For a glimpse into the future, witness the annual freshman/sophomore track meets held throughout the state(s). Here is the birthplace of stars: runners, jumpers, and throwers who are almost, but not quite, threatening to overtake their upper class counterparts in the domination of their respective specialties. With such notables as Alex Frazier and Brooke Nebel working the finish line at Spruce Creek’s brand new track, the underclassmen reigned supreme.
Although running without his cape, Flagler-Palm Coast’s Brandon Earle was nonetheless invincible in the distance events. He dominated both the 800 (2:06.57) and the 1600 (4:51.82) after anchoring FPC’s 4 X 800 to a winning time (8:47.19) that was over half a minute faster than runner-up Spruce Creek (9:17.43). And he wasn’t the least bit shy in taking the early lead in both open events.
“It was kind of one of those deals where, if you feel like you can lead, you do,” he said. “In the 800 (which came last), my coach said ‘Go out in 58,’and I said ‘What?’” Feeling his quads, he added, “I had a lot of lactic acid. And although I ran 62-63, the second lap felt faster. At least the conditions were better than the other races. (By the 800) The wind died down and it got cooler. It was a lot better than this afternoon.”
In the 1600, Andrew Epifanio (second in a just under five, 4:59.58) tried to hang with the eventual winner, which may have helped Earle mentally.
“It seemed as if they were right on me.”
A similar matchup occurred in the 3200, where Epifanio took a page from Earle’s play book to defeat a powerful challenge from FPC’s Jason Lust (who was fourth in the mile in 5:03.22). By the second lap the two had cleared the pack, and with Andrew leading by a step, they were matching each other stride for stride. Passing together through splits of 1:13, 1:20, 1:24, 1:23, 1:25, 1:26 and 1:25, they had most of the audience on their feet and screaming long before Coaches Halliday (FPC) and Papineau (Deland) began urging their athletes to “let it go” on the last lap. And they did just that. Weaving in and out of a track full of lapped runners, the two ran a final 1:13 to finish within half a second of each other: 10:48.93 to 10:49.39. In terms of a 3200 that is really, really close. In terms of excitement, it was probably the most emotional finish of the day.
As the runners were herded off the track, Jason graciously extended his hand and said, “Congratulations, you won.” Andrew, in turn, responded, “No, we won.”
It was humorous to note that afterwards the two were best of friends, reluctant to stray far apart. Same school colors, same school mascot, but alas, because of different school districts, they left on different buses. They would be perfect training partners.
Well established as a long distance powerhouse, the irony of FPC’s victory in the boys team results is that they scored nearly half (95) of their winning196 points in the sprints: 100, 200, 400, and 110 and 300 hurdles, and the 4 X 100 and 4 X 400 relays. The younger half of this team is deep and fast, taking first and second in the 100, first and third in the 300 and the top three spots in the 400.
With two firsts (11.06 in the 100 and a 22.38 in the 200) and anchor in the second place 4 X 100, Corey Shellings was the meet’s top sprinter. Afterwards he was humble about his performance.
“My start wasn’t that good and I started out kind of bad; I saw people ahead of me. Because I was in the fastest heat, the last one, everyone was fast. Fortunately I ran better in the last 40-60 meters.”
All races (including the sprints) were by time, rather than place. That nearly cost Denard Williams his second in the 100. Running in section 5, he won in 11.23, only .04 second faster than New Smyrna Beach’s Telvin Hooks (11.27), who ran in heat 6 against Shellings.
Michael Hyman (52.83) led a Flagler sweep of the 400. Kenlee Critcher was second in 53.11 and Yeovanti Williams was third in 53.26. All three ran in the fifth (last) heat. Not surprisingly, with Charles Thrower leading off, they were winners by nearly nine seconds in the 4X 400 (3:35.72).
While a strong tail wind might have aided the sprinters in the 100 and 200, it certainly wasn’t encouraging in a full lap.
As Hyman explained, “My coach, Mr. H., told me to get out fast because of the wind, hold the juice (energy) and bring it on strong. It was an advantage to be in the last (fastest) heat. That’s where my competition is (as it turned out, Critcher and Williams.).”
As Hyman explained, “My coach, Mr. H., told me to get out fast because of the wind, hold the juice (energy) and bring it on strong. It was an advantage to be in the last (fastest) heat. That’s where my competition is (as it turned out, Critcher and Williams.).”
The weights were won by Spruce Creek. LaKeevin Garvin, a 16 year old sophomore who took up the event last spring, put the ball 42’9”.
“I’ve been doing the shot for two years, but I never completed a full year. I played AAU basketball (as a center) last spring. I am finished with that, though. High school comes before everything else. High school has to come first.”
Garvin realizes that he has his work cut out for him. “This was a little easier than a regular high school invitational. There I would have to compete against Chris Lakefield, who’s throwing 49 and 149 (in the discus). This is my first time in the discus (where he finished third with a 112’6” throw), but I think I can eventually catch up with the disc. I usually practice all shot put. From now on I’m going to split the practice up.”
First he’ll have to throw another ten feet and catch Alex Shabanov, a tall order to say the least. As much as Garvin looks like a shot putter, big and strong, Shabanov (a defensive end on the football team) is a discus thrower. Despite it being his first year with it, he used his powerful legs and long arms to propel the dish 122’5”.
“I was in the shot, but I didn’t do well. Then my defensive line coach asked me to try the discus. I threw, maybe, 70’ the first day.”
It got easier, probably because of continued weight training.
“I lift pretty much every day. I do a lot of flies, and some benches. I also added maybe 15 to 20 feet by spinning.”
The Spruce Creek girls were equally successful in the weight events, and just about everything else. They placed first, second, or third in fourteen of the seventeen events (with multiple scorers in all 17) en route to amassing an incredible 217 points. Like Flagler’s boys with eight firsts, their six smothered the competition.
Spinning off their successful cross country season--and no doubt signaling many more to come—a Creek girl won the 800 (Brittany Comeau in 2:35.81), the 1600 (Kacie Meredith in 6:14.33), the 3200 (Elizabeth Sridhar in 13:20) and the 4 X 800 (Meredith, Comeau, Maholias and Hanablas in 10:54).
Although Deland was 78 points back, that may not be the case next year. They have twin superfrosh Alexis and Ashley Perrin. Although this meet is generally dominated by the older, and more experienced, sophomores, this was hardly the case with the Perrins. Both scored in every event they entered. Alexis was third leg in the second place 4 X 800, third in the 800 (2:42.95) and fifth in the pole vault (6’6”); quite a variety. Ashley won the discus (111’5”), was seventh in the shot put (25’7”), and anchor in the winning 4 X 100 (51.95). Together they helped Deland place second in the 4 X 400 relay (4:28.57). Their combined 47.5 points went a long way towards their team’s second place (139.5) finish. And it’s their first year of track!
This meet was, and always will be, about tomorrow. With time and hard work will come growth: faster times, longer throws, and better jumps. After next month’s round of meets another class (2008) of track athletes will be moving on, and this group will very capably fill their spikes.