Montverde Academy's Top Stars To Forgo FHSAA State Series

* Montverde Academy's Micayah Holland in a 2022 outdoor race

Photo Credit: Flrunners

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By Brandon Miles - Flrunners

Montverde Academy will be missing quite a few of its star athletes when the FHSAA state track and field postseason begins on April 19 with a district meet at Trinity Prep. 

That's because a half dozen of the program's top athletes have elected to bypass the 2023 FHSAA state track and field series, which includes qualifying meets such as the district, region and state championships, Montverde's head coach, Gerald Phiri, told Flrunners recently. He said the plan to sit the program's stars has been in the works since December. 

Florida will conclude its sanctioned high school season from May 17-20 at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. 

Montverde Academy, which has become a national powerhouse seemingly overnight, will be without the likes of indoor 200 meter national record-holders Issam Asinga and Adaejah Hodge, as well as 400mH state record-holder and CARIFTA Games 800m and 400mH champion Michelle Smith FL. Micayah Holland, Micah Larry and Zyaire Nuriddin are also expected to forgo the state championships. 

The first three of those athletes could qualify for, and compete in, international competitions this summer, including the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. All six are major Division I recruits. 

Hodge and Smith both reign from the Virgin Islands -- Hodge from the British Virgin Islands and Smith from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Meanwhile, Asinga has passports to three different countries, including the United States, Zambia and Suriname. He was raised partly in Zambia, but he will have a tough decision on which country he intends on competing for internationally. He could also compete for the U.S. 

But Smith already has plenty of international competition experience, as she qualified for the World U20 Championships last year and reached the final. In that race, she ran her personal best and Florida high school record time of 57.48 for fifth place.

2023 World Athletic Championships Standards

Then there's the trio of Micayah Holland, Micah Larry and Zyaire Nuriddin.

All three athletes have yet to compete this outdoor season after enduring injuries suffered during their indoor seasons.

Both Holland and Larry set FHSAA state meet records in their events last year -- Holland in the 100m and Larry in the LJ -- while Nuriddin was the nation's fastest returnee at 400 meters with a 45.78 personal best. 

According to Phiri, the plan with those athletes will be conservative. Rather than try to rush them back to compete in the district meet -- which is April 19 at Trinity Prep -- they will instead find collegiate and professional meets to continue progressing. 

Two meets on the schedule include a PURE Athletics meet against pro competition in Clermont on April 23 and a collegiate meet at Texas Tech in May. 

The remaining Montverde Academy squad will be competing at the FHSAA State Championships, Phiri said.

This decision could have ripple effects.

While Montverde Academy's still has aspirations of competing for the FHSAA Class 2A state team title for both genders, the road to those titles will be certainly harder. 

At full strength, Bolles School, a private school from Jacksonville, is a program that comes to mind that could compete with the Eagles at the state level. 

However, Montverde still will have plenty of talented individuals, including the likes of Kai-Graves Blanks, Kyle Johnson, Alex Georgiev, and Jayvian Greene. All four boys are capable of winning individual state titles, Phiri said. 

Meanwhile, Alivia Williams, Ellise Dickinson, and D'Asia Duncan are definitely All-State caliber athletes who are ready to score some points in state competition.

Some of these athletes have already stepped up. Jayvian Greene, for instance, has become a star in his own right with new personal bests of of 10.40 in the 100m,  21.09 in the 200m and 46.66 in the 400m.

Graves-Blanks was a state champion hurdler last year in California and is coming back into top form, while Johnson could win state titles in the long and triple jump, and Georgiev is a state contender in the pole vault.

The boys squad could enough firepower to win the Class 2A classification, especially if they can  get their top distance runner and Champs XC Nationals finalist, Riley Novack, back from injury.

The 4:12 miler has yet to race at all this outdoor season due to injury and would need a medical waiver to compete at the district meet. 

Montverde Academy is unlike another program that is often compared to, IMG Academy. The difference is this: While Montverde Academy is a member FHSAA program, IMG Academy is not allowed to compete in the FHSAA state championship series. Montverde Academy is in good standing with the Florida High School Athletic Association, Phiri said. 

Nonetheless, it will certainly be a major loss for the Florida high school state meet, as generational talent will be missing to dazzle the amassed spectators in attendance. 

There could be record-breaking performances and national-leading times. 

But in the absence of Montverde Academy's top six stars, state championships will still be up for grabs. 

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