Lakewood Sparts Sweep Team Titles At Early Bird Eagle Invitational

Andy Warrener

On-Site Coverage

The Lakewood Spartans have officially set the pace for the 2016 track season with a two-squad sweep of the East Lake Eagle Early Bird Invite held at Clearwater High School. On the boys side, the Lakewood boys, led by sprinter Terence Ware and hurdler Jordan Williams, the Spartans amassed 126 points to East Lake's 84. Nature Coast Tech took third with 62 and Ridgewood fourth with 56. Williams and Ware combined for 48 points in just their individual events and 58 if you count their points from the winning 4x100m relay. It was a fitting end to their night as the pair crossed the finish line in the 200m nearly simultaneously. Williams won it with a 22.17 and Ware logged a 22.52.

Ware, Williams and much of the Lakewood team sported florescent green on Wednesday, a color not part of the traditional Lakewood yellow and black.

"It's something we've done since the Griffin brothers graduated - stay bright," Williams said. "It started (wearing florescent green) with them and we just kept it."


Williams refers to former Lakewood horizontal jumpers Shaquille and Shaquem Griffin, now at UCF. Williams and Ware certainly didn't do it on their own. They got some help from Ryian Freeman and Adrian Adams. Freeman took third in the long jump (20-2.5) and Adams fifth (19-9). Adams also took fifth in the 100m. Stevenson Choute won the 400m dash in 52.64 for the Spartans and Justin Skyler Walker took third in the 3200m (10:29.38). Malik Foster scored in both hurdle events, taking third in the 300m and third in the 110s. 

"For the first meet, this is wonderful," Williams said. "We've been practicing on the football practice fields because they're working on the track."


By next season, Pinellas County will have two new rubber tracks to compete on. Lakewood's is nearly completed with the rubber already down, just needing paint. Up in North Pinellas, meet host East Lake is getting a rubber track put in, hence the move to Clearwater for Wednesday's meet.

Boys high jump was a strong event with both Mitchell's Matthew Johns and Clearwater's Romain Minott-Neufville both clearing six feet. Neufville won it based on attempts at six feet. It was a new PR for Johns. Neufville would come back and place third in the 400m (53.60). 


It was a big day for Wesley Chapel SAC cross country champ Dominic Moreno. Moreno started off the day by helping the Wildcat 4x800m relay to victory in 8:28.31. Then Moreno got in a battle with Palm Harbor's Mason Young in the 1600m. Young separated from the pack through two laps only to have Moreno catch him on the back stretch and burn down the final straightaway for the win in personal record time 4:36.76. Young also set a new PR in second at 4:37.62. 

"That last 100 meters, that kick came out of nowhere," Moreno said.


Young, however, would top Moreno in the 800m, taking second in 2:03.04. Land O' Lakes' Josue Arandia won the race with a big move on the final turn to break the tape at 2:01.98.

"I planned to make a move on the back stretch, around the 250 mark," Arandia said. "The way I ran today, I'd like to continue doing."

River Ridge dominated the boys pole vault with two vaulters over 13 feet. Stone Baker took second, and Garrett Jerothe set a new personal best, clearing 13-6 on the first try. 

"This was a good day for me, I really felt it today," Jerothe said. 


Jacob Taylor of Clearwater and Tucker Brace of Land O' Lakes both cleared 12 feet.

Gulf's Sebastian Gazda won the 3200m in 10:25.49.

On the girls side, the team title was very much in question, all the way down to the 3200m. The Land O' Lakes Gators led most of the way, with a strong showing in the field events. Lacy Nasello took third in the long jump (15-10). Tori Cannata won the triple jump (35-6) and took third in the high jump (5-2). Antonia Beason took second in the high jump, ceding first to Mitchell's Emily Gauvey at 5-4 based on number of tries to make 5-4. Amelia Cary won the shot (33-11.5) for the Gators.

The Gators led 86.5 to 84 over Lakewood heading into the 3200m. Notably absent from the race was SAC champ, Natalie Abernathy. This opened the door for Lakewood distance runner, yes, that's right, Lakewood distance runner Hannah McAuliffe to put herself on the map. After taking third behind a 5:36.46 from Osceola's Emma Grantges and a 5:36.95 from Sunlake's Jamila Cardwell, McAuliffe moved in front by the seventh lap and had nine seconds on Cardwell heading into the final one. In McAuliffe's first ever track meet, her PRs in both the 1600m (5:37.63) and the 3200m (12:25.44) are new standards for the sophomore who measures herself against the male distance runners at Lakewood. 

"One of the guys on my team ran a faster 1600m and I could not have that," McAuliffe said.

McAuliffe's score in the 3200m sealed the win for the Spartans, who eventually finished 98-91.5 over Land O' Lakes. East Lake took third with 88. 


Sprinter Jamesha Moorer was dominant, winning the 100m in 12.53 to set a new meet record. Moorer won the 200m in 25.27, a new personal best and she helped the 4x100m relay to victory in 49.20, also kicking in a leg on the 4x400m relay (5th).


Nature Coast Tech's Ashely Gentz rivaled Moorer's individual feats as she won the long jump at 16-10, in her first competition in the event. Gentz followed that up with a 1:00.48 mark in the 400m to win that event. Gentz also ran on the winning 4x400m relay and the runner up 4x100m relay. Gentz is fresh of a state weightlifting title.

East Lake middle distance runner, Jennifer Lima seems back close to form after breaking her ankle in the fall playing soccer. Lima won the open 800m in 2:29.37 and put in a leg on the 4x800m relay that was sixth.


Cienna Nichols of East Lake had a few close races, just 0.02 behind Gentz in the 400m and 0.51 behind Moorer in the 200m. Nichols even took second in the long jump at 15-11 and 100m (12.70).

Dunedin's Olivia Welsh won both of her events, a 10-6 to win the pole vault and a 15.46 to win the 100m hurdles. 


Pinellas Park freshman Amaya Kier won the 300m hurdles in 49.58.  Gulf senior Jasmine Jackson threw 108-4 to win the discus. 

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