Meet Coverage:
- Full Results and Coverage
- Photos Album by Melanie Boese (in the thousands of photos up already... uploading... more to come of both days, all three sessions)
- Video Interviews and Race Footage
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Charlotte High School was the host for the first ever Flrunners.com Primetime Invitational and the event lived up to hype as new personal bests we’re reached and a state meet record nearly broken.
Day One - Afternoon
In day one of the two day event, John Carroll senior Justin Osking dominated in the throws winning the discus on his third and final attempt with a throw of 167-04. The defending state champion in the shot put took home gold in that event as well with a mark of 52-02.00
Dunbar stole the show in the girl’s discus with sophomore Johnet Williams and senior Tamara Donaldson tossing over 39-0.
2010 state champion Alex Kazanski of Wiregrass Ranch, showed why he was the at the top of the podium last year. The senior vaulted 13-06 a foot off of his personal best.
In the girls long jump American Heritage sophomores Raigyne Moncfief and Khadeeja Dooling cleared the 17-0 mark jumping 17-10.00 and 17-05.00 for first and second place.
The high jump featured two Manta’s of Lemon Bay, seniors John Hecker and Stephen Krupa. The two finished first and second as Krupa jumped 6-04.00.
In the running events, Springstead freshman WIlena Little proved that age is just a number. Little almost pulled off the three-peat in the sprints, winning the 100 and 400 and placing second in the 200.
Clewiston junior Chaunc Thicklin made his case for a primetime performance winning the 110 and 300 hurdles in 16.37 and 14.32 respectively.
Also in the afternoon was the 1500. A race that wasn’t listed in the night cap of the Primetime meet but featured some top performers. Charlotte’s Tyler Cardillo, running in front of his home crowd, started off a successful weekend as he broke the 4:00 mark with a 3:57.02. That converts to a 4:14 mile!
The girls 1500 featured a 6th grader and a 12th grader going head to head in a field with 47 runners! Youth prevailed as Rogers, the middle school cross country state champion, flexed her muscle again winning in an astounding time of 4:45.30. Senior Elle Baker of Melbourne was second in 4:49.70
Day One - Primetime
As the sun set on Charlotte High School, the stadium lights went on and the top runners in the state hit to the track for an action packed night.
The 100 meter dash pitted two state champions Mike Bellamy and Jerimy Strainge. Strainge coming off a third place finish at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle proved he belonged busting out a 10.66. Bellamy was second in 10.78. Clemson football signee Sammy Watkins rounded out the top three in 10.8.
Bellamy and Strainge entered in the 200 but opted out citing they wanted to keep healthy. That opened the door for Watkins, the South Fort Myers senior to take gold in 21.74. Watkins and Bellamy will room together at Clemson where they will play football and tell me they hope to run track as well.
The girl’s sprints featured a duel between American Heritage 8th grader Diamond Spaulding and Cape Coral senior Jokira Jiles. Spaulding told me she knew that was her toughest competitor going in but the youngster didn’t seem phased She finished first in both events with a 12.14 in the 100 and following that up with a state leading 24.50. That time is faster than those posted by Osceola’s Tynia Gaither and Lake Wales senior Octavious Freeman so far this year.
Another American Heritage star was at it again in the 800. After beating a large field in the 1500, 6th grader Daesha Rogers proved she wasn’t a fluke edging out Canterbury freshman Emily Edwards by nine tenths of a second 2:15.39 to 2:16.29, the states number one and two times of the year.
In the boys 800, the Charlotte boys were very impressive. Led by junior Ryan Schnulle’s 1:53.80. The Tarpons finished first, third (Bryan Hilgar 1:55.38), and fifth (Anthony Borrego 1:57.42). Watch out for the relay teams that includes this trio along with UF commit Tyler Cardillo.
The 5000 looked to be a two person battle between Boone’s John-Logan Hines and Chamberlain’s Max del-Monte and battle might be an understatement. Hines led the entire race and had about a 25 meter lead going into the final straightaway. Del-Monte who said he was just waiting to make his move at the end did just that. The junior sprinted past Hines to edge him out in a time of 15:18.14 to 15:19.10. This was the second time in two weeks that Hines was defeated at the very end in come from behind fashion.
On the girl’s side, there was a ton of star power as well. Kathryn and Erika Fleuhr of Community School of Naples looked to carry momentum from their top 15 performances at the Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle last weekend, against Estero’s Kacy Smith. Smith hung with the Fleuhrs for the first six laps but fell back after. The dynamic sister duo go 1-2, sub 17:00, 16:50.27 for Kathryn and 16:58.72 for Erika! Smith in finished in third. Melbourne’s Vanessa Valentine was fourth.
Day Two
The story of day two was clearly the quest for the state meet record of 17:42. The question was if it would be Trinity Prep or Charlotte? The Saints we’re without Ryan Gousse but it’s not sure the difference he would have made. Charlotte was just too strong with the likes of Tyler Cardillo and Ryan Schnulle. It was close the first several laps but after that the Tarpons kicked it to another level in what was an incredible performance with a hint of heartbreak. Cardillo needed to run a 61 second 400 to take the record but the senior and the rest of his squad fell 0.99 seconds short of the record. Coach George didn’t rule out the possibility of trying again against Trinity Prep and a host of others at the UF Relays later in the year.
A light hearted moment occurred in the coaches 4x100. At first it was the meet staff that put together a team comprised of Coach George of Charlotte, Jason Byrne and Todd Grasley of flrunners.com, and meet announcer Gary Cohen. After rounding up several other teams and a little bit of begging four teams we’re in the running! Cohen, a former high school and collegiate runner, combined both his duties. After running the second leg he proceeded to give play by play on the rest. Now that is some talent.
Update: Largo High School, according to their legendary Coach Brent Haley, ran a 17:29 4xMile at the Florida Relays in 1980. While technically it is a different an event than the 4x1600... they are essentially the same, with the 4xMile actually being a bit longer. So depending on if you want to consider it the same event or not... the state record might legitimately be considered 17:29 or even possibly lower if you want to convert.
Final Thoughts
The meet had over 500 entrants and some great competition. Thank you for everyone at Charlotte High School, the athletes, and coaches for making this a successful event. We look forward to hosting this again next year and making it bigger and better. Please feel free to email us your thoughts and suggestions and stay tuned for highlights, video interviews, and photos from the big event!