Let me start by saying Florida needs more classes in track and field. Four classes for a state this large is ridiculous. For goodness sakes, they have nine classes for football whereas track and field has only four?!? It doesn't make any sense.
And while I'm at it I think the qualification system is a mess. There are too many time qualifiers. It should be the top top three from each region with the next four fastest qualifying. It would force kids to actually race in weak regions. Getting third should count for more than just holding your breath waiting to see where your time falls.
Finally spreading the championships over four days is a bit much. I don't understand why they can't run two classes on Friday and two on Saturday instead. If you ran two classes simultaneously you would give the athletes more time to recover between races. It's a head scratcher.
Enough complaining and time to sort through the Lee County qualifiers in the distance races. Starting with boys 4x800 relays. 1A SFCA qualified, 2A Bishop Verot qualified, 3A Fort Myers, Dunbar and Ida Baker qualified. The best shot at making the podium (top 8) are Verot and Fort Myers. Verot has an incredible tandom of Grayson Tubbs and Cooper Banks. Fort Myers will be gunning for a school record but it will take 1:57 splits from Joseph Koraya and Colsen Palmer for that to happen. The dark horse in all of this is Ida Baker.
On the girls side the girls from Bishop Verot qualified in Class 2A as did the ladies from Fort Myers in Class 3A. Verot has a legitimate shot at a podium finish. A late season injury to the Vikings Julia Reitz may deny Verot a top three finish but they should land in the top eight. Fort Myers will need some major PR's to make the podium.
The 800 is sizzling on the boys side with a couple of qualifiers from Bishop Verot in Tubbs and Banks. Banks ran a season best 1:55.6 last week. A podium finish is within the junior's grasp but it will take a big PR to make the top three. Tubbs would need a PR to get in the top eight in Class 2A. The usual suspects will line up in Class 3A. Kolton Pickard of Estero clocked a 1:55.68 with Ida Baker's Jacob Fritz hot on his heels at Region. Both could reach the podium, Pickard will have to clock a PR to hit the top three.
Only one Lee County girl made it to the 800 finals. Fort Myers High freshman star Giana D'Altrui ran a big PR of 2:21.61. It will take 2:19 or better to make the podium. She's got the wheels to do it.
Pickard dominated the 1600 all season. He has a legitimate shot at winning the 3A title but he will have his hands full against Belen's Julian Rodriguez. Fort Myers super sophomore Joseph Koraya also qualified and in a talent laden field he will need to break 4:20 to hit the podium.
A boat load of runners made it in the 3200. We'll talk girls first where Povich leads the way after scoring her second PR in one day with her 11:04.62 last week. Honestly the best she can hope for is a sub 11 clocking as Caroline Lehman of Cambridge is a good 40 seconds faster than the Sentinel star. Canterbury junior Gabriella Santucci should be in the picture for a podium finish. Class 2A freshman sensation MacKenzie DeLisle from Bishop Verot seems a sure bet for a podium finish. A big PR could land her a surprise top three finish.
The biggest surprise PR came from the boys in the 3200. Hayden Tank of SFCA rolled to a 9:42.48 last week. Tank seems assured of a podium finish and another PR could land him a top three finish. Finally I got to see what I had expected to see last fall in cross country. Ida Baker's distance duo of Declan Ziomek and Matthew Speruta both qualified in Class 3A. Both ran PR's last week with Ziomek clocking the fastest time of 9:40.92. Both would have to run big PR's to reach the podium in Gainesville. Hey, some guys like Ziomek, Speruta and Fritz are just better at track than XC. I know that was the case for me.
Here's hoping to a slew of medals for the county's high school distance elite this week!
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