NBNO FL Recap: Two National Titles By Five Underclassmen


GREENSBORO, Nc. - Despite having few representatives at Nationals, the athletes from Florida definitely showed out this weekend in front of the entire nation. Taking the highest honors of the weekend were South Dade Express and Tyrese Cooper who both took home national titles. 

You know it had to be a special moment for Tyrese Cooper and his coach Darius Lawshea this weekend. Even after winning numerous state titles and holding many freshman class records, the second he crossed the line in first you could tell it was something special.

Tyrese blasted competition in the EE 200 with his 20.90 clocking in a conscious effort to be fresh the next day for the 400. Skipping the 200m Championship seemed to have paid off ten fold on Sunday when he crossed the line in the Championship 400 in 45.69 to break his own freshman national record. 

This was his first ever national title and likely not his last by a long shot. Finishing second behind him in that race was Jamal Walton of Pembroke Pines, FL. 

Watch his 200m EE Interview here

The other big win for Floridians this weekend was in the Girls 800m SMR (100-100-200-400). The South Dade quartet of Garnett, Williams, Mason, and Johnson got the stick around and crossed the line in 1:41.85. That performance was US #1 time. 

Kayla Johnson anchored that relay in 54.59 seconds. It should also be noted that this team was entirely comprised of underclassmen too! 

What could be the most impressive thing about their weekend was their runner-up finish in the Swedish Relay (100-200-300-400) to Union Catholic. Their time of 2:08.86 actually dipped under the previous national record as well and was just ahead of Miami NW who finished third in 2:08.97 to rank #2 and #4 All-time in this event. 

It will be a great rematch next year as 10 of the 12 runners on the top three teams are returning. 


Aside from those big winners there were also numerous All-American finishers. Florida had a grand total of 97 performances at Nationals and of those 33 rank as a US Gold Elite performance meaning Florida likely had one of the strongest and most efficient showings of the weekend in Greensboro. 

New Balance Nationals Outdoor

NC A&T Irwin Belk Track  Greensboro, NC 
Jun 17, 2016 Jun 19, 2016
3,150 Total Performances (97 FL)

Elite Performances

Girls (23)
100mF 1 2nd11.41Twanisha TerryMiami Northwestern HS
100mF 1 5th11.59Sophia FalcoLakewood Ranch HS
100mp 2 3rd11.60Twanisha TerryMiami Northwestern HS
100mp 3 5th11.72 wSophia FalcoLakewood Ranch HS
200mF 1 4th23.51Katia SeymourPalatka HS
200mF 1 5th23.58Symone MasonMiami Southridge HS
200mp 1 5th23.73Katia SeymourPalatka HS
200mp 4 6th23.73Symone MasonMiami Southridge HS
400mF 3 7th54.00Karimah DavisPalm Beach Central HS
400mF 3 8th54.20Janae CaldwellSpoto HS
800mF 2 6th2:12.52Bryanna RiversWharton HS
800mF 1 12th2:13.84Katie PinnellNorth Broward Prep HS
MileF 1 17th5:00.26Hannah BrookoverCalvary Christian (Clearwater)
5000mF 1 22nd17:48.29Amanda BeachMelbourne Central Catholic HS
100HF 1 7th13.76Timetria MitchellMiami Northwestern HS
100Hp 3 6th13.52Timetria MitchellMiami Northwestern HS
400HF 4 3rd58.84De'Andreah YoungMiami Northwestern HS
4x100mp 3 16th47.58American Heritage MS/HS (Delray)
SMRF 3 16th4:09.45Columbia HS
HJF 1 1st5-7.75Nazah ReddickRaines HS
LJF 1 5th20-0.25Sophia FalcoLakewood Ranch HS
TJF 1 1st40-5Sophia FalcoLakewood Ranch HS
DF 1 12th140-4Debbie AjagbeRansom Everglades School
Boys (10)
200mF 1 1st20.90Tyrese CooperAmerican HS
200mp 2 1st20.96Tyrese CooperAmerican HS
400mF 5 1st45.69Tyrese CooperAmerican HS
400mF 5 2nd46.23Jamal WaltonEverglades HS
400mF 2 10th47.96Kyle FearringtonEast Lake HS
800mF 1 7th1:53.88John RiveraLakewood Ranch HS
5000mF 2 25th15:22.68Noah PerkinsSeffner Christian Academy HS
110HF 1 5th13.96Braxton CanadyPaxon School for Advanced Studies
110Hp 3 4th13.91Braxton CanadyPaxon School for Advanced Studies
PVF 1 8th15-2.75Gregory SkageWinter Park HS


Other Noteworthy FL Performances 
  • Boys 1 Mile Race Walk - Juan Moscoso - 2nd - 6:51.31
  • Girls 5k Championship: Amanda Beach 22nd 17:48.29
  • Girls EE 400m - Ulaini Toussaint - 4th - 56.27
  • Girls EE 100mH - Ari Val - 11th - 14.56
  • Boys EE 110mH - Kameron Davis - 9th - 14.54
  • Boys EE 4x2 - Raines HS Champions - - 1:29.49
  1 Raines Tc-Fl                                        1:29.49   2 
     1) Netanyahu Adams 18              2) Larry Grier 18                 
     3) Eddie Ausgood 18                4) Joshua Battle 18        
  • Boys EE TJ - Travon Laidler - Champion 47-01
 1 Travon Laidler            18 Jacksonville, FL        14.35m  -0.7  47-01.00 
     13.65m(-1.5) 13.43m(-3.6) 14.35m(-0.7) 13.49m(-3.5) 13.85m(-1.2) 13.31m(-1.6)

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