FLYRA Middle School State Championship 2014

Middle school athletes from around the state had their "Super Bowl" this past weekend at the FLYRA Middle School State Championship. Host IMG Academy in Bradenton gave the future of the sport a taste of top notch facilities to go along with top notch competition. Several meet records were broken, tons of new personal bests were set, and the middle school rankings re-written. Take a look at the final rankings/leaderboard from both the middle school girls and boys from across the state! (Rankings as of 5/13/14)  

Sanaa Elementary Division 100 and 400 meter Champion

The 2014 FLYRA Middle School State Track & Field Championship will have a new home. After two years at Clearwater Calvary Christian, the meet has moved south to Bradenton and the new IMG track and field complex. IMG Director of Events Blake Ulrich says the move transpired after a meeting between meet director Jason Byrne and IMG's Director of Track & Field Loren Seagrave. 

On behalf of FLYRA and flrunners.com, we are really excited to bring you this 2014 championship event. There is a lot to be excited about this year.

The 2014 FLYRA Middle School State Track & Field Championship will take place at IMG Academy on May 10, 2014. The field for this year’s Championship will be the largest-ever, with more than 600 runners expected to descend on Bradenton, Fla. with an expanded field of qualifying events and the introduction of a new elementary division.

In the fall of 2013, Joey FItzpatrick won the FLYRA Middle School Cross Country Championship. Fast forward, six months later and the Lake Weir Middle School eighth grader is trying to win his first middle school title on the track. Fitzpatrick let the rest of the state know he meant business after winning the FLYRA South Regional Championship 1500 meters in 4:19.26, a meet record and the nation's top mark for a middle schooler in that event. 

We get a lot of emails with a lot of questions. Some pop up over and over. So here are some answers that you want to know the answer to!

The Miami Gardens XPress Track Club racked up the hardware at the 2014 FLYRA Middle School State Championships in Bradenton. The club took home both the boys and girls team titles. Jamal Walton was the team's star last year sweeping the 100,200 and 400 meter dashes and was on hand to witness the action again this year. Tyrese Cooper picked up where his teammate left off accomplishing the same feat by posting times of 10.71, 21.81 (4.3 mph wind), and 49.52. In the distance events, meet records were broken with stellar showings from both Joey Fitzpatrick and Rafaella Gibbons.  

Check out nearly 2,500 photos by Jeff Adams as part of our FLYRA Middle School State Championship coverage.

Bob Cooke and Dean Headley were on-site at the 2014 FLYRA Middle School State Championship with a slew of videos! Nearly 100 videos of all the races and interviews from the days events. Relive the action and take a look at the future of the sport!