Jimmy Carnes Indoor Invitational: Florida Highlights

 

Great job to everyone!  Our first track meet of the year was held in Gainesville today... and our only indoor meet in the Sunshine State this year!  

 

Sorry if I miss anyone.  I'll do my best below to hit all of the high points of the most notable times and marks from Florida high schoolers and middle schoolers.  Complete results are also posted.  Thanks to Ricky Quintana, Scott Peters of Half Mile Timing and all of the others who pulled this one off.  Great to give Floridians at least one shot at an indoor meet!  And this year's meet had a lot of talent including many stars from around the country.

 

 

 

Freshman Lia King of Boyd Anderson made her unoffical freshman debut with a win in the 15-16 year-old division with a 17-4.75 jump.  8th grader BenJai Fray, who finished second at the flrunners.com Middle School State Championship last spring (18-2.5), was 3½ feet ahead of her closest competitor with a 17-5.5 victory in the 13-14 division.  That equaled the winning 17-19 year-old mark by Wekiva junior Niaja Griffin.

 

 

13-year-old Shadayzah Bullock of Gainesville threw the shot 37-8.5 wo easily win her age division... let's hope we see her at the middle school state meet!  

 

 

Garth Jobb, senior at St. Thomas Aquinas, threw just under his career best of 52-10.75 (2nd at state) with a 52-2.75 throw.  

 

 

Lillian VanWinkle, who is an 8th grader at Maclay and was the 2009 middle school state champ and all-time state meet record holder, won the 13-14 group in 9-6.25.  Brianna Arellano of Bishop Moore and Megan Walker of Port St. Joe had great vaults in the 15-16 group, going 10-10 and 10-2, respectively.  The 17-19 group was loaded and while I'm not sure where everyone is from and who is from out of state... I do know that it was Caleigh Boyington, a senior from Citrus High in Inverness, with a new personal best of 10-10 winning the the crown.  Paige Shirley of Episcopal and Lindsey Enders of Holy Trinity were also among the seven going over 10 feet, tying for 4th with a 10-2 vault.

 

 

David Shepard, a senior from St. Thomas Aquinas, cleared 14-5.25 (just under his career best mark) to take second place in the 17-19 division.  Kendall Schafers of Olympia is already almost a foot higher than he was last season, vaulting 14-1.25 also for fourth place.  Clearly he's been doing some work offseason!  Anthony Amodio of Archbishop McCarthy and Shepard's teammate Hunter Moon were 5th and 6th clearing 13-9.25 and 13-1.5, respectively.

 

 

Shayla Sanders of Boyd Anderson won big in the 15-16 division with a time of 7.22... that is 36th in the nation right now.  Not bad for a sophomore!  In the 17-19 division Kirsten Nieuwendam of St. Thomas Aquinas was tied for first (photo finish was indecisive I suppose!)  with a 7.26.  She was followed closely by a host of other talented Floridians including Tynia Gaither of Kissimmee Osceola  in 7.30 (the 5th fastest 100m returner in the state), Atarah Clark of Evans (7.34), Denae Fluellen of Oak Ridge (7.40), and Niaja Griffin of Wekiva again (7.40).

 

 

BenJai Fray was back again for her third gold of the day (also won the 55m) with a 26.47 win over Erin Ford of Royal Palm Beach (26.70).  Definitely big futures for those middle schoolers.  Shayla Sanders took another win in the 15-16, 25.46.  And Nieuwendam and Gaither took first and second in the 17-19 in 25.35 and 25.48, respectively.

 

 

8th garder Charles Bynum of Lightning Bolt Track Club and Meadowlawn Middle in St. Petersburg won the 13-14 division in a big way with a 24.05.  

 

Adriana Allen of Miami, last year's 400 meter middle school state champ, is now a freshman.  She took the 15-16 division in 59.43, but I'm not sure yet what high school she is attending (anyone know? Leave a comment!)  Gelela Cooley of Gainesville HS won the 17-19 division in 58.91--she is a senior.

 

 

Charles Bynum of St. Petersburg took his second victory with a 400m win of 54.54.  Arman Hall of St. Thomas Aquinas completed his trifecta by winning the 55, 200, and 400.  His 400m time of 50.14 was probably his most impressive, though the 22.37 and 6.62 aren't too shabby either!  

 

 

Kelvin White of Lakewood HS took second in 7.70, 34th in the nation so far this indoor season.  Emarkis Gunn of Palm Beach Lakes High was next in 7.74.

 

Courtney Filliben of Lourdes and Jillian Collins of Royal Palm Beach took the 15-16 and 17-19 division wins in 2:23.01 and 2:24.73, respectively.

 

 

 

Freshmen Stephanie Kurgatt of Maclay and Mary Ann Brown of Orange Park battled it out in the 15-16, with Kurgatt winning out:  5:14 to 5:17.  Stephanie Strasser, senior at Fernandina Beach who recently announced she'll run for the Gators next year, won easily in the 17-19 with a 5:04 victory.

 

In the most anticipated distance race of the day, Armando Del Valle of Columbus won big over his esteemed rivals with a 4:20.77 time.  Jimmy Clark of Creekside (4:26.44), Foot Locker finalist Matt Mizereck of Leon (4.26.78), All-State member Mark Parrish of Chamberlain (4:31.94), and Orlando area star Novian Middleton of Dr. Phillips (4:31.93) were unable to keep pace... nor were a host of other studs in this stacked race.

 

7th grader Julie Wollrath of Holy Trinity won big with a new personal best 10:45 in the 13-14 division.  Mary Ann Brown got redemption with a win in the 15-16 3000 over Courtney Filliben 10:42 to 10:52.   And seniors Jana Stolting of Maclay and Foot Locker finalist Shelby Hayes of Winter Park fought hard, with Stolting pulling off the surprise win, both with solid times of 10:01.78 and 10:11.16.  Others including Grace Thomas of Vero and Lauren Gillespy of Father Lopez also had good races and their own battle for third, around the 11:00 vacinity each.

 

 

Max Delmonte of Chamberlain won easily in the 15-16 in 9:14.

 

In another stacked 17-19 distance battle royale, Mizereck won this round in 8:42.  Del Valle took a silver to go with his earlier gold with an 8:48.  Parrish, Middleton, and Eduardo Garcia were next in 8:51, 9:05.51 and 9:05.57, respectively.  Other well-known names closed behind included David Kilgore, Elliot Clemente, and many others.