Gainesville, FL-- There was plenty of excitement and personal records being shattered Saturday night at Oak Hall School. Cameras flashed, jaws dropped, and the uproar of the spectators spread across the bleachers as former Floridian, Ryan Deak crossed the finish line for a new personal best and the fastest 3,200 ever run on Florida soil, 8:51.65.
Deak made the trip to Gainesville from Aurora, Colorado for a sea-level time trial. The newly Colorado University signee was pushed all the way by Harvard All-American and \'92 Footlocker National Finalist, Darin Shearer. Shearer, who is also a sub 4:00 miler, led the race for 7 laps until the Smoky Hill senior pulled away with 150 meters left leaving the collegiate All-American in the dust.
Behind the two leaders came a line of personal records for the Floridians. Flagler Palm Coast\'s sophmore sensation, Justin Harbor placed 4th in 9:18, right behind Steven Myers from Pensacola. Also, Jeff Masterson of Mitchell High School came back strong after a tough race in Tampa last weekend. Masterson placed 5th in 9:21, 3 seconds off of a personal best.
The excitement was far from over. Oviedo junior and Footlocker hopeful, Jenny Barringer took the stage. Barringer hung back and let the men do the work. Oak Hall 8th grader Ryan Harris led through the 1,600, but Barringer was staying close behind, running approximently 5:10 through 1,600. The 4A State Champ lost some ground over the next two laps, but powered back in the last 200 meters and finishing in an incredible 10:18.84! Which puts her 2nd all time in Florida.
Other notables were Gulliver Prep\'s Bryan Sharkey placing 2nd in the 2,000 (5:37) right behind former teammate and University of Florida runner, Andrew Martin (5:31). Also, Land O Lakes sophomore, Steven Bell won the 1,600 in a new personal record (4:24.52).