Sometimes there are athletes that really stand out during a meet. The Okaloosa County Championships was no different. The 4x800 meter relay was the first event and Fort Walton Beach High School's girls and boys teams took the win. Niceville and Choctaw were second and third for the girls. Crestview took second for the boys and Niceville was third. The boys race was close. Crestview shot into second during the start of the last 800 meters of the relay. As they came around the final turn , Luc Lawrence of Fort Walton, took the lead and helped them secure the win. "We were just taking it easy today," commented Chris Douglas after the race. "We are saving it for the FSU Relays next weekend."
One of the state's top discus throwers, Charlie Tidwell, gave an impressive performance. He threw a distance of 162'. His record throw is 169' 7.5". Charlie is currently a senior at Niceville High School and has signed on with Coastal Carolina University.
Choctawhatchee High School has a remarkable young freshman runner on their girls team. Brittany Brown, who ran cross country and track for Pryor Middle School last year, has proven she can hold her own. She runs the 100 meter dash, the 4x100 Relay and also participates in Long Jump. "My goal is to go to state in one of those events." Brittany's top time for the 100 Meter Dash is 11.88.
Another up and coming runner, Sam Ammons, a Junior at Fort Walton Beach High School, knocked 10 seconds off his time and ran a PR time of 10:08 in the 3200. In the last two laps of the race, Sam gradually extended his lead, finishing 5 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. "I knew with 900 meters to go, I needed to leave the pack and move ahead," Sam remarked after the race." I kept telling myself 'don't stop, don't stop'."
Fort Walton Beach took home both the girls and boys County Champ trophies.