On-Site Coverage
The Eagles set the tone at the very first meet of the season, the East Lake Early Bird Invite. There both boys and girls squads cruised to team titles. Both squads comfortably out-paced the field at PCAC. The East Lake boys prevailed 137-105 over Countryside. St. Pete was third with 76.25.
The East Lake boys got a big showing from James Hasell and Joshua Bowers. Hasell won the 1600m, took second in the 800m and won the 3200m, although it did not come easy. Hasell was hasseled by his own teammate Rohan Kohli in the 1600m. In control through most of the race, Kohli put pressure on Hasell on the home stretch of the final lap but Hassel held to win it in 4:40.39 with Kohli in second at 4:41.40. Hassel was topped by host Clearwater's Sean Heera (1:56.78) in the 800m.
In the 3200m, East Lake's Matthew Wyers got out to an early lead. Osceola's Trevor Coryea moved in front by the fourth lap. Then heading into the final lap, Northeast's Michael Ecker-Randolph and Hasell took over. Hasell took the lead, Ecker-Randolph took it back. On the final turn, Hasell just moved in front. Coming down the home stretch, they were still trading places until finally Hasell pulled away for the win in 10:05.29.
"I knew Hasell could out-kick me so I made my move early," Ecker-Randolph said. "He got me, I should have kept it up."
Even Hasell wasn't sure if he would pull it off.
"It tried to just sit and kick," Hassel said. "I kicked earlier than I normally do. He (Ecker-Randolph) caught me. I waited, kicked again, he caught me again. I though he had me after that first kick."
Bowers swept the sprints for the Eagles, 11.03 to win the 100m and personal record 22.27 to win the 200m. Bryce Miller kicked in a runner up finish in the triple jump with a mark of 12.69m. Lakewood's Khalid Davis won it at 12.75m. Jack Pigozzo won the shot at 45-4.5(14.63m). It marked the Eagle boys' back-to-back PCAC titles.
On the girls side, superstars Jennifer Lima and Kaitlyn Kirby led the way for the Eagles in winning their third county title in four years 134 to Boca Ciega's 81.5. Lima pulled the three-event, distance sweep for the second-straight year. Her 5:05.20 that won the 1600m, 2:21.58 that won the 800m and 11:21.03 to win the 3200m weren't her best times but to be that much better at all three distance events than anyone in Pinellas County this season, is a rare feat. PHU's Julianna Lazzari pressured Lima in the 1600m, taking second in a personal record 5:11.45.
"I knew it was going to be windy today, I was hoping to get behind Taylor Stone and go from there," Lazzari said. "Then we came in at 2:35 (half way point) and I wanted to speed up, so I went around her. The rest of the way was just trying to catch Jen."
Lazzari was runner up to Lima in the 3200m as well. Clearwater's Mariah Zupan and Countryside's Sydney Avery challenged Lima in the 800m. Zupan challenged first, Lima held. Avery made her move on the first turn into the second lap and Lima held. When Lima hit the final turn she accelerated and left the challengers behind.
Kirby, still not 100 percent back from a leg injury, seemed in fine form on Thursday. Kirby won the 100m hurdles in 15.13 and took second in the 300m hurdles in 47.05. Pinellas Park's Amaya Kier won it with a 45.76. Kirby won the shot with a throw of 9.64m. Kirby is coming off of an All-American performance at the New Balance Nationals at The Armory in New York, where she placed fifth in the hepthathlon.
Ciera Walker and Ashanti Rachel took second and third in the triple jump. Kyla Bailey took third in the 100m hurdle final. Freshman Parker Valby took fourth in the 1600m and fourth in the 3200m.
"This is a special group," East Lake coach Britt Taylor said. "The way we coach, the kid who scores one point is just as important as the superstars on this team. They've bought in and they believe that."
Starting off the running events, the Osceola quartet of Kylie Coleman, Bella Stein, Olivia Dorsky and Taylor Stone broke the school record and won the 4x800m in 9:53.61. Countryside's Dianisty Bolden swept the sprints with a 12.08 to win the 100m and a 25.74 to win the 200m. It marked the sophomore's first two PCAC titles.
Seminole sophomore Katie Brantley continues to impress. She cleared 11-0 to win pole vault. She had to stop after clearing 11 feet as she also ran on the Warhawks' eighth-place 4x100 relay.
"It feels awesome, I'm happy I won but I should have gone to the bigger pole," Brantley said.
Brantley as a 13 foot 9 inch pole that she used to mark an 11-7.75 at UF. She'll move up to it for the state series.
Gibbs' Ireoina Lightsey won the 400m in personal record 59.64.
"My body was shutting down earlier in the season, I'm just now getting back up to speed," Lightsey said.
Countryside's Nicholas Roberts swept the hurdles, 15.86 to win the 110s and 40.45 to win the 300s. Roberts' younger brother Damien was on the winning 4x800m relay (8:23.83) and teamed up with his big brother to win the 4x400m relay in 3:29.32.
.jpg)
Over at the pole vault pit, blue shirts emblazoned with Jake Taylor #24 on the back were present. Taylor a senior from Clearwater High, fell off the pole vault pad during the Kiwanis meet and split his head open in two places, suffering a mild concussion. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he stayed for two weeks. Emergency technitians had to cut Taylor's jersey off to admit him to the hospital. The blue t-shirts represented Taylor's new uniform. Taylor was on hand at PCAC sporting one of those shirts.
"I wanted to come out and see all the vaulters and coaches," Taylor said.
Taylor mentioned that he even heard one of the schools started a prayer for him when the accident occured. It was Calvary Christian at Kiwanis that started the group prayer when Taylor fell.
PHU's David Fuller and Countryside's Zachary MacDonald went to jump offs to settle the high jump with Fuller eventually taking it at 1.85m. St. Pete's Anthony Johnson ran a 50.63 to win the 400m. The Green Devils gave Countryside a run in the 4x400m. 170-pound Osceola thrower Milos Boskovic won the disc at 43.30m, a season-best. Gibbs' Rikaya Williams won disc at 31.72m(111-01ft). Boca Ciega's J'Kaelyn Lang won high jump at 1.55m(5-0ft). Dunedin's Victor Martinez won the long jump at 6.68m.