Lincoln Girls & Boys Take Top Honors At Jesse Forbes Invitational

On-Site Coverage

Tallahassee's 14th Annual Jesse Forbes Invitational, held Saturday February 24th, sports the moniker of the legendary Godby Coach who led five boys track teams to state titles. In addition, Coach Forbes produced many individual champions after his own accolade laden track and field career at FSU. Numerous athletes followed in his footsteps Saturday, delivering remarkable performances.

Just as Forbes led many Godby teams to gold, the Lincoln boys and girls teams worked together to win both team titles on Saturday. They were headlined by Lonzetta Simpkins who used her experience of running track since she was 5 years old to win the 400m. She happily received support from many family members who frequently attend her meets, including her young cousin, who, during our interview afterwards, made it clear she is hoping to follow in Lonzetta's path of success on the track.



The family-like environment characterized the Lincoln team as a whole, and was evident as Lonzetta and her fellow Trojans imparted enthusiastic vocal support for their teammates. Jasmine Mason took 2
nd in the 100m and 200m, while Miahna Harden also took 2nd in the triple jump, and their 4x400 brought home gold.

On the Lincoln boys' side, Julius Norman kicked off the day with a second place (11.00) performance in the 100m behind Travis Tisdale of Lowndes 10.97. Clayton Carlson followed this up with another 2nd place performance in 1600m behind Chiles' Michael Phillips, who ran a state leading time of 4:14.5. The Lincoln boy's relays also performed well, winning the 4x100m and 4x800m, and taking 2nd in the 4x400m.

Jesse Forbes endured challenges after experiencing a concussion in 2014, but continued to be devoted to training his athletes. Florida High's Ahmari Harvey has also triumphed in the face of adversity. He was the top freshman in the long jump with a third place performance, and currently ranks #1 in Florida for that event for the class of 2021. After his performance he confided that the road to his success has not been a perfect one. He is especially motivated to perform by the memory of his friend, Cam Brown, who lost his battle with bone cancer this past November.



Many other athletes embodied the competitive spirit of Forbes, who was a three-time All-American at FSU, including Jaylyn Scott, a senior from Bainbridge High School in Georgia. Scott opened his season with the trip to Tallahassee, where he may be returning to attend FAMU. He started his day with a 5th place finish in the 100m Hurdles, then came back to be crowned the 300m hurdles champion.



Niceville finished 3
rd on the boys side for the day, and got its usual big boost from Eli West who dominated both throwing events. West first won the shot with a 16.00m effort, then threw the discus 42.70 to earn his team another 10 points.



Also in the field, Kobe Babin added more points for Niceville, starting with an 8th place finish in the high jump, then soaring over the competition to win the pole vault with a 4.42m PR that now ranks him 4th in the state, as well as the top sophomore.

South Walton's Brandon Phillips put forth a determined effort to win the 800m in 1:58.05, holding off Chiles' Robert Nowak who ran 1:58.32. Phillips' South Walton teammate Anthony Bryan battled through a tight hamstring in the 110m Hurdles to win that event.



Lowndes High School of Valdosta, Georgia was well represented by Morgan Jamison. He won the 200m in 21.82, then finished a close second (47.83) to Rickards Trevor Wilson's winning 47.78 in the 400m.

Niceville's girls finished 2nd in team scoring, and began its day on the track as it usually does, by winning the 4X800m. In the field events Niceville added an elite performance in the long jump via Ny'Zha Anthony's leap of 5.34m that earned her 2nd place behind Gadsden County's Trentorria Green.



Maddy Kish also recorded two 2nd place finishes in the high jump and pole vault.



The Chiles' girls were bolstered by the efforts from their distance runners. Double event winner Ana Wallace, a newly announced Vanderbilt commit, raced to a convincing win of 5:01.91 in the 1600m, with teammates Emily Culley (5:12.39) and Caitlin Wilkey (5:18.35) joining in to sweep the medals. Wallace later clocked a solid 2:20.58 to take the 800m race as well.



Another Georgia team, Campbell High School of Smyrna, made the trip to Tallahassee a memorable one. Their girls' team received elite performances in the field events from Rachel Robertson, who won the high jump with a 1.67m, and the triple jump with an 11.79m.

On Saturday, in spite of Tallahassee's unseasonably warm weather and 16mph winds, the 14th Annual   Jesse Forbes Invitational witnessed many top notch performances that did justice to the name of Jesse Forbes.