Orange Belt Conference: St. Cloud Girls & Liberty Boys Crowned Queen And King Of Osceola County

Orange Belt Conference Championship
Donald Lamb

(Liberty went 1-2-3 in the 100 and all three hit PRs with Turner (10.63), Wilson (10.78), & Winkler (10.84) Turner also won the 200 with a PR of 21.70)

On-Site Coverage

We are on the brink of the playoffs for track season. Schools are trying to get in those last tune ups before the state series begins and legacies get established. Osceola County held its conference championships Tuesday evening at St. Cloud.

With only seven schools, the OBC championships are more about team depth. As opposed to super meets where elite marks win titles, this ultimately comes down to who has built up their program to score athletes in as many events as possible. Coaches lose sleep running scenarios trying to get the best possible combination. As I said in a previous article, your conference might be the only thing your kids have a shot at winning, so GO FOR IT!!  

The girls’ side looked to be an early toss up between host St Cloud and Osceola. The winning trophy has been at one of these respective schools for so long that neither coach could remember it not being won by Osceola or St Cloud.  In the end St Cloud took the trophy back for this year at least. Kirsten Chambers had a great day by placing top 3 in all of her events (LJ, TJ, HJ, 100m HH) and contributing 28 points to the St Cloud total of 216. Karissa Solorzano takes the MVP by winning all three events (4x800, 1600, 3200) she competed in. Osceola HS still had a good day and brings back several titles in their runner-up performance. You can always count on OHS to have something ready for next year.

The boys’ side turned out to be another Liberty victory. Before the running finals even began, the Chargers had already tallied up 92 points. One of the most competitive battles of the day was probably between the ears of Rogelio Araiza (pictured below). His program is one of distance runners’ lore; the mile, 800, 2 mile & 4x400. Total distance traveled around the track: 6000 meters. He did it, and did it well enough to win three more titles (giving him 8 OBC championship plaques to date). The relay team finished 3rd which put him at 36 points. Liberty as a team scored 215 points to take its 5th  consecutive OBC title and build up the momentum for a run at the state title. Just like the girls side, OHS takes second. The future is bright over there, and with graduation potentially taking a hit on Liberty, young programs like Gateway and Osceola can take advantage.

Other impressive stats of note on the day were:

Marion Brown of Liberty finished off his conference career with two more jump titles. He won the long jump at 22’6’’ and then hit a PR in the triple jump of 46’9.5’’ (FL #9) to give him 5 championship plaques.

Daja Clayton (Gateway) pulled off the hurdle double winning both the high and low hurdle events. 

Celebration's Jhonny Victor cleared 6-6 in the high jump; the third time he has hit that mark in the last four meets.



Elite Performances

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

Interviews By Donald Lamb