- April 19, 2024
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“If we lived anywhere else in Florida, I’d probably be taking my entire team to state.”
DAVID HALLIDAY, FPC track coach
Flagler Palm Coast boys and Matanzas girls won their district championships. The other teams took Top 3 finishes. But, after the region meets, no Pirate remains, and FPC will only compete in three events at this year’s FHSAA State Track and Field Championships, held on Friday and Saturday, May 6-7, at the IMG Academy Stadium in Bradenton.
Both programs knew what they were up against; FPC and Matanzas often referred to as their regions as the “Region of death.” They proved just that, eliminating nearly all of both programs, although FPC had many unfortunate breaks.
FPC junior Que’Shaun Byrd won the 100-meter dash, which was the only Flagler County region win, but he pulled his hamstring in the 200-meter dash, taking him out of state competition.
“It’s a little disappointing because I want to win a championship before I leave high school,” Byrd said, “but not so much because I know if I try to run, I could mess up my hamstring a lot more and might have to sit out my senior year of football, so I won’t be so mad.”
Senior Justin Pacifico came down with a sickness nearly an hour prior to his first event, so he wasn’t able to run his normal times. Now that he’s back to normal, he will look to avenge last year’s second-place finish, which he had lost in the last 10 yards of the race.
FPC will send out Anna Walls for the high jump, Michael Peppin for the discus, and Ka’Deem Wynn, Slade Cavallaro, Hayden Ore and Pacifico for the 4x800-meter relay, and Pacifico for the 800-meter run.
