Another year, another weekend, and another 1A/2A state meet series has concluded. If there's one thing everyone that attended the meet as a spectator, coach, athlete, or parent can agree on it's that the facilities were not up to "state meet standards." These standards in themselves are not that high but just over the borderline of respectable. The venue, Wolfson High School of Jacksonville, FL, was clearly not the right place to host a meet of this magnitude. From the trash left on the campus and around the stadium to the lack of convenience for the average person trying to understand what was going on, the meet was summed up by many as a "disaster".
Yes, Wolfson was given a tough task in holding a state meet but things certainly could have been improved. There could have been some commentary over the loud speaker so the spectators could get some sense of what was going on. The biggest travesty that occurred was with an overlooked error concerning the track itself. According to the meet officials, lane 9 was around 7-10'' shorter on the curves then it was supposed to be. How this error was overlooked when selecting a host site is beyond me. As a result, athletes and teams seeded 9th in the fast sections of the 400m, 800m, 4x100m and 4x400m were bumped down into the slow sections of their respective races. Another problem with the track was that it was originally created as a yards track but had "meter" marks later added to it. This resulted in a waterfall start for the 1600m and 3200m runs and made lap splits nearly impossible to collect for the distance and relay events. The lists of problems goes on for days, but let's now try to take perspective on what actually went right this past weekend in Jacksonville, FL.
The 1A state meet went off Friday night and another set of champions was put into the record books. Led by distance stud Kayla Hale (2nd in 1600m, 1st in 3200m) and hurdler Mary Beth Renfro (2nd in 100m H, 2nd in 300m H), the Holy Trinity Lady Tigers collected their first track team title in school history winning 64-54 over King's Academy. The P.K. Younge Boys squad repeated as champions under their strong sprinter core and the bold front running of the Anderson twins. Michael and Geoffrey Anderson put the crowd on their feet as they blasted their 3rd lap of the 3200m in around 62-64 seconds in what was obviously an attempt to break the field.
Finals started at 7pm with events rolling on and on and on. Everyone was able to go home at 9:30pm. Also, the FHSAA officials on hand were excellent and did their best to make sure the athletes did not put themselves in a position to be disqualified. The efficiency of the events run at their given times was something that can be checked off on what went right. As the night ended, the proverbial optimists looked forward to improvement for the 2A state meet the following day.
Saturday began with strong headwinds of 17-20+ mph winds, which caused for some excruciating relay legs on the 4x800m relay. Despite the wind and conditions, the Jensen Beach Girls and the "men of Jesuit" made strong statements and made their relays seem like time trials winning by 6 and 10 seconds respectively. Jesuit's time, 7:54.56, ranks them 8th nationally (at the time of this printing).
Finals began promptly at 6:59pm with the ceremonial singing of the national anthem and the wind still in full force. Both the 100m races put the crowd on their feet after reading the scoreboard clock read 11.4 (actual: 11.69) for Scottesha Miller and 9.9 for CJ Spiller. The 9.9 was quickly erased, as the timer realized he had started a little late, after some hoots and hollers from an excited crowd.
The night continued with a spectacular performance from Junior Hunter Classen of Jesuit and his 47.54 400m win; almost a full second PR. Also, the future of FL track was put on display in the form of a pair of super sophomores in Episcopal's Maggie Traylor and Godby's Joseph Franklin.Traylor collected her first individual state titles (1600m, 3200m) and Godby's Joseph Franklin proved he has quite a future ahead of him with what seemed like an effortless 1600m win, and a breathtaking 800m win (1:53.49) in which he took the field out in 53.xx and made the last 30m-50m look like a walk in the park on a Sunday morning with no one in sight. The night ended with everyone's favorite event; the 4x400m relay. Orlando Jones had a strong lead going into the anchor leg, but Classen of Tampa Jesuit was not going to go down without a fight. The race was on till the line with Jones inching out Jesuit by a mere .09 seconds!
Florida High picked up where they left off and repeated as the girls' team champion over Episcopal for the 2nd year in a row. Godby proved the 2nd time was the charm by winning the team title this year over Tampa Jesuit after placing 2nd last year to Glades Central.
With the end of the state meet, comes the close of some brilliant careers of the members of the 2006 class. Valerie Flournoy of P.K. Younge ends her illustrious career with 9 individual state titles putting her 5th on the all-time list. Austin Joiner of Holy Trinity ends his career with four silver medals (3 in the 3200m, 1 in 1600m), but with the heart of a champion. Ms. Versatility, a.k.a. Kayla Parker of Florida High, will continue her career at another powerhouse in the University of South Carolina next year and takes her 26 MEDALS (5 individual state titles) with her to Columbia, SC. Some other memorable members of the 06' class include James Osborne of Tampa Jesuit, Luke Russell of Bishop Kenny, Matt Hensley of Lincoln Park, Kellie Morrison of FSU High, Scottesha Miller of Port Orange Atlantic, Damarrius Caroll of Godby, Mike Kurtseiner of Nature Coast, and the rest of this talented and successful class.
The facilities and state meet was unlike any other (not in a good way), but let's not take anything away from the 600+ athletes who competed this weekend and the state champions crowned who can now wear their medals around with a smile on their face and pride in their heats. Now it's time to get ready for the 3A/4A state meets next weekend in Winter Park, FL!