A summary of the top Florida boys performances at the 2022 New Balance Nationals Indoor held at the New York Armory this past weekend.
David Phillips of IMG Academy was the lone All-American finisher among the championship boys events from Florida, while had several close calls to cracking into the top 8. Phillips was able to advance thru the finals of the 60 meter hurdles and finish 7th in the finals with a 7.99 clocking.
Formerly of Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, Phillips has made an instant impact and become one of the top hurdlers in his new state of Florida.
Despite winning his preliminary qualifying heat with a swift time of 48.70, the performance was not fast enough for Hialeah-Miami Lakes junior Mekhi Gammons to make the finals of the championship boys 400 as he sat just on the outside looking in with the 9th fastest time in the prelims.
Gammons similarly posted a fast time in the trials of the 200 meter dash at 21.84 in the first heat, but finished right behind another sprinter from Florida in IMG Academy's Davonte Howell in 21.83. The close finish unfortunately did not produce times fast enough to make the finals with Howell as the 13th fastest and Gammons as the 14th fastest among all times run in the first round of the 200 meter dash.
Howell also was Florida's fastest in the 60 meter dash, but unable to advance to the finals as he went out in the semi-finals with a time of 6.88 as the 12th fastest in the field.
In the longest distance event of the meet in the 4xmile relay, the Bolles boys just missed All-American top 8 honors by less than a second with their 18:04.55 total time effort for ninth place in the relay.
An impressive 4:31 mile average per leg with a lineup for Bolles including Aidan Ryan, Colin Duhnoski, Matthew McClure, and William Brady. Ryan also competed individually in the rising stars division of the mile over the weekend and earned himself a medal with a sixth place time close to his outdoor PR converted for 1600 meters (4:16.93) at 4:18.72 for the full mile Inew York.
In his fourth trip to New York this indoor season, Brayden Hagerty of Seymour continues to lower his mile time on each journey up to the Armory. The Hagerty junior ran 4:20 on December 29th at the Marine Corps Holiday Classic, 4:18 at the Millrose Games Trials on January 12th, and 4:15 at the Millrose Games on January 29th before dropping another 4 seconds and posting a swift new PR of 4:11.49 this past weekend to win his heat and finish 20th overall in the championship boys mile at New Balance Nationals Indoor.
Only two Florida high school runners have ever run faster indoors ever than Seymour including Rheinhardt Harrison at 4:01.15 this past season and Chase Rivera of Bolles at 4:11.24 in 2019.
Seymour was coming off running a fast 3200 last Friday night too outdoors of 9:06 at the Larry Kelly Invitational, so appears to be hitting on all cylinders. He competed as well in the two mile earlier in the weekend at New Balance Nationals and finished 9:14 to finish 36th overall.
Running 4 seconds faster than Seymour in the two mile and likewise coming off a great 3200 outdoor performance just one week prior was Viera senior Michael Toppi as despite running in his first indoor track race ever, still ran pretty close to his outdoor best time of a week ago in his 9:04 victory at the Bolles Bulldog Classic 3200.
Toppi turned in a full two mile time of 9:10.10 (converts to 9:06 for 3200) to finish 23rd overall among some of the top distance runners in the state.
In the field events, there were only two lone competitors in Florida as current state outdoor leader and defending 1A state champ Nick Molloy from Community School of Naples cleared 15'3" for 11th place in the pole vault, while Bishop Kenny's Noah Straley leaped 21'11.50" for 12th place in the long jump. Straley also competed in the 400 meter dash prelims and placed 11th with a time of 49.08.
Florida High School Boys Results from 2022 New Balance Nationals Indoor
Championship Boys 60m Dash
12. Davonte Howell (IMG Academy) 6.88
16. Demari Wilson (IMG Academy) 6.88
20. Tyler Azcano (East Ridge) 6.94
44. Michael Lewis (IMG Academy) 7.19
Championship Boys 200m Dash
13. Davonte Howell (IMG Academy) 21.83
14. Mekhi Gammons (Hialeah-Miami Lakes) 21.84
32. Caine Stanley (IMG Academy) 22.38
43. Noah Straley (Bishop Kenny) 22.61
Championship Boys 400m Dash
9. Mekhi Gammons (Hialeah-Miami Lakes) 48.70
11. Noah Straley (Bishop Kenny) 49.08
20. Shamar Morgan (St. Thomas Aquinas) 49.36
Championship Boys Mile Run
20. Brayden Seymour (Hagerty) 4:11.49
57. Joshua Bergers (IMG Academy) 4:22.91
Championship Boys 2 Mile Run
23. Michael Toppi (Viera) 9:10.10
36. Brayden Seymour (Hagerty) 9:14.78
56. Robbie Naberhaus (Viera) 9:23.51
Championship Boys 60 Meter Hurdles
7. David Frasier (IMG Academy) 7.99
Championship Boys 4xMile Relay
9. Bolles 18:04.55
Championship Boys Pole Vault
11. Nick Molloy (Community School of Naples) 15-3
Championship Boys Long Jump
12. Noah Straley (Bishop Kenny) 21-11.50
Rising Stars 60 Meter Dash
4. Valentin Rudolph (Wind Speed AT) 6.99
6. Lebron Williams (Miami Southridge) 7.02
10. Obinna Okoli (IMG Academy) 7.06
Rising Stars 200 Meter Dash
1. Valentin Rudolph (Wind Speed AT) 22.14
11. Lebron Williams (Miami Southridge) 22.44
Rising Stars 800 Meter Run
23. William Brady (Bolles) 2:01.19
Rising Stars Mile Run
6. Aidan Ryan (Bolles) 4:18.72
Rising Stars Boys Distance Medley Relay
15. Bolles 10:45.70
Rising Stars Boys Pole Vault
10. Jason Olivera Jr. (St. Thomas Aquinas) - 13-7.25
Freshmen Boys Mile Run
37. Jack Camp (Bolles) 4:58.20