Track Week 7 Three Things

The high school track and field season is racing to the finish line in Southwest Florida. Two championships dominated the scene over the past season. Friday night featured the Private 8 meet at ECS which is made up of eight private schools from around Lee and Collier Counties. Saturday afternoon saw the public high schools of Lee County take the track at Dunbar for the LCAC meet, obstensibly the county championships. The best individual performance came from a Collier County athlete at Private 8 where FBA's Jacob Panzarella scorched a 48.44 400. 

 1. Ava Povich appears to be headed to an amazing peak to the end of her season. The ECS junior started her day with a strong second leg for the Sentinels 4x800 clocking a split well under 2:30. She came back in the 1,600 peeling off a squeaker over FBA's Katie Beam in 5:16.19. Later in the evening running even splits Povich tracked down Verot freshman star Mackenzie De Lisle running her fastest time of the season winning with an 11:16.29. 

 2. Verot junior Grayson Tubbs tripled up at Private 8 helping the Vikings win the 4x800 before winning the 1,600 and 800 in 4:38.24 and 2:05.21 respectively. While the times aren't super fast Tubbs has had a surprisngly consistent season which features a 1:58.87 open 800 earlier in the season.

 3. A major abscence opened the door for Ida Baker senior Jacob Fritz to take two LCAC titles. Fritz ran 4:27.44 to take the 1,600 title and then lost a shoe in winning the 800 in 2:00.67. Fritz has run 1:58.0 and 4:24.05 for the season and has a shot and making it to state in one of those two events. Estero senior Kolton Pickard was a LCAC no show deciding to save his racing for the post season in two weeks.

Track Week 6 Three Things

Championship season is at hand. Conference meets dominate the upcoming schedule and fortunately cooler weather should drape itself across Lee County this weekend after a scorching temperatures last weekend. The Pepsi Relays headlined the four meets where Lee County athletes competed but the trip to Gainesville was only for a select few and for reasons beyond comprehension the area's top distance runner didn't make the trip north and competed instead at Cypress Lake High School. 1. Kolton Pickard continued his march through an undefeated season. He handily took the 1,600 and 800 in less than ideal weather conditions clocking a 4:20.51 and 1:55.73. It's going to be interesting to see if he can be pushed in any meet outside of the State Championship. Fort Myers sophomore sensation Joseph Koraya did run in Gainesville running 4:22.22 could force the Estero senior to run a little harder than he would like when they face off at next Saturday's County Championship at Dunbar.

2. Welcome back to the 800, Cooper Banks. The Bishop Verot junior was focusing on the 400 but showed he's capable of decent 800's with his second straight week of crashing under 2 minutes with his 1:58.42 in winning the Tarpon Invitational. Banks prefers soccer but if he would commit to another season of cross country he could be a sub 1:55 800 competitor. Meanwhile teammate Mackenzie De Lisle ran the fastest 3200 by any Lee County girl in Gainesville with her 8th place finish in 11:16.71. She traveled back to Charlotte County to help her 4x800 team to victory later in the day. 

 3. Ava Povich appears ready to roll. The Private 8 meet promises to be an incredible match up between De Lisle and the Sentinel junior. Povich ran her best double of the season in Sarasota recording a 5:15.78 1,600 and tripling back (yes, she ran the 4x800) in the 3,200 with a 11:17.6. Don't count out Canterbury's Gabriella Santucci this Friday either. The meet should be chalk full of good performances.

Track Week 5 Three Things

The track and field season in Southwest Florida is heading into the home stretch.  The second edition of Dunbar's big invitational meet, now dubbed the Guy Thomas Memorial Classic shows the promise of becoming to best big track and field competition in the area.  Despite holding the competition on the same weekend as the FSU Relays, GMTC provided some top quality racing and promises to improve as it is the only invitational to offer a full mile for high school athletes.

1.  Kolton Pickard's senior campaign is going about as good as the Estero Wildcat could hope.  He's undefeated in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.  His focus as the season moves forward is on the 800 and 1,600 and he scored a super double despite an extremely long wait between events.  Pickard closed in 2:05 to win the mile in 4:20.72.  Then in the late afternoon he ran the one of the fastest 800's in the state clocking a 1:54.14.  The 800 time puts Pickard within shouting distance of Hugh Brittenham's school record of 1:51.92, the fastest time ever by a Lee County prep.

2.  Mackenzie De Lisle's super freshman campaign keeps rolling on.  De Lisle gunned it from the start of the 3,200 looking determined to make a run at a sub 11 in cool but breezy conditions.  De Lisle managed to grind her way to an 11:19.63, a personal best by nine seconds and if she were in any class but 2A the Bishop Verot distance ace would be guaranteed a podium finish at State.  She'll have to run her best with the load of talent she will face from Cambridge Christian.  De Lisle also ran a leg earlier in the day on the Viking's 4x800 relays which took second place.

3.  Ava Povich showed why she can't be counted out despite finishing second in both the 1,600 and 3,200.  She scored a big PR in the mile running 5:16.68, the fastest time in the county by far this year.  After a 10 hour wait the ECS junior came back for the 3,200 and watched De Lisle sprint away from the start.  Povich slowly but surely cut the distance down as the race progressed but came up about 50 yards short running a fine 11:24.15.  That's a super double on a long day.  Plus both times were much faster than her 1,600/3,200 double from the prior week.

Track Week 4 Three Things

The track and field universe focused on South Fort Myers High School for a unbelievably long meet brought on by the fact that there weren't a lot of options for competition.  The weather was optimal for the later distance events but the biggest mark made in the meet wasn't by a Lee County athlete.  So I am going to stray from my usual format to recognize a Collier County athlete.

1.  Nick Molloy smashed the meet record in the pole vault climbing 16 feet 4 3/4 inches, also a personal best.  The senior from the Community School of Naples achieved equivalent of a high school boy running under 4:10 in the mile.  It's quite a mark by the defending state champion and it was witnessed by the best high school pole vaulter in Lee County history, ECS grad Drew McMichael.

2.  The best race that I witnessed was the girl's 3200 which saw Canterbury's Gabriella Santucci take a major scalp besting ECS star Ava Povich 11:34.75 to 11:41.96.  Santucci staked an early lead before freshman Masha Dorofeev tried to pull away from the Cougar junior.  Dorofeev came back to earth before the mile.  Santucci was off on a tear as Povich slowly reeled in Dorofeev and looked for a time that she might track down Santucci before simply running out of track.  Dorofeev dipped below 12 minutes for the first time for third.

3.  Estero senior Kolton Pickard chose the Wolfpack Invite as his lone effort at 3200.  After a 1:56 800 4x800 relay split about seven hours earlier Pickard took off in pursuit of a sub 9:30.  I'm sure Pickard had hoped that Port Charlotte's Tyler Wadsworth would offer some competition but the Wildcat senior was on his own from the gun.  It resulted in a fine 9:34.6 with Wadsworth clocking a 9:43.33 and Fort Myers senior Colsen Palmer in third with a 9:52.91.  

This weekend with good weather in the forecast look for some fast times in the mile, yes a full mile at Dunbar's Guy Thomas Memorial Classic.  We can't wait for the fireworks!       

Track Week 3 Three Things

A full slate of meets, decent weather and a ton of great times make this edition all about the distance.  The depth of quality times from Lee County distance runners was pretty surprising.  PR's abounded so let's break it down.

800:  Among the boys there's Estero's Kolton Pickard and everyone else.  Pickard reeled off a stunningly fast 1:55.26 on the concrete track at Fort Myers High.  The time would be at least two seconds faster on a good synthetic service.  Ida Baker's Jacob Fritz showed that he's rounding back into form with his 1:59.24 clocking at Fort Myers.  Both Pickard and Fritz ran those fast 800's after running fast 1,600's at the Edison Relays.

Then there are the ladies at Bishop Verot High School who clocked a school record in the 4x800 in 9:52.4 at the Charlotte Invitational. Leading the charge was junior Julia Reitz who also posted her fastest 800 of the season clocking a 2:23.34.  A sub-2:20 time can't be far off.

1600:  Kolton Pickard ran 4:16.87, the fastest time by any Lee County distance runner since Hugh Brittenham was a Wildcat.  He was followed across the finish line by Fritz who ran a PR of 4:24.05 and then came surprising Fort Myers sophomore Joseph Koraya who ran 4:24.17.  Take about four seconds off those times on a good surface.  Lehigh's Evan Meyer ran 4:27.8 in North Port to boot.

A slower of ladies dipped under 5:30 at the various meets across the area.  The fastest was Verot freshman star Mackenzie De Lisle who ran 5:20.07 following her relay carry.  Lehigh's Gianna Del Pizzo ran 5:26.23, Canterbury's Gabrielle Santucci ran 5:29.74 in North Port and ECS junior Ava Povich showed a returned to form running 5:28.28 at the FBA Invite.

3200:  Povich doubled back from her fine 1,600 with her first sub 12 of the season running 11:54.97.  De Lisle tripled back with a fine 11:28.31 at Charlotte followed by the dynamic duo from South Fort Myers, Sophia Torres and Allison Bratton who ran 11:42.3 and 11:59.49.  Most of the fireworks came on the boy's side.  Ida Baker duo Declan Ziomek and Matt Speruta finally showed their wheels going one-two at Edison in 9:44..82 and 9:50.32.  Fort Myers freshman Craig Allard, Jr. broke 10 for the first time with his 9:57.73.  Dunbar's Ivan Marin-Padilla ran a sterling time as well winning the North Port Invite in 9:48.77.

Track Week 2 Three Things

The second week of high school track and field in Southwest Florida featured three meets.  Friday saw about ten teams compete at the Bishop Verot Invitational while on Saturday there were two meets both in Collier County at Naples High and the Community School of Naples with a smattering of Lee County schools in attendance.  The Naples Invite is largely relays and none of the team relay times stood out.  The best racing took place at the Verot meet.

1.  Bishop Verot junior Julia Reitz scored three victories winning the 800 and 1,600 and running a leg on the Vikings' winning 4x800 team.  The Verot relay team came super close to being the first area team to dip under 10 minutes in the 4x800.  And Reitz had her hands full in the 1,600 holding off teammate Mackenzie DeLisle running 5:26.41.

2.  Fort Myers senior Colsen Palmer scored a big PR in the 1,600 a 4:33.25 winning by a wide margin. Palmer pressed the pace from the gun and appears to be well past a nagging back injury.  It will be interesting to see if he gets a chance to tangle with Kolton Pickard at the Edison Relays this Friday.

3.  We have a little love for an up and coming field star, Fort Myers freshman Julia Lemmon.  Following in the steps of big brother Jacob who set the discus on fire three years ago, Julia bombed the disc 121 feet four inches.  That's a big throw for a freshman.  It would have been good enough to take 4th in last year's state meet. Lemmon also took the shot throwing the iron ball over 32 feet.  

Track Week 1 Three Things

Cross country is one thing for distance runners, running on a track is a whole different animal.  One would think that cross country beasts would thrive on the track, but that's not always the case.  The symmetry of running on a smooth oval suits some runners more than others.

Here are the three things I noticed culling through the results.

1.  Gianna Del Pizzo may be one such runner.  The Lehigh sophomore endured a good but not great cross country campaign.  She ran better as a freshman on the turf.  But she showed signs of rebounding at the Ida Baker Indoor/Outdoor in winning the 1,500 in 5:02.34.  Del Pizzo appears to be the girl to beat in Lee County over four laps.

2. Ava Povich, the best female cross country running in Lee County made her season debut at the Palmetto Ridge Invitational.  Povich, a junior at ECS, doubled in the 1,600 and 3,200.  She had her hands full in the 1,600 finishing second to Sonia Lountchenko running 5:29.15, losing a just a tick.  Povich came back in the 3,200 where she ran to an easy victory in 12:12.61, nearly a minute slower than her best.

3.  Fort Myers High sophomore Joseph Koraya scored his first victory taking the 3,000 at Ida Baker in 9:09.47, which equates to a sub 9:50 two mile.  Pretty stout running for a sophomore.  Kolton Pickard, Colsen Palmer and Jacob Fritz are still the top boys in Lee County but Koraya is going to be a force as the season progresses.