Three Florida athletes are up for the MileSplit National Performer of the Week and need your votes! St. Thomas Aquinas standouts Krystal Sparling and Kendall Elllis along with American High School junior Ari Cogdell, and Leon junior Sukhi Khosla made the list. Since the feature has begun at the end of March Sunshine State athletes have appeared in nearly every poll. Voting closes on Thursday, May 1st at midnight (ET) and the winner will be announced later in the week so you have to vote soon!
Krystal Sparling (pictured above) has run under 12 seconds all, but two times this year. The St. Thomas Aquinas blazed a nation leading time of 11.34 in the 100 meter dash to win the 4A Region 4 Championship. What do you do for an encore? She was the anchor one of the top 4x100 meter relays in the land, followed that up with a US#1 23.34 in the 200, and then lead off the 4x400 meter relay. Prelims, four finals, two US#1's, and four regional championships. I'll say that is an OUTSTANDING days work.
Teammate Kendall Ellis was not to be outdone. She told me earlier in the week she wanted to go 53 low or possibly under. Ellis burned up the track with a US#1 time of 53.09 and closed the night by anchoring the 4x400 meter relay to victory.
A St. Thomas Aquinas athlete or relay team have made an appearance in three DIFFERENT polls this season!
Vote For Krystal & Kendall!
The 4A Region 4 girls were sizzling, but were so the boys. American High School's Ari Cogdell and St. Thomas Aquina's Rasheed Tatham battled it out in the quarter mile with Cogdell taking it at the line in a US#1 time of 46.67. Cogdell also lead off the team's nationally ranked and FL#1 4x800 meter relay which finished in 7:44.64. Like Ellis and Sparling he rounded out his regional performances with himself and his 4x400 meter relay teammates picking up the victory in a nationally ranked time of 3:14.25.
Sukhi Khosla was one of the first Florida athletes to make the National Performer of the Week poll when it debuted. Khosla ran a then US#1 time of 8:59.52 to win the FSU Relays. This past week at the 3A Region 1 Championship Khosla and Niceville's Nick Morken posted the then US#1 (current US#2) and US#3 times in the country. The Leon junior even looked like he had a little extra in the tank when he crossed the line in 4:06.45, the sixth fastest time ever run by a Florida high schooler.