It’s only the third week of racing for Florida outdoor track and field, but several runners from Tampa looked liked they were ready for the FHSAA Finals already. Tonight’s cool temperatures not only produced 7 runners eclipsing the 2-minute barrier for 800 meters, but also saw 3 school records go down and many PRs along the way.
Even though this was a small Tri-meet between Jesuit, Sickles, and Robinson, the 800m race was not tactical by any means; the lead runners all came into this race fresh and ready to run lifetime bests. The first 400m was fast from the get-go with Connor Revord leading the front through at 55.50 seconds. The top-5 runners were all bunched up going into the final 200m, and then a few lead changes were made and an excellent photo-finish would follow.
“The race was tough, but the lead pack held together nicely and came out to run very fast tonight,” said Sickles Senior Derek Wehunt after running a PR of 1:52.88. The new school record holder inched out Robinson Senior Darin Gibson – 1:53.03 – who also managed to run a school record. Third was Dan Wehunt (1:53.78) and was closely followed by Connor Revord (4th, 1:53.94), who set the third school record of the evening. Jesuit had 3 more runners under 2 minutes: Logan Trimble (5th, 1:58.08), Jordan Schilit (6th, 1:59.42) and Michael McEnany (7th, 1:59.68).
Jesuit, Sickles and Robinson have had strong distance relay teams in the past and hope to continue that tradition this season. Jesuit hopes that having 4 runners under 2 minutes this early in the season will put them in contention for another state title in the 4 x 800m. These three schools will have more races head to head at the University of Florida Relays and the University of Tampa Distance Carnival. Jesuit and Robinson will both be running in the same District-, Region-, and State Championship meets.
