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The FSU Relays have always given us some thrilling races and this past weekend was no exception. The 3200 and the 1600 were both nail biting events.
The 3200 was run in two sections on Friday. After the first two laps of the first race, Dr. Philips' Daniel Millay had taken the lead. At the 800 mark, Daniel Millay had about a 50 meter lead and continued to push that lead even farther. At the one mile mark, he was almost 100 meters ahead of the pack, which was now starting to thin out. Fort Myers' Ryan Stafford and Trinity Prep's Daniel Salas were fighting for second and third.
With 800 meters to go, Daniel Salas moved into second and began to close the gap between first and second place. With one lap to go, Salas pushed into first place crossing the finish line almost 100 meters ahead of Millay. This section win would place him eighth overall.
"This was my first two mile ever," Daniel Salas noted, still out of breath after his run. "This was a good time to have for my first two mile," he added.
The second section would see several position changes, except for first. Kikanae Punyua, a senior with Gleneg Country school, led the entire 3200 from the start. The runners remained in a large pack for most of the first 1600. It appeared to be anybody's race. Then the pack started to thin out as Punya picked up the pace a little going into the last 800. Punya finished the race in 19:12, three seconds faster than Boone High School's, John Hines.
The girls 3200 was equally fun to watch. The first of two races was led by Rachel Givens and Kelly Bahn, both of Chiles High School. They seemed to both dominate the race through the first 2400 meters. The last 800 meters would see some position changes for second and third.
As the girls rounded the last turn into the final lap, Rachel Givens would hold onto the lead, but Kelly Bahn began to lose her momentum as Rachel Gold and Marsel Mosley from Niceville high school pushed past Bahn into second and third place. Givens' section win, gave her 11th place overall.
At the start of the second race, you could feel the electricity in the air. At the start of the race, Shelby Davidson from Cocoa Beach and Kacy Smith from Estero had the leads. Smith seemed quite comfortable allowing Davidson to keep in front. Both of them broke away from the pack heading into the second mile.
About that time, Lily Williams from Chiles started to make her move. Lily started out toward the back end of the pack, but after the first turn into the fifth lap, she had moved her way into fourth. Passing on the outside, Williams pushed into third and put a 50 meter gap between herself and fourth place.
Heading into the last 400, Smith decided it was time to make her move. With quite a kick, she passed Davidson for the first place spot, crossing the finish in 10:34, nearly five seconds ahead of her. Lily Williams would hold onto her third place spot.
Lily Williams would have her moment too, in the 1600 on Saturday. For the first 400 meters, the girls remained in a large pack. Going into the second 400, Kacy Smith started to break away and it appeared to be a repeat performance of the day before. Williams was in second and Darroneshia Lott from Pine Forest holding onto third.
At the start of the second lap, Smith had put a gap between herself and the rest of the pack which was now beginning to thin out. With 800 meters to go, Williams picked up the pace and passed Smith and held onto that lead going into the last lap. Lott was still in third. Then with 300 meters to go, Lott moved up into second and was right on the heels of first place. It looked like she might overtake Williams. Williams gave it one last push and crossed the finish less than a second ahead of Lott. Smith finished third.
The boys 1600 started out as anyone's race. They stayed in a large group for the first 800 meters. Then the back half of the group began to thin out as the top runners attempted to stay with the leader.
Kikanae Punyua, with Gleneg Country school was out in front with Logan Kruse of Dr. Phillips right on his heels. Kruse, and Quincy O'Connor from Celebration would swap positions as Quincy moved into second. Kruse would find more steam at the finish line and push past O'Connor crossing the line in second.
Punya never let go of his first place spot and finished the race in 4:19. "It was great, I did great," Punya confidently stated. Originally from Maryland, Punya came to Florida to run in good weather. The good weather appears to have paid off.
