Photo Album (172 Photos) | Coverage & Results
In the American Southwest the exploits of that trickster coyote pervade the legends of the indigenous peoples. And considering the meet’s desert-like conditions--hot, dry air and moisture-robbing winds--that disrupted the affairs of many of the athletes, you could almost imagine a chuckling coyote somewhere off in the distance, thinking itself clever for sending an emissary so invisible as arid air to do its dirty work.
With most field events and prelims in the morning, the meet unfolded as those most familiar with this corner of Florida trackdom would have expected; favorites advanced in the running events and Spruce Creek dominated the weights.
Led by the one-two punch of Chris Lickfield (first in both the shot [54‘3“] and discus [179’7”]) and Andrew Mattox (second in the shot with 49’1” and third in the discus with a 143’), Creek amassed a whopping 47 points in just these two events.
Deland’s Ashley Perrin unleashed a 118’11” throw to win in the girls discus, thus beginning a day of conquests for the super-athletic sophomore. Later she would run a personal best 59.99 to win the open 400, and follow up with a supporting role in Deland’s winning 4 X 400 winning time of 4:17.52.
“That’s the farthest I’ve thrown in a meet, but I’ve thrown much farther in practice,” Perrin admitted afterwards. “I don’t know where it went,” she added, alluding to her much-longer practice throws.
Led by Kira Cribb (114’7-1/2”) and Rainge Campbell (11’0”), who finished behind Perrin in the girls discus, and then traded places in the shot--Campbell won with 36’5” and Cribb was second with 33’7”--Creek girls matched their boys in throwing points.
Deland’s Tekevia Gilbert (17’ ¼”) and Jimel Wright (21’6 ¼”) won the long jumps for Deland, but Creek girls combined to add another 22 points to their score, Deland 19 to theirs.
Brenna Mathis (first with 35’ 3”) and her team mates added 17 points for SC in the triple jump, but Rodney Ndum (first in 42’ 7 ¾”) led a Flagler Palm Coast 19 point comeback in the boys TJ.
Deltona’s Eddie Shelton hung in there to win the boys high jump (6’4”). Kirsten Myers, winning at 4’8”, had the best of four Spruce Creek scoring performances in the girls high jump.
As the morning progressed into afternoon, and the bar was raised to a dozen feet in the pole vault, an ominous cross wind began to blow out of the southwest (further evidence of the trickster‘s presence), and vaulters were forced to wait pretty much all of their minute-and-a-half while hoping for it to subside.
Spruce Creek’s Kyle Gaines led the assault on 12’, followed by Kenlee Critcher and Cory Soard, both from Flagler-Palm Coast.
When the bar went up another half-foot, the wind velocity seemed to follow suit, and Gaines’ attempt drifted left of center. The result was that the yellow crossbar ended up beneath him and, as he tried to regain his balance by keeping his legs underneath him, the consequences proved to be a personal catastrophe.
“The wind was pretty bad,” explained Gaines. “It wasn’t enough that I would say we shouldn’t have done it, but when you’re up in the air, it pushed you.”
Kenlee Critcher, who was behind Gaines, waiting for his own attempt, saw the results: “It (the wind) had a big effect on him…he went over towards the left standard.. He usually comes right down the middle. His going that way caused him to go onto the bar and roll his ankle.”
“I landed right on the bar,” confirmed Gaines.
It swelled up immediately, forcing Gaines to quit the competition. Kenlee (rhymes with coyotee) continued his vaults, however.
“I made 12 feet, but skipped 12-6. I just didn’t have as many runs left in my legs…as much power. I had enough 13s this year, so I thought, ‘Why not give it a try?’ I made 13, but failed at 13-6.
He was followed by team mate Cory Soard--good name for a vaulter--at 12’ 6” for second place, the two adding 18 points for FPC, out pointing SC’s 14.
Critcher’s name would appear twice more in the results--fourth in the 110 hurdles (15..03) and third in the 300s (40.77)--as would Soard’s; fourth in the 300s (41.75) and sixth in the high jump (5’8”).
By mid-afternoon, temperatures were in the mid-eighties and only thing moving quicker than the wind was the pace of the finals. Once they got going, the meet seemed to move faster than an anole on asphalt.
New Smyrna Beach’s Camilya Clark and FPC’s Corey Shelling won both short sprints. Clark won “easily,” as her .33 margin of victory in the 100 and .83 in the 200 seems a lot wider in real life than on paper. Shelling’s wins, however, were--relatively speaking--a tad tighter. His next-closest competitor in both races, by the same .18 second, was team mate Gilbert Abdsolu.. FPC took 1-2-4-7 in the 100 (25 points) and 1-2-3-4 in the 200 (29 points), pretty much erasing the Lickfield-Mattox effort in the weights.
Camelya Clark, who came into the meet with a 12.5 100 meter PR, was nonplused by her 12.24 wind-aided triumph.
“I don’t really think about anything when I run, I just run,” she commented. “I knew some of the people from last year. But what helped was I did a little training over the summer--and until the season started--with different coaches. I feel better prepared (this year).
Tyshane Franisco, Pine Ridge, who won by 2.15 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles, seemed quite satisfied by her own performance.
“This is my best time ever. Last year I made it to the Regionals (with a FHSAA 4A District 2 finals time of 16.34). Hopefully I can go further this time around.
Her counterpart in the 110s was FPC‘s Fritz Jean, who out leaned New Smyrna Beach‘s Cody Ervin (second in 14.47 ) by .03 seconds. Going over the last hurdle, the two were in almost perfect sync (see photo of the two, side by side, going over the last hurdles).
“He’s been beating me since last year,” commented Jean. “I really wanted to get him this time.
Mark Joyce, who is in his first year of hurdling, is making improvements in leaps and bounds (sorry for the pun). A week earlier the junior won his first 110 in 15.18, and this week he did an encore performance in snatching the 300 from Fritz Jean with a winning time of 39.01.
The 400--and subsequently the 4 X 400--was all Flagler-Palm Coast. Led by Tim Odell (in a sizzling 49.56), the Bulldogs swept the first four places. O’Dell was closely followed by Reggie Woods (49.63), then Ashdon Mills (50.44) and Yeovanti Williams (52.37). The four combined to win the 4 X 4 in 3:29.15, and with a minor switch (Willie Williams for Woods), also the 4 X 8 (8:26.20).
The versatile Williams (Willie, that is) also won the 800 (2:04.38) and mile (4:42.38), and took third in the high jump (6 feet even). It was a long afternoon for the junior, and a long way from the sprints that he was running last year at this time.
Willie, who alternates workouts with both distance runners and sprinters, is more than “just hanging in there” with his relatively new role as the top middle distance runner in the conference.
“To tell you the truth, I enjoy the end the most; the finish,” he told me, laughing. I just try to get it over with.”
When asked which event is his favorite, his response was “The 800...but I want to do the 200. I would like that….I want to try it real hard. As a matter of fact, I know I would like it.”
Soon, Willie, real soon. Maybe on choice day.
While the afternoon temperature heated up the sprints, it had the opposite effect on the longer races.
Until Williams took control in the final lap, the 1600 was a confused jumble of runners. The runner with the most desire to hold the lead, despite the wind, was Seabreeze’s Todd Huckaby, and he did so for three laps before fading to 13th. In the mad sprint for the finish, FPC and SC came out about even, with 15 points apiece. Greg Frye (SC) was second in 4:45.17 and Chris Rudloff (Mainland) was third (4:45.69).
Mandy Perkins, waaay out in front of the strung-out field, won the girls 1600 in a (for her) pedestrian 5:33.11, followed by team mate Zoe Volenec (5:52.17) and FPC’s Brooke Landry 5:56.80. Edge: Creek, 25 to 10 over Flagler.
Said Perkins, afterward, in regards to the wind: “I felt like I was running into a wall. My form went from this (standing upright), to this (leaning forward and bent at the waist).”
Mandy returned to win the 800 (2:26.23), leading her team’s entrants to an 18-16 scoring edge in the event, but by then it was obvious that she was exhausted, and perhaps somewhat dehydrated. Although she got a breather in the 4 X 800--girls are allowed to enter a maximum of only three running events--the 3200 still loomed ahead of her. And the weather wasn’t getting any better. It was still bone dry, and the steady wind would carry away any perspiration before it had a chance to cool your skin.
At the start of the meet’s longest running event, Mandy led a group of four Creek girls in a tight knot. However, by the end of the second lap, it had become obvious that she couldn’t seem to summon her usual phenomenal endurance, and stepped off the track.
“I just wanted to win the three events (800, 1600, 3200) in my senior year…..” she tailed off in frustration.
She may not have needed to be reminded of all that she had accomplished at Spruce Creek while a student-athlete, but I did so as succinctly as the situation warranted.
In her stead, and perhaps heir-apparent to the Spruce Creek girls running dynasty, Zoe Volenec won in 13:04.08. They outscored Flagler 21-17.
In the boys 3200, it was déjà vu all over again, as the all too familiar Elsakr-Rudloff two man race--which has played itself over and over in cross country the past two years--again
took place, this time on the Spruce Creek track.
Deferring the pace to the elder Elsakr, Rudloff “led from behind.”
“Honestly, this is my first year of track. I’m just a rookie. He’s (Elsakr) a beast. He’s got this track thing down. So I knew to stay with Joe,” explained Rudloff in the infield, after the race.
“I can only get faster. I’m having fun and taking ‘baby steps.’ There isn’t as much pressure as in cross country. I like that..”
That would explain the Nike ad--“Just do it,” complete with the iconic ‘swoosh’ carved into his hair.
“I had it done at Bethune-Cookman (College). What do you think?”
What’s more important is what they will think at FHSAA.
Final Team Scores
BOYS GIRLS
1)Flagler-Palm Coast 247 1)Spruce Creek 269.2
2)Spruce Creek 135 2)Deland 158.2
3)Deland 122 3)Flagler-Palm Coast 74.5
4)Deltona 44 4)Mainland
5)Pine Ridge 37.5 5)Pine Ridge 28
6)Mainland 28 6)New Smyrna Beach 26.2
7)New Smyrna Beach 18.5 7)Deltona 25.2
8)Seabreeze 16 8)Atlantic
9)Atlantic 3 9)Seabreeze