the distance medley relay which placed 15th.
Also, having a big day was Teahna Daniels. Daniels who kicked off the afternoon competing in the Division 2 100 meter prelim clocked an impressive time of 11.77. The TFA junior won her heat and was second overall behind Hannah Cunliffe of Washington. Cunliffe, a University of Oklahoma signee had a time of 11.62 to win the second heat. The finals will be run this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. central time.
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