GIRLS WINNER: Kali Davis-White - Junior @ Boyd Anderson
Boyd Anderson junior Kali-Davis White might get overshadowed by her teammate Shayla Sanders, but Davis-White has every reason to share the spotlight. At the 3A State Finals, she kicked off the night with what she calls her best performance of the year, a 11.68 100 meter dash. The mark which was ran into a 2.1 mph headwind is the fifth best time of the year, only behind two other times from Shayla Sanders and her 11.46 ran earlier in the year. Coach Damion Thomas says Davis-White executed her race very well and continued that success in the 4x100 meter relay.
"The plan for the 4x1 was to stick around with good exchanges. I knew once they did that, and with the talent on the relay team we would break the record. Not to mention the fact that they had previously ran faster than the State Meet Record at Florida Relays."
It was tough keeping his runners cool on a sweltering day that saw temperatures in the 90's. Throughout the day Thomas told his team to stay hydrated with water. Another factor in staying healthy both physically and mentally was conserving energy in the prelims. This allowed Davis-White to have energy for her final event of the night the 200 meter dash. Her biggest competition would once again be Sanders, but she knew if she kept with her coming off the turn she would have a chance. Thomas says that has been her problem all year and the reason she hadn't been able to delve into the 23's.
"The wider lane and turns at the UNF facility worked out in her benefit. She also benefitted from running in lane six which in my opinion is the best lane to run a 200m in. With Shayla behind a very good turn runner I needed Kali to run the turn with her and not wait until the straight to go. She was able to do that and break 24 seconds."
Her time of 23.88 was not far behind her personal best of 23.76 and good enough for her third medal of the day, a silver to go along with silver in the 100, and gold in the 4x1. When Davis came in as a freshman her times were over 12 seconds for the 100 meters and over 25 seconds for the 200, but Coach Thomas saw past the numbers.
"I always thought she was much better than that. Once I was able to get her to believe that she became more and more confident and the more confident she became the harder she worked. Having Shayla to push her as really helped her gain speed as well as confidence. and having her to practice with enabled her to more judge and realize her potential."
Asked to compare Davis-White at this stage in her junior year to Sander's at this point in her career last year, Thomas says the times are close. Davis-White is about 0.1 seconds off of Sander's 100 time and about 0.2 seconds off her 200 time. Both have several meets remaining including the Dream 100 in New York City where they will go head to head once again. Thomas thinks the comparison will be closer when the year is done and like Sanders, White-Davis can be a state champion in her senior year too.
"We still have a few meets left so it is possible she could run around the same time that Shayla ran last year or very close. For the post season I would like to see Kali do very well in the Dream 100 in New York next month. Then from there make the team for the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain. As for next year I would like to see her continue to stay motivated and improve on her times from this year. The ultimate goals for her next year are to win a state championship in the 100 and 200."
Kali's Athlete Profile
BOYS WINNER: Nick Uruburu - Junior @ Bartram Trail
"On Monday we all met in the courtyard before school and I told the team to wear their medals and I also put the state championship on them as well so they were clanking around all day. I saw Nick during 4th period in the hallway and ask him how it went today? He told me it went okay and I said well that is because 3/4 of the school doesn't even know who you are. He said he walked into 1st period and some kid looked at him and goes oh you are Nick Uruburu? You've been in here the whole year?"
Bartram Trail Coach Paul Nowicki is referring to junior Nick Uruburu. Uruburu went out for the track team as a skinny, 5'6" freshman, running a 52 second 400 meters. Two years later he is 6'2, muscular, and has two state championships to his credit. The junior flew under the radar most of the season, but began to improve his quarter-mile times with consistent battles between Ceolomar Ways of neighboring Nease.
"He's been under the radar because he isn't a standout 100 meter guy as well. I think his rivalry with Ceolomar Ways this year has helped both of them improve dramatically. The schools are eight miles apart so it is a neighborhood things. Ceolamar is fantastic. They slugged it out eight times this year and I think they split three wins apiece. They had to make each better."
Uruburu came into the 3A State Finals with fastest seed time, but Nowicki wasn't sure he would win. He knew it was possible, but not likely going to happen. Surprise, surprise. Uruburu had drawn a great lane for the finals and crossed the line first in a burner that saw three guys go under 47 seconds. His time of 46.76 is the sixth fastest time nationally in 2012. Coach Nowicki says there was no exact science to his race.
"He measures things very well and he observes people by what they do during races, where they do it, and things like that. He was well prepared by Coach Richardson . We can over analyze about he did this or that. He might just have ran his butt off.. Sometimes you just can't coach some of that stuff."
Following his second event and the final event of the night, the 4x400 meter Relay, Bartram Trail knew there was a strong possibility to win the team championship as well. Coach Joe Richardson told Uruburu and the rest of the relay team that if they won the race they won the meet. They had considered running Uruburu in third position, but decided not to alter the order that it had been all season, and keep him as the anchor leg. The choice paid off.
"I know it looked a lot faster, but he split a 46.6 When he got the baton he was close enough to that second group. I was watching the kids in the yellow shirts (Miami Northwestern), and I knew we had to beat them, and not finish worse than third. I thought that was possible. Nick looked comfortable on the backstretch and then at the turn that is where things started working and he turned on the afterburners. Once he passed the pack I started celebrating and thought dang he got the last guy too."
Bartram Trail had sealed the 3A team championship with 37 points. Uruburu had a hand in 20 of those. Nowicki calls that final race one of the single most dramatic he's seen in his 40 years of coaching and says with Uruburu's growth he has the potential to have a fantastic senior season.
"He's gone 52.06, 49.25, 46.76. I don't know how much more he is going to grow. His work ethic is fantastic and his sprints coach Coach Richardson, is absolute aces. Is 45 a reasonable goal? I think it's reasonable, but it won't be easy. "