City Championships and More

Jana Stolting, April 8, 2009

The Stoltz report has returned from its spring break, as have the runners, jumpers, and throwers of the Big Bend. Before the City Championships, held Tuesday, can be highlighted, however, it is necessary to provide a quick recap of last week’s top performances.

Whitney Strickland was the lone athlete from Tally in the highly competitive Florida Relays. He proved he can run four laps just as well as he runs two, popping an impressive 4:19.14, good enough for seventh place.

A state away, at the Mobile Challenge of Champions, Chiles freshman, Lily Williams, ran a 5:01.50 mile, edging out her closest competitor by .15 seconds, thereby securing first place. She came back soon after in the 800m, running a time of 2:16.83 to take second place.

Back home, on Tallahassee’s beloved Mike Long Track, the city’s best athletes proved that they were ready for the post season at the City Championships. On the girls’ side, Florida High took first place with a score of 183 points. They were led by a first place 4x800m relay team (11:01), a victory in the 100m hurdles by LaKetra McGee (15.95 seconds), a first and second place sweep in the 100m dash by Ena Johnson (12.52 seconds) and Bianca Jackson (12.64 seconds), a first place 4x100m relay team (49.88 seconds), a second place finish in the 400m dash by Elizabeth Ichite (58.21 seconds), a first through third sweep in the 300m hurdles by Ena Johnson (44.36 seconds), Ana Detorres (47.20), and LaKetra McGee (50.09), a first place finish in the 200m dash by Ena Johnson, a victory in the high jump by Dorian Corbett (5-00.00), a first place long jump by Aeisha Samaila (16-09.00), and a winning triple jump by LaKetra McGee (34-09.00). Other notable achievements on the girls’ side include Godby’s Christine Poole’s first place finish in the 400m dash in a time of 57.32, third place Maclay’s Stefanie Kurgatt’s first place finish in the 800m run in a time of 2:18.70. Jana Stolting and Stefanie Kurgatt led Maclay to a sweep in the 1600, with Jana winning in 5:29.53.

On the boys’ side, Godby dominated, winning the team title with a score of 189 points. They were led by a first place 4x800m relay team (8:13.05), Lavorrie Johnson’s first place 100m dash (11.15 seconds), a first place 4x100m relay team (43.63 seconds), a second place 800m run by Terrell Bryant (2:01.69), a second place 4x400m relay team (3:30.87), a first place long jump by Lavorrie Johnson (22-10.00), a first place triple jump by Quayshun Smith (45-09.50), and a first place throw in the shot put by Denzel Bonner (47-09.00). Other notable male performances include a 4:42.48 first place 1600m run by Maclay’s Patrick Swain, a 10:19.90 3200m victory by Swain’s teammate, Austin Stevens, and a 1:56.54 800m victory by North Florida Christian’s Whitney Strickland.

With another City Championships in the books, we draw even closer to culmination of every prepster’s training: the post season. Before we move on to districts, however, there are still a couple local meets that will be contested this week. On Friday, Maclay will host the Last Chance Meet, and I hear the boys’ 800m run will be the race to watch. The meet starts at 3:30 PM and spectators are encouraged to provide moral support and/or verbal abuse to the athletes. On Saturday, Chiles is hosting the Capital City Classic, which is sure to turn out some fast times and exciting dashes to the finish. With this being one of the last chances to witness firsthand the talent of Tallahassee, I encourage all those who have even a minor interest to come out and support your hometown heroes. I guarantee there will be a few laughs, a couple of tears, and plenty of edge-of-your-seat showdowns. What more could any track and field fan ask for?