FPC track & field: ONE GIANT LEAP

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

Flagler Palm Coast track and field made history this past week. The girls snapped Spruce Creek’s 12-year run as the Five-Star Conference Champions Thursday, and the boys not only won the conference title, but also won the Bob Hayes Invitational against over 80 schools Saturday, March 21, in Jacksonville.

“This win was the biggest regular season win in FPC history,” coach David Halliday said. “The Bob Hayes Invitational is one of the biggest in the Southeast, and is steeped in tradition, so earning a victory here is a major accomplishment. The 2007 state champs’ team was fourth, and the 2009 state champs were second at the Bob Hayes. This capped a strong 48 hours for them.”

Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Justin Pacifico, who won the 800-meter run and was on the winning 4x800 relay team and the third-place 4x400 squad. Tim Patrick and Mark Bertrand continued their dominance in the pole vault, finishing first and second. Ka’Deem Wynn was third in the 800 and ran on both the 4x800 and 4x400. Que’Shaun Byrd took second in the 200-meter dash.

Girls’ track

The Lady Bulldogs’ last conference championship was in 2002, right before Spruce Creek went on its over-a-decade title run. Emari Williams won the 100-meter dash, and Alantra McFadden took first in all the throwing events. Armani Walker won the triple jump, leaping 35 feet, 4.5 inches, and senior Devonne Friday captured took first in the 300 hurdles.

“The girls team was ecstatic winning the Five-Star Conference crown after being in Spruce Creek’s shadow for the previous 11 years, especially since FPC placed second in about eight of those 11 years,” Halliday added. “The team is as well-rounded from event to event than it probably has ever been in the history of the school.”

Over the past week, Alantra McFadden broke the school discus record twice, first in Winter Park with a 108-foot throw, and then again at the Five-Star Conference with a 113-foot throw.

“We have plenty of work to do before May 2,” Halliday said. “Hopefully we learned some lessons this past weekend and built some confidence. It was pretty fun to win the Bob Hayes meet; I’ve come up short a few times, so it was on the bucket list. We are on the right track and still have lots of work to do before the post season.”