Records were meant to serve as a lasting memory of great performances. On the night following the 3A State Meet where several impressive State meet records were broken, the Middle School Championships at Bolles produced a whopping 16 New Meet Records and that's not including new marks for the 3000M, 1500M, and 200M Hurdles.
Several stand out performances came from the South Florida Starz, a contingent of boys and girl athletes from the Ft Lauderdale/Miami area. Their girls literally blanketed the rest of the girl's field by winning every event except the 3000M, Triple Jump and the Pole Vault. Their relay teams shattered the 4x400 meet record by 26 seconds and lowered the 4x800 mark by 9 seconds.
Also bursting onto the scene was Joseph Franklin of Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee. Franklin set a new meet record in the 800M by 10 seconds, clocking 2:00.61. He also set the new mark for the 1500M with a very fast 4:19.27 (4:38.33 time converted to 1600M).
Needless to say it was a stellar day for Franklin. His long, smooth easy stride captivated the audience as he settled in on the heels of Ryan Harris during the 1500M run. With a little over 150 to go, Franklin's "pick" maneuver as he shot past slower traffic, held up Harris and Franklin kicked for the win, running a converted 12 second PR.
In the 800M, Franklin ran alone clocking a 58 second first lap and closing with a 62 for the new meet record by an astounding 10 seconds. It also lowered his PR by 6 seconds.
The next generation of athletes shined brightly today at Bolles. With over 300 athletes competing, this meet just keeps getting better and better.
* denotes new meet record
# denoted tied meet record
Girls Results: 100 M Danielle Nolton South Florida Starz 12.69 200 M Brittney McCord South Florida Starz 25.06 # 400 M Danielle McDuffie South Florida Starz 59:55 * 800M Christal Washington South Florida Starz 2:18.31 * 1500M Latifah Dooling South Florida Starz 5:05.33 * 3000M Jessica Pendergast Lake Highland 11:33.93 * 100H Monique Harris South Florida Starz 16:40 200H Monique Harris South Florida Starz 29.83 * 4x100 South Florida Starz 48.77 * 4x400 South Florda Starz 3:51.30 * 4x800 South Florida Starz 10:10.48 * HJ Maya Pressley South Florida Starz 5-00.00 PV Rianna Bennett Eagle Track Club 7-00.00 # LJ Maya Pressley South Florida Starz 15-07.50 TJ Meryl Walker More Otter TC 31-01.50 SP J'Quyra Moncur-Blue South Florida Starz 38-11.00 DT J'Quyra Moncur-Blue South Florida Starz 110-09 Boys Results 100 M Ralph Bolden Hilliard 11.29 200 M Michael Grant South Florida Starz 23.12 400 M James Southers Fernandina Beach 51.85 * 800M Franklin Joseph Team Franklin 2:00.61 * 1500M Franklin Joseph Team Franklin 4:19.27 * 3000M Kyle Cooke Team Cooke 9:46.30 * 100H Andrew Robinson Lincoln Park 13.51* 200H Andrew Robinson Lincoln Park 27.36 * 4x100 Florida Heat 45.03 * 4x400 Fernandina Beach 3:35.12 * 4x800 Fernandina Beach 10:22.07 HJ Marshall Hatsfield Landrum Lions 5-06.00 * PV Riley Egan Panther Track 10-00.00 * LJ James Southers Fernandina Beach 20-02.00 * TJ Andrew Robinson Lincoln Park 40-02.00 * SP Ronald Davis Fernandina Beach 40-02.00 DT Ronald Davis Fernandina Beach 136-09 *