Three Big Things: Districts Part Two

We had to wait a week to wrap up all of the District competitions in Southwest Florida with the final meet finishing up Friday afternoon.  Goodness knows why the run most of the track and field competitions in Lee County in the middle of the day.  The final meet at Evangelical Christian School produced some sterling performances.

1.  Ethan Tank did his thing.  The SFCA senior pulled off a triple winning the 1,600, 800 and 3,200 in easy fashion.  In fact if I didn't know any better, the 4:53.94, 207.7 and 10:32.51 looked like a glorified workout.  Tank has a shot a making it through Regions in the 1,600 and 3,200 but the 800 would be a surprise.  He did a superb job of pacing his brother Hayden to second place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200.  Katie Russo has done an excellent job in getting the boys at SFCA to a competitive level.

2.  ECS had one shining star in their distance ace, Ava Povich.  The sophomore powered her way to double wins in the 1,600 and 3,200.  She easily won the first race in 5:23.01 and then ran an amazingly fast 11:18.91 in the heat putting a half lap on runner up rival Katie Beam from FBA.  Povich looks ready to break 11 minutes on a good weather day.

3.  The queen of the meet didn't disappoint.  Canterbury superstar senior Jessica Edwards anchored two relay teams to victory, the 4x800 and 4x400 sandwiching the fastest high school time by a Lee County girl on Lee County soil for the 800 in between.  Edwards ran an evenly paced 2:09.42, the eighth fastest time in the United States so far this year.  Part of me was disappointed in the fact that she skipped the 1,600.  But I certainly understand her decision.  The 1A 1,600 will be stacked this year with two girls already at 4:45 or better.  Running a sub 5 at State for third certainly isn't as appealing as trying to run a super 800.  

The various Region meets are next weekend with State the following weekend in Jacksonville.

Three Big Things: Districts Part One

Lee County high school distance runners battled heat and humidity as they started their journey to the State Championships next month in Jacksonville.  Nobody ran exceptionally fast due to the conditions.  Three different meets featured the public high schools in the county plus Bishop Verot.  The other private high schools in the county compete in their district meets later this week.

1.  We'll start with Bishop Verot's trip up to Sarasota.  Both Verot's boys and girls 4x800 teams won their district titles.  The boys were led by Cooper Banks who also made it to Regions by winning the 800 and taking second in the 400.  Antonio Portes advanced in both the 1,600 and 3,200, taking the win in the later. Among the Viking girls, Julia Reitz scored two wins in the 800 and 1,600 and ran on their 4x800 team.  

2.  Fort Myers showed its distance domination at its District meet held at Cypress Lake High School.  The Green Wave boys dominated taking the 4x800.  Then two Fort Myers boys advanced in the 800 as Liam Holston taking the win and teammate Paul Kolson hot on his heels for second.  Ida Baker's Jacob Fritz used a blistering kick to hold off a trio of Green Wave boys to take the 1,600 win in a season's best 4:31.89 while Dunbar's Oglar Bartolon easily took the 3,200.  Fritz also advanced in the 800.  It should be noted that Fort Myers junior Colsen Palmer advanced to Regions in both the 1,600 and 3,200.

On the girl's side Lucy Castro-Waters of Cape Coral took the 800 and helped her team win the 4x800.  Green Wave senior Anna Fischler ran a PR 5:27.81 to capture the 1,600 and junior teammate Amy Meng 11:50.56 to easily win the 3,200.  Fort Myers also qualified its girl's 4x800 team.

3.  Estero found itself in Naples competing against the Collier County schools.  Kolton Pickard showed why he's the best distance runner in Southwest Florida taking both the 1,600 and 3,200.  Pickard ran just hard enough to win running well off of his season bests.  The Wildcat junior also anchored his 4x800 team to a second place District finish.  Estero 4x800 relay member Isaiah Depina also advanced in the 800 taking second.  The Estero girls didn't fare quite as well with only Madison Hood advancing in the 800 and Sofia Bonini in the 3,200.

Three Big Things: Week Nine

The question that may never been answered is how could the neighboring Collier County School District manage to hold a county wide championship for its high schools while the Lee County School District could not.  It is mind boggling.  A lot of top notch runners, jumpers and throwers from across Lee County were denied an opportunity for a second straight year to claim bragging rights for their schools.

None of this nonsense stopped the small, private schools from getting in one more competition before state qualifying begins.  It was a familiar cast of characters taking gold with one up and coming sibling preparing to take big brothers place as a top flight Lee County distance runner.

1.  Jessica Edwards backed up her first sub five 1,600 with another fine performance against a couple of stellar competitors.  Calvary Christian hosted a meet that saw two of its girls reel off a couple of the fastest times in the state.  Caroline Lehman pushed Mary Ellen Eudaly to a stellar 4:47.77.  Lehman finished less than a second back.

Edwards hung tough for three laps before the two Calvary Christian girls sped away but she managed to crack five again clocking 4:59.7.  The Canterbury senior returned to the track to face off against Eudaly in the 800.  The two produced a crackling race with Edwards clocked a superb 2:10.71, three seconds clear of Eudaly.

2.  SFCA and ECS traveled to Collier County for a meet hosted by FBA.  Ethan Tank does what he usually does against the local small school competition.  He easily won the 1,600 in 4:36.95 before doubling back in a rare 800 race.  He clocked a 2:08.71 and won by more than 50 yards.  Then he got to sit back and watch younger brother Hayden take the 3,200 in 10:14.7.  I suspect Hayden will have his eyes on big brothers school records over the next two years.

3.  The other big race at FBA pitting ECS distance ace Ava Povich against FBA's top runner Katie Beam, who is among the best girls out of Collier County.  The two raced over 1,600 meters with Povich taking Beam by just more than a second in 5:24.58.  Povich and Beam will have their hands full trying to get past Edwards in state qualifying.  Their paths to success will lie in the 3,200 in the coming weeks.

District action starts in three days.  Let the state qualifying begin.

Three Big Things: Week Eight

It was the search for the white whale.  Only in this case Ahab was the great female 800 runner in Lee County history.  It seemed ridiculous that Jessica Edwards would go through her storied career without having broken five minutes for 1,600 minutes.  The Canterbury star was on course last season to break that barrier until Covid intervened.  Then last week, under good conditions against a great field, the 1,600 proved to be this super woman's kryptonite once again.  Then when you least expect it... the white whale surfaced.

1.  Jessica Edwards ran 4:58.14 at the Private 8 meet on Wednesday putting aside the mystical barrier.  I haven't spoken to her, but my guess under no stress conditions, this tough as nails runner put her mind to it and just did it.  Edwards then stepped up and ran in not one, not two, but three more events.  

Following her break through 1,600 Edwards had about 20 minutes of rest before winning the 400 in 60.29.  Then after about another 30 minutes Edwards coasted to a victory in the 800, 2:24.76.  She was saving not for the 3,200, no she opted to run the 200 about 30 minutes later.  She only managed second in 26.74.  Let it be known that Bishop Verot's Herrara Geraldine put a harpoon in Edwards the crazy quadruple.  Word is puking was involved after the intense 200.

2.  Kolton Pickard scored a nice double at the Panther Invitational.  The Estero junior distance ace anchored his team's 4x800 team to victory and then scored an easy win in the open 800 in 1:57.98.  Pickard will now have to decide whether he will focus on the 1,600/3,200 double along with relay duties or the 1,600/800.  I'm sure Coach Olitsky has a plan in place and my guess is the 3,200 plays better to Pickard's considerable strength.

3. The regular track and field season is all practical purposes, over.  The cut down District championships are next on the calendar in more than a week.  It brings to question why Lee County chose not to hold a county championship for its public schools?  It's a mixed bag with Covid in mind but a handful of Florida counties are holding championships.  Last year's seniors and this year's seniors have missed out on so much.  It seems a shame that some of Lee County's best track and field athletes aren't getting a chance to face off one last time.