Week 11 State

Sure... let's run 18 kids in a final.  Sure it's a great idea to watch 18 kids fight for space in an 800 meter race.  What a farce.  The FSHSAA should be ashamed of itself.  There were so many things wrong with the way this meet was handled I can't even begin to get into it.

As I noted last week, Florida needs to have at least two more classes in track and field and run two to three classes simultaneously.  Last week's hot mess made tripling difficult to nearly impossible for distance runners.  If you want top performances, the schedule has to be more forgiving for all of the athletes.

We'll start with the good and finish with the bad.  The good, Ava Povich of ECS scored an outstanding double in Class 1A claiming seventh in the 1,600 running 5:07.51.  She faced an uphill battle against the legion from Cambridge Christian.  The 3,200 went before where the junior star ran a big PR in 10:53.51 to finish third.  It was the only top three finish by any Lee County distance athlete.

Bishop Verot's boys and girls brought down school records in the 4x800 in Class 2A.  The girl's finished seventh in 9:50.50 and the boys placed 4th in 8:06.79.  The other Verot distance podium came from freshman MacKenzie DeLisle who took 8th in the 3,200 in 11:19.82.  More on Verot when we get to the bad.

The Fort Myers boys scored a big school record with their 4th place finish in the Class 3A 4x800 thanks in large part to a massive lead off leg from senior Colsen Palmer.  Later in the evening Palmer doubled back in the 1,600 running a PR of 4:22.01 to finish 12th with teammate Joseph Koraya one place better with a PR of 4:21.36.  

SFCA's boys also came home with a podium finish and a school record in the 4x800 with an 8:17.26.  Junior Hayden Tank fresh off a school record in the 3,200 ran a respectable 9:50.98 to finish 11th in Class 1A.  Another season of training and Tank will be ready for his place on the podium.

While I focus on the Lee County kids I want to point out a couple of strong performances from Collier County distance runners.  The Naples girls 4x800 squad ran a super fast 9:29.5 to finish 4th thanks to a strong 2:14 anchor from Tara Watkins.  The freshman star later finished a respectable 8th in the 800 running 2:19.73.  Palmetto Ridge junior Bernardo Barnhart also podiumed with a big PR in the 3,200 of 9:23.04.  Barnhart also ran a leg on the Bears' 4x800 squad which finished 8th.

Now on to the bad.  Undefeated Estero senior Kolton Pickard ran into a lot of it in Gainesville.  He was battling for the lead in the Class 3A 1,600 when he tightened up to finish 4th in 4:17.09.  Then came the 800 where he was perfectly position with 200 to go when the eventual race winner decided to pinch Pickard into another run causing Pickard to tumble to the track.  It was a perfect example of why you can't run 18 athletes in an 800 final.  The track was overcrowded and it was a veritable traffic jam with 200 to go.  

Bad luck also cost Verot junior Cooper Banks a third place finish and a big PR in the 800.  As Banks was sprinting to the finish chasing two other runners, one of them tumbled to the track in front of Banks forcing him to stop and hurdle the fallen runner.  Even putting on the breaks couldn't stop Banks from clocking a fine 1:56.07 but the loss of momentum caused him to go from third to eighth.  A cruel way to end his season.

Listen up FSHSAA... 18 runners in a two lap final is ridiculous.

 

Week 10 Survival

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.

The lone girl to qualify in the 1600 is Ava Povich.  Talk about timing your peak right.  The ECS junior ran a sparkling PR of 5:04.29 to finish second at her Region.  She will have a hands full in Class 1A trying to fend off the four girls from Cambridge Christian who have all broken five minutes.  I look for Povich to break five in Gainesville.

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!

Week 8/9 Three Things

I'm cramming a couple of weeks worth of running into one blog as their was a couple of meets prior to the start of Districts and now we've hit the mark where all of qualifying for Regionals has wrapped up for Lee County track and field athletes.  I'm going to chop this up a little differently because we are at the point where getting to State is going to be a tough go.  Only the top two places at Regionals move on plus if I understand the confusing FHSAA's rules for qualifying, as many as ten at large relay relay teams/athletes will get invitations.  I personally think they should take the top three from each Regional with the next four fastest marks getting invites but that's just my opinion.

1.  The sure bets to advance of teams/athletes that will advance to State among Lee County distance runners looks like this.  Estero senior Kolton Pickard is a lock to make it in the 800 and 1,600.  He's been running consistently 1:55/4:20 and appears on the verge of a big break through after a sparkling 400 anchor in the District 4x400 that appeared to be sub 50, outstanding for a distance runner.

The other lock is Ava Povich in both the 1,600 and 3,200.  The ECS junior has been running like a Rolex snapping off a 5:10.24 and 11:19.53 at Districts without any competition.  Canterbury's Gabriella Santucci should be able to advance in the 3,200 as well.  1A is stocked with the top girls in the State thanks to super squad Cambridge Christian serving up four of the top five girls in the distance races.  

The other sure thing appears to be Bishop Verot's girls 4x800 along with super frosh MacKenzie DeLisle in the 1,600 and 3,200.  Verot's boys should also advance in the 4x800 because of absolute 800 studs Cooper Banks and Grayson Tubbs.  As good as these two middle distance runners are both are going to have to run PR's if they hope to make it to State as individuals.

2.  The bubble individuals are an interesting mix.  SFCA junior Hayden Tank has really improved over the course of the season.  He's got a shot in the 1,600 or 3,200.  Fort Myers senior Colsen Palmer has run PR's in both the 1,600 and 3,200 this season.  Can he run a PR in one of these two events to slip into State?  Teammate sophomore Joseph Koraya will need a huge race to make it in the 1,600 but Palmer and Koraya could help the Green Wave 4x800 team make it to Gainesville.  The Green Wave girls also appear to have a 4x800 squad capable of qualifying as well.

In the 3,200, Declan Ziomek appears to have a solid chance to advance to Gainesville but he'll be chased by teammate Matthew Speruta and Cape Coral's William Canales.  Something tells me it will take some major PR's by any of those three to make it through and that includes Palmer and Fort Myers freshman Craig Allard, Jr.

3.  I wanted to point out a couple of comebacks.  A year ago Canterbury's Charlie Meagher was racing on a stress fracture.  The 800 specialist battled injuries ever since last spring and finally got healthy in the last couple of months.  Meagher ran 2:05.18 to qualify through to Regionals which is heartwarming to see.  Good things should happen to good people.  The same thing can be said of Fort Myers sophomore Elizabeth McHugh who also spent the better part of the fall, winter and early spring battling injuries.  She's been healthy the last six weeks and split a sub 2:30 leg for the Green Wave 4x800.  We expect big things from both of these athletes next fall.

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!