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
Elite Performances
| Girls (23) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100m | F 1 2nd | 11.41 | Twanisha Terry | Miami Northwestern HS | |
| 100m | F 1 5th | 11.59 | Sophia Falco | Lakewood Ranch HS | |
| 100m | p 2 3rd | 11.60 | Twanisha Terry | Miami Northwestern HS | |
| 100m | p 3 5th | 11.72 w | Sophia Falco | Lakewood Ranch HS | |
| 200m | F 1 4th | 23.51 | Katia Seymour | Palatka HS | |
| 200m | F 1 5th | 23.58 | Symone Mason | Miami Southridge HS | |
| 200m | p 1 5th | 23.73 | Katia Seymour | Palatka HS | |
| 200m | p 4 6th | 23.73 | Symone Mason | Miami Southridge HS | |
| 400m | F 3 7th | 54.00 | Karimah Davis | Palm Beach Central HS | |
| 400m | F 3 8th | 54.20 | Janae Caldwell | Spoto HS | |
| 800m | F 2 6th | 2:12.52 | Bryanna Rivers | Wharton HS | |
| 800m | F 1 12th | 2:13.84 | Katie Pinnell | North Broward Prep HS | |
| Mile | F 1 17th | 5:00.26 | Hannah Brookover | Calvary Christian (Clearwater) | |
| 5000m | F 1 22nd | 17:48.29 | Amanda Beach | Melbourne Central Catholic HS | |
| 100H | F 1 7th | 13.76 | Timetria Mitchell | Miami Northwestern HS | |
| 100H | p 3 6th | 13.52 | Timetria Mitchell | Miami Northwestern HS | |
| 400H | F 4 3rd | 58.84 | De'Andreah Young | Miami Northwestern HS | |
| 4x100m | p 3 16th | 47.58 | American Heritage MS/HS (Delray) | ||
| SMR | F 3 16th | 4:09.45 | Columbia HS | ||
| HJ | F 1 1st | 5-7.75 | Nazah Reddick | Raines HS | |
| LJ | F 1 5th | 20-0.25 | Sophia Falco | Lakewood Ranch HS | |
| TJ | F 1 1st | 40-5 | Sophia Falco | Lakewood Ranch HS | |
| D | F 1 12th | 140-4 | Debbie Ajagbe | Ransom Everglades School | |
| Boys (10) | |||||
| 200m | F 1 1st | 20.90 | Tyrese Cooper | American HS | |
| 200m | p 2 1st | 20.96 | Tyrese Cooper | American HS | |
| 400m | F 5 1st | 45.69 | Tyrese Cooper | American HS | |
| 400m | F 5 2nd | 46.23 | Jamal Walton | Everglades HS | |
| 400m | F 2 10th | 47.96 | Kyle Fearrington | East Lake HS | |
| 800m | F 1 7th | 1:53.88 | John Rivera | Lakewood Ranch HS | |
| 5000m | F 2 25th | 15:22.68 | Noah Perkins | Seffner Christian Academy HS | |
| 110H | F 1 5th | 13.96 | Braxton Canady | Paxon School for Advanced Studies | |
| 110H | p 3 4th | 13.91 | Braxton Canady | Paxon School for Advanced Studies | |
| PV | F 1 8th | 15-2.75 | Gregory Skage | Winter Park HS | |
- 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)
More Coverage
- 2016 New Balance Nationals Outdoor Meet Page (Complete Results, Meet Coverage)
- Watch All New Balance Nationals Outdoor Interviews
- Guide To New Balance Nationals Outdoor Photos
