Video provided by Karyn-Bell Jackson
In a face-off between Florida's top two ranked athletes in the boys 400-meter dash at the Tohopekaliga Invitational on Saturday in Kissimmee, the end result was nothing more than you can ask for. The race featured two 47 second performers coming in between Markevus Jackson (47.22) of Osceola (Kissimmee) and Weston Baptiste (47.55) of Montverde Academy.
The end result was two 46 second performers with Baptiste able to pull just ahead of Jackson in the final stretch for the win and a new national leading time of 46.63, while Jackson's consolation prize in second was joining the sub 47-second club in a US #3 46.84 personal best performance.
Since Montverde Academy is a 2A school and Osceola (Kissimmee) is a 4A school, yesterday was a rare and potentially last opportunity for these two quarter horses to go head to head this season. Possibly another clash somewhere in the postseason? We will have to wait and see.