Photo Album by John Calderon (2609 photos)
Photo Album by Ralph Epifanio (877 photos)
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No matter how you look at it, track and field is all about results. Coaches demand it. Athletes aspire to improve upon theirs. Meet directors pay big bucks to people who promise to provide them. And yours truly spends long days at the keyboard searching for the right combination of words to describe them.
A case in point: recently, while in idle conversation with another retiree, and fellow usher at a Stetson Choral Concert (the pay is lousy, but the entertainment first class), I mentioned that I’d be at this meet on Wednesday night. He felt it was a perfect opportunity to discuss the fact that he pole vaulted 13 foot-something inches in high school, and added, “But I gave it up when they went to the fiberglass pole.” Thus, we can extrapolate that (a) he probably vaulted in the day of the bamboo pole, or, at best, early attempts at metal tubes; (b) he must have been pretty good, since even today, not many guys can get up that high; and (c) he’s as old as the sand he landed in…or were they using chunks of foam?
More recently, after seeing the times in this meet’s 3200, and noting that .01 second separated the first (Hagerty’s Peter Licari in 9:58.47) and second (Winter Springs’ Matt Streich in 9:58.48) finishers, I thought, hmmmm, pretty darn close to call a winner. So I talked to someone right on the finish line (“I wasn’t watching.”), the person recording the order of the runners’ numbers, but as they entered the chute (“It was #3, whoever that was.”), the person on the computer, whose chair is six feet back and six feet to the right of the actual line (“I was right on the finish line.”), Licari (“It was close; I don’t know.”), and finally Streich (“I think I did. He slowed just before the finish line.”). I even studied the finish line photo, but I could not tell. (It looked like a Rorschach; a blob-person with one body, two heads, and three legs.) Unfortunately, the single camera only caught the finish from one side. (You can see it in the Faces folder…the camera that is.) Because this is being read by thousands of people who know far more about track than I do, I don’t dare bring up the t-- word. Ooops. And I won’t commit myself either way (no pun intended).
BOYS
If I’m fortunate enough to get results right after a meet—in that regard, I’m photojournalism’s version of that well known one-eyed, three-legged, broken-tailed, accidentally neutered, lost dog with only a single ear and answers to the name “Lucky”—I get up first thing the next morning and create a results grid. For this meet, I ended up doing it at lunchtime, and discovered that Lake Brantley scored in every single event except the 1600 (Charlie, you have to work on that), and in most cases multiple times. I’m not going to ruin the whole story by telling you which team won, but the names of LB athletes may seem to appear more often than that of any other team. My attempt at a disclaimer of favoritism is to say that it just turned out that way.
The first Patriot to throw his disc into the winner’s circle—in the opening field event--was sophomore Nathan Milch, with an unanticipated arc of 139’ 11”.
“It was going to be way out, but curved back in and landed about a half inch from the sector line,” said Milch, most assuredly not the owner of a canine named “Lucky.” “But it felt good. It felt like it was going to ‘fly’.”
This three-sport star—Nathan starts the school year as a linebacker on the football team, and also plays basketball—started his team’s winning trend, one that included three running events, two of the three relays, and two field events.
Donovan Franks, now a 14.67 100 meter hurdler, is a star among Lake Brantley’s galaxy.
“They didn’t let us warm up before the event,” he explained between gulps of air, shortly after winning (time waits for no interview), “so I did some field drills on the grass, and on the fence, and warmed up. I was loose. I was ready to go.”
Franks, a sophomore, came into the meet with a 15.4 best.
“The dude from Spruce Creek (Terry McMillan, second in 15.87) was right beside me, and after the first hurdle I didn’t see him anymore.”
When you approach the speed of light, that sort of happens.
As viewed from the coaches “box,” an odd, rectangular area “roped off” with yellow “caution” tape (but no indication as to whether one should be cautious about entering, or leaving said box), Franks just seemed to accelerate into an extra gear over the last few hurdles. The outcome of the race, or at least the degree to which he dominated it, surprised even Donovan.
“When I came in, I was thinking that all these guys were juniors and seniors, and had been at it longer. But I got second in the preliminaries (to McMillan, 14.95 to 15.52), and realized that I could do it.”
A lot of that confidence was a result of some well-placed tutelage.
“At first, I was running high 16s; 16.8. Then Coach Wise came in this year and helped me with my technique.”
In two other cases, technique took a back seat to raw speed. Example #1 was LB junior Otniel Teixeira, who needs no introduction. He was the first of six sub-2 800 meter runners in one of the best halfs of the year. Teixeira (1:55.36), Daniel Marinelli (Winter Springs; 1:57.92), Andrew Carpenter (SC; 1:58.55), and DJ Patton (DeLand; 1:58.60) go on to the 4A Region Meet on April 27th in Winter Springs.
In leading LB to a 1-3-4 finish in the open 400, Xavier Youngblood Ary is more than their fastest quartermiler, he is also his team’s captain, a fact that was not lost on Northwestern University when they offered the talented athlete a football scholarship. He will be attending the Chicago school in the fall, and trying to earn a spot on the team as a wide receiver, while working towards a pre-med degree; probably the toughest double in sports.
I asked him if he’d miss Florida, attending a school so far from home.
“It’s time to do things for myself, instead of having my parents do it (for me). I have to take care of myself.”
Xavier draws an analogy between starting out in college, with that of starting track four years ago.
“(It’s like) coming out for track four years ago, and not knowing what Coach Harris would have me do. Like the 400. It’s a man’s race. You have to go out and compete. You don’t get what you wish for, you get what you work for. You can’t give up. You stay focused. If I have a bad race, I leave it behind, go on to the next race and try to do better.”
Xavier, who has been the team’s captain for the past two track seasons, was chosen for his leadership qualities.
“I lead more by example, but also vocally, like when I tell them to be serious and stop joking around.”
That was a role which also fell to sprinter Dorell Tillman, unfortunately by default.
“I was the anchor (in the 4 X 100). I pulled my hamstring in the prelims,” he said.
Instead, the LB lineup for the 4 X 100 was Xsaviour Torres, Donavon Frater, Tion Green, and Chris Mordan (left to right in the photo in Faces, with Coach Harris kneeling in front).
“I just came up here (to the finish), talked to them all before the race, and told them to run hard,” continued Tillman. “Just because I’m out doesn’t mean you can’t finish it(translation: win). It is my senior year, and I would have liked to run with them, but my injury forced me to sit back and watch, and be with them in spirit.”
Spirit, and talent, was of course not monopolized by Lake Brantley. The Boys side of the meet had two double winners, in equally tough competition.
Ladale Hollie (senior, Winter Springs) ran 10.82 and 21.99 in the 100 and 200, respectively, and needed every tenth to win them.
“I knew that I had to get the job done,” he told me. “I’ve been working my butt off. My coach Okey (short for Octavius) Clark has us going back-to-back-to-back in practice. Lots of repeats. I even ran the 400 to build up for the 200.”
Even at home, on weekends, there’s no rest for the weary.
“My Mom also has me running on weekends, for conditioning. I have a five mile run in the morning, and then conditioning in the afternoon. She’s very supportive.”
Which he has subsequently passed along.
“I’ve been training my little sister, running with her, so she’ll be better than me. Rolanda is nine.”
Training is one thing, however, and winning a District double is another.
“You know, you have to come out and stay focused. You have to dig deep down inside and have a lot of guts.”
After this season, Ladale’s focus will shift to a Criminal Justice major at Colby College, in Kansas.
Two wins (1600 and 3200) and a third place team finish (4 X 800) is what Hagerty junior Peter Licari describes as “hell’s triple.”
“Truth be told, the plan, since I had already qualified for the mile, was to run the first 100 meters of the 3200, and drop out. But it would probably be the last 3200 of the season, so I decided to…just have fun with the two mile. I didn’t run it as much as I wanted to (this season), so I decided to see how far I could go.”
Apparently all the way. For the first four laps, he was part of a lead pack of seven hopefuls, each fighting for one of the four regional qualifying spots.
“I took the lead with a mile to go. I knew that, on a windy course, like tonight, it would take a lot out of them, so I worked up into the group a little at a time, step by step.”
With a lap to go, the race was between Licari and Matt Streich, a senior at Winter Springs High School.
“That was an all-out sprint. That was all we had. We both ran the 4 X 8 and the mile….”
As previously mentioned, the photo finish was given to Licari (by .01), although Streich (jokingly) suggested that he “won by a tongue.”
“I stuck my tongue out, and beat him by a tongue.”
“Honestly, it’s the first time I’ve gone to Regionals since freshman year (third in 4:30.98 at the 4A District 2 Meet on April 22, 2009),” continued Licari. “I’m probably going to do both (1600 and 3200) of them and have fun. A lot of people don’t get the chance, so I’m going to take my gifts graciously.”
Like Licari two years before, De Land’s Keneth Pineiro (second to Licari’s 4:28.86 with a 4:29.51) will be joining the increasingly more competitive Regional 1600 field in a week’s time. Peneiro chose an aggressive strategy in the first of the two distance races, and led for most of the first three laps. But the more experienced Licari outkicked the up and coming De Land star, who is two years his junior. In the 3200, obviously “out of the running” and wearing a look of disappointment, Keneth slowed to finish eighth. But with PRs of 4:25.37 (Five Star Champion on April 8th) and 9:54.11 (Deltona Invitational Champion on March 25th), this freshman has a promising career ahead of him.
While Pineiro is just getting started at De Land, two senior Bulldog jumpers are going out in a blaze of glory: Taylor Gunderson in the pole vault, and Jimel Wright in the long and triple jump.
“I got 12’6” today,” explained Gunderson, “but it isn’t my PR. That is 13’, at both a DeLand meet and at 5 Star (2ndplace on April 8th), but it won.
“It was very, very windy up there, and difficult to get up, get some penetration (getting deeper into the pit, or past the plane). I only jumped two heights, 11’ 6” and 12’ 6”. I got 12’6” on my first jump. Those are the ones I cleared. I attempted 13’, but missed all three. I used a pole I never used before, because I ruined the old one when I spiked it (while jumping), scraping it with my spikes and rendering it useless. The spikes penetrated the graphite. They cost about $600.”
Taylor went on to explain the rather unusual circumstances of his current, lifetime best.
“At my last senior home meet, I was at the last height with 12’ 6”. (There was a jumper at 12, but I cleared 12-6 by myself.) It was after dark, so Coach Lowe came up with his truck and put the headlights on. I could see the pit clearly, and was really focused.
“I went right to 13. That was my goal, a barrier that I wanted to clear. I did it on my last attempt. The pole I had been using was a 14’ 6”, 170 pound Mystic Carbon.”
I asked if the new pole hindered him.
“I was a little hesitant, but I had a few practice jumps. The new pole is the same height and weight, but the glass is different, and it is just fiberglass. I ordered another pole that would be better—14’ 6” and 165—and a lighter weight. I’ll use that at Regions, and potentially get a 14. I am currently seeded 3rdin the Region.”
Anytime “top seeds” are listed in either the long or triple jump, Jimel Wright’s name will be among them.
Currently, Wright is on a roll, having just come off a double at the April 8th5 Star Championships: 22’5” in the LJ and 44’ 1-1/2” in the triple jump. In this meet, he won the long (improving to 22’ 9-1/2”), but slipped to third in the TJ (43’ 4-3/4”).
The temperature for this meet started out as hot and dry as an open oven on Thanksgiving morning, and I asked Jimel if he felt it affected his performances.
“It was hot—and the strong wind prevented a PR--but I stayed in the shade. I played it smart, so I could make it to Regionals.”
Between the semis and finals, completing the two jump competitions took all afternoon (beginning with warm-ups during the 4 X 800, and lasting well into the running events, late that afternoon). It must have been very difficult for an athlete of Wright’s level to stay focused throughout.
“I’m still training as hard as I have all year. I’m training to win the States. That was my goal last year. It’s my goal again this year, but I think I have a better chance, because I’m more experienced.”
Of the two events, “The long jump is my strongest event. On paper, I’m right in the top eight. Mentally, if I can put everything together, I think I can win. Especially in the triple jump; I have to get my phases right: my approach, getting up high, keeping my momentum, and keeping my weight forward. I have to improve on them, run the same speed throughout, and I think I can (at least) qualify.”
Four athletes who were as quick in vacating the track as they were in their events were Seminole’s Brandon Hernandez (first in the 300 hurdles with 39.79), Deltona’s Sean Rinaldo (first in the shot with the big 5-0 [and an inch and a quarter beyond]), Hagerty’s Andres Dubose (44’ 9” in the TJ), and Lake Brantley’s Demontre Miles (first in the high jump with 6’4”). But I did catch up to SC’s Lorenzo Bean, who tied that 6-4 height, albeit on more misses.
“My PR was 6’, so I PR’d by four inches,” he said afterwards. “Four inches tells me that at the Regionals I could get the school record of 6’6”. But there is no telling what I can jump. My form is getting better and better.”
And so is his self-confidence. I asked him if jumping at home had its advantages.
“I practice here every day. I know how the rack feels, where my steps are, and today my teammates were cheering me on. It was definitely a memorable day.”
Which could certainly be said for the entire Lake Brantley team. Despite a relentless, event-by-event challenge by runner-up Spruce Creek—they too scored in almost every event, out-pointing LB in six and tying them in one more—Lake Brantley would not be denied. The first four were: LB 152, SC 131, Winter Springs 71, and Deland/Hagerty tying with 63.
Girls
This will probably be remembered as the closest three-way Girls Districts Championships in 2011. Only nine points separated Spruce Creek, Hagerty, and Lake Mary; Lake Brantley wasn’t far off the pace either. According to “The Grid,” SC scored 64 points in the field events (plus 26 more in the two hurdle events); Hagerty 62 in the distance races; and Lake Mary 64 in the sprints…not that Lake Brantley was asleep in lane four.
For Hagerty, teammates Amy Anklis and Bryce Seymore went one-two in both the 1600 and 3200, Tayler Johnson won the 800, and a Hagerty relay team won the 4 X 8.
In the 1600, the dynamic duo started off in tandem, until Ankli eventually pulled away.
“I never really run the mile,” admitted Bryce. “I only ran it last week. My coach did it to help my 3200 time next week (4A Region 1).”
“She pushes me, and helps me go faster,” answered Amy.
“We run together on speed days,” added Bryce.
“We usually run in separate groups,” said Amy.
“I run with the guys,” explained Bryce, “and she runs with the girls. We’ll run together later.”
“Yeah. We’re both running the 3200,” Amy finished for Bryce.
Twins no doubt, separated at birth, but rarely apart on the track, Anklis (a junior) was first for two--5:16 for the 1600 and 11:27.07—and Seymore (a sophomore) second for two (5:22.26 for the 1600 and 11:38.93 for 3200).
Tayler Johnson, with a 2:21.07 in the 800, made it a sweep in the distance races.
“I let them (the field) lead in the beginning, but the second lap is my lap,” she said, while icing her knee.
“Tomorrow will probably be painful. I was supposed to run the 4 X 4 and 4 X 8, but they’re going to save me for next week because we qualified (Hagerty’s 4 X 8 team was first with a 9:51.64 time).
I asked her about her knee.
“I sprained my ACL and LCL (tendons) playing with my dog. I was washing her, and she jumped on me. My foot stayed, but my knee went out.”
Her name wouldn’t be Lucky, would it?
Lake Brantley has the opposite of Lucky; a girl named Talent, although she spells it N-i-c-o-l-e. And everywhere I looked, she was darting from one event to the other: the long jump, the 100, the 4 X1, and the 200. If I took a photo, chances would be that she’d be in it. In fact, that happened half a dozen times.
“How do you do it?” I asked.
“Track is my everything,” she answered. “I don’t play any other sports. I even do AAU over the summer…track year round.”
And win: the 100 in 12.56, the 200 in 25.58, and third leg in the 4 X 1 (1stin 48:48). She only missed scoring in one event of the four she entered, the long jump (13thin 15’ 1-1/4”).
“I slipped coming out of the blocks in the 100, and was at least a few meters behind,” she told me between events. “Half way through I caught them, and then passed the Seminole girl (D’Kesha Jackson, 4thin 12.58) that was ahead.”
Just before the finish she ran past sophomore Briana Young of Deltona, who finished second to Poole in both the 100 and 200 (12.54 and 26.12).
If Lake Mary has a counterpart to Poole, it is Ashley Perrin, the taller of two very talented twins. Originally they attended Deland, where the Symphonic Band still mourns their departure. A little known fact is that while at Deland, a coach felt she didn’t “fit” in the 400. Before she left, her best while at Deland was 57.40 (4A Region 1 on April 29, 2009), and she ended the season eighth at the State Meet (57.69 on May 8, 2009). Her current best is 56.50, which she recently ran at the Seminole Conference Championships (April 13th ).
At this meet, Ashley won the 400 (58.02), helped the Lake Mary 4 X 400 team win (3:58.75), AND threw the discus 109’ 3”, which was good enough for second place. Her sister, Alexis, was second in the 800—to Johnson—in 2:22.19.
The Perrin sisters’ Lake Mary teammates Camille Hurley and Alexis Taylor won the 100 and 300 hurdles, respectively, in 14.94 and 45.23. LM freshman Erica Sergeant “got the jump” on several headliners in her event, winning the pole vault with an 11’ effort.
Spruce Creek’s ribbon count in the field events helped build an early lead that had the rest of the District 2 teams playing catch up all afternoon. It all started with senior Melissa Justis, in the shot put.
“I think reality hit,” she explained. “Two days ago Stephon (Gallon, head coach) talked to me. He reminded me that it was my senior year, and that it was time to do something special; to make it to the States.
“I threw 34’ 4-3/4”. I think throwing at home is an advantage, because you know the circle better, and what to aim for. I usually try to aim for somewhere in the middle.”
Her sentiments were echoed by junior high jumper Allison Lampert, who I’ve been following all year (we end up at a lot of the same meets). Allison seemed to have been stuck on high jumping’s version of Groundhog Day (the movie). Before this meet, she had jumped 5’2” three straight times.
“Because the meet was at home, I was able to sleep in this morning. I needed the rest,” she confessed. “When we go to other places, I have to go to school and don’t get enough rest, plus I didn’t do any running events. The relay teams (which qualified) didn’t compete until the finals.”
The rest did her good.
“I’ve finally gotten over the hump,” she said, still celebrating her brand spanking new 5’6” personal record. “Although I think it’s an advantage jumping at home, it’s not where I am that gets me over, it’s my technique. Today, I was relaxed.”
Which is how I would describe the Lake Brantley 4 X 1 girls. They are (in order of the legs they ran, and left to right in the Faces photos): Taylor Long, Elana Aimsley, Nicole Poole, and Paris Mc Gee. I asked them what it was they felt they needed to do in order to win.
Taylor: “I needed to get out of my blocks and make up the stagger.”
Elana: “I had to make sure I left my mark as soon as she (Taylor) got there; continue to make up the stagger, and hold the lead.”
Nicole: “My job was to catch everyone on the turn, and make sure I kept the lead.”
Paris: “To bring it home, and not get caught; to finish the race, and lean at the line.”
And their comments were a metaphor for the four truly outstanding teams that got out of the blocks, kept the lead, caught everyone they could, and leaned at the finish line: Spruce Creek 132, Hagerty 127, Lake Mary 123, and Lake Brantley 102.5.
Footnotes: After covering three meets at Spruce Creek High School this year, I’ve pretty much decided that I wouldn’t mind covering allmy meets there. As was expressed to me by a number of visiting coaches, their energetic and hard-working coaches and athletes create a friendly and cooperative atmosphere that makes their meets a pleasure to attend. I also want to thank the Spruce Creek parents for their many kind words of encouragement, both at SC and on the road. And I’d especially like to say, when an athlete comes up to me to personally thank me—as one did--for the four years of my XC and track coverage while he was a student athlete there, it’s a clear reflection on the kind of student-athletes every parent hopes to raise.