Alyson Johnson (left) of Creekside and Mackenzie Roy of Spruce Creek last week in the Mile at the Legends of Alachua County Invitational. They are just two of the outstanding athletes competing this weekend in the Florida High School Indoor Championships.
Photo by Nancy Scott
The Florida High School Indoor Championships keep getting better and better. The outdoor season starts next week, but not before one more final indoor meet in Florida. The meet showcases some of the state's best track and field athletes and allows them to compete in a non-divisional competition.
Boy's Florida Indoor Championship Records (Jimmy Carnes Track)
Girls Florida Indoor Championship Records (Jimmy Carnes Track)
MileSplit FL will live-stream the meet, starting with the 3,000m races at 9:00 am on Saturday. WATCH the Championships
Featured Events
FIELD EVENTS
The Boy's Pole Vault features many of the top vaulters in the state. IMG junior Gabriel Pelletier leads the state with a 4.75m vault. Senior Darius Jones III of the Charger Elite Track Club is ranked #2 with a 4.6m vault. Five others come in with vaults over 4.0m: Junior Beck Williams of South Walton, senior Sawyer Sketch of Berkeley Prep, senior Maltius Morrissey of Hillsborough, junior Manuel Garzon of Montverde, and junior Sean Messina of IMG.
The Girls' Pole Vault is highlighted by two girls with five FHSAA state championships between them. Senior Kylie Niera of DeLand Vaults for the Thin Air Vault Club and is a two-time 4A state champion. Elizabeth Dowdy of Maclay vaults for the Big Bend Vault Club and is poised to win her fourth 1A state championship.
Junior Sebastian Albizu of the IMG leads the state in both the Weight Throw and the Shot Put, with throws of 19.5m and 17.05m. His competition is his teammate, Zane Biever, the second-ranked boy in both events, with throws of 19.36 and 16.37.
In the girl's weight events, Emma Negril of IMG brings a US No. 9 ranking in the Weight Throw of 16.16m.
DISTANCE RACES
Both the girl's and boys' races will be some of the highlights of the meet. The Girl's 3,000m is the day's first race and features the #1, 2, and 3 ranked girls in the state. The meet record of 10:01.15 was set in 2023 by Ava Povich of Evangelical Christian--a race in which junior Alyson Johnson of Creekside was runner-up. Johnson leads the state this indoor season at 9:44.21. Junior Eliana Black of Cambridge (Christian) School is the #2 ranked girl in the state and has run 9:58.26. The #3 ranked girl is 8th grader Avery Hartley of the No Excuses RC. Hartley comes in with a 10:01.63. Watch for Alyson's freshman sister, Sydney Johnson, and junior Jazlyn Forbes of Oasis to be in the mix. The meet record will go down and we may see five girls go sub-10:00.
In the Boys' 3,000m, 10 of the 15 runners scheduled to run have run sub-9:00 this indoor season. They are led by top seed senior Zackary Zielke of Bishop Verot, who has run 8:43.98. This should come down to the last 200m. Don't overlook Westminster senior Johnathan Pena, who has run a 4:18.59 1,600.
The Boy's 800m should be a battle from the start. The state leader is senior Zack Gunderson of Holy Trinity with a 1:55.70. He will have competition from #3 Charles Loftin of Providence School, IMG's junior Pedro Abreu, and Lucas Coan of Montverde. All three have run sub-1:57 this indoor season. All eyes, however, will be on Cambridge Christian senior Kai Martin. Martin has not run the 800 indoors this season but leads the state in the Mile with a 4:12.65 and has run a 1:53.70 outdoors.
The Girl's Mile may be the race of the day. It is a rematch of last week's mile that featured the indoor premier of the Roy twins, Mackenzie and Arianna, and the Johnson sisters, Alyson and Sydney. Here is how they finished:
1 Alyson Johnson JR 4:54.06
2 Mackenzie Roy SR 4:56.24
3 Sydney Johnson FR 4:56.67
4 Arianna Roy SR 4:57.09
Last week, the race was close until the last 200m when Alyson Johnson pulled away with a strong closing kick. Expect the rivalry to continue this week and add two others to the mix-- junior Eliana Black of Cambridge (Christian) School and junior Jazlyn Forbes of Oasis.
SPRINTS AND HURDLES
Girl's 60mH
Aleesa Samuel, running unattached, leads the state in the 60mH with an 8.22 and is US #2. Anything can happen in the hurdles, and she can expect competition from freshman Nia Armstrong and IMG junior Sydney Harris. Armstrong and Harris have both run 8.63.
Boy's 60mH
The Girl's 60m has 14 heats in the prelims. Montverde sophomore Dasia Reed is in heat 1. She leads the state with a 7.38. The other FL top 10 ranked girls are #3 Sofia Regazzi of Montverde 6.62, #5 senior Julienne Warner of IMG 7.70, and #7 Avery Alicea of Nease 7.71. It's all about the start in the 60m. Expect Reed to win it.
With IMG's Dylan Woodruffe running in the Millrose games this weekend, Jozef Miesak of Wind Speed Athletics is the #1 seed in the Boy's 60m. He has a #2 ranking in the state this indoor season with a 6.86. His competition will come from Cardinal Newman's Zamari Sanders. This will be Sanders's season opener after an outstanding 2024 outdoor season that culminated in a win at the NBNO in the 100m with a 10.27. The junior was ranked behind Christian Miller, who has turned pro, in the 100 and the 200m. In the 200, Sanders went 20.50.
Boy's 400m
Jozef Miesak of Wind Speed Athletics is the state leader with a 47.18. He is the #1 seed and should take the win. The question is, will he go sub-47 on the Jimmy Carnes track?