Back on track: Preseason track meet has its highs and Lows

Seabreeze senior Veronica Low was pleased with her time in the 100-meter hurdles at the Flagler Pinnacle Preseason Track and Field Meet on Friday, Feb. 17, at Flagler Palm Coast High School.

Low won the event with a time of 16.86 seconds, edging out Spruce Creek’s Lauren Mohney (17.07) and Matanzas’ Jordan Youngman (17.33).

“I’m running some of my best times. I was ending with these times last year, so I’m starting right where I left off,” Low said.

If you can start off your first race close to your PR, that’s pretty good evidence you’re going to make progress. — Dave Halliday, FPC boys track coach

FPC boys coach Dave Halliday said, “If you can start off your first race close to your PR, that’s pretty good evidence you’re going to make progress.”

But while some athletes were happy with their results, others, like Matanzas jumper Olivia Gaines, were not. Gaines dominated both the girls long jump and high jump events and helped the Pirates win the 4x100 relay, but she said she could have done better.

“My PRs are way more than what I jumped,” said Gaines, who is beginning her first track season with the Pirates after transferring from Ridgeview.

Her long jump of 15 feet, 10.25 inches was more than nine inches farther than the mark of second-place jumper Kali Harris of Menendez. And Gaines’ triple jump of 34 feet, 3.5 inches bested Harris by nearly two feet.

One reason why Gaines and other jumpers were unhappy with their distances was the swirling wind.

“The wind kept affecting our stops and our marks,” she said.

But the Pinnacle meet's results will soon be forgotten. It is just a trial run for the season which begins Friday, Feb. 24, with FPC’s 19th annual East Coast Classic at the Bulldogs’ stadium. Sixteen schools are entered in the meet, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

The Pinnacle is more of a fun meet with some unsanctioned events like the 600- and 1,200-meter runs, and the throwers’ 4x100 relay run, which is open only to throwing specialists.

Matanzas senior Bradyn Cox, who won the discus with a throw of 140 feet, 8 inches, also helped the Pirates finish second in the throwers relay with Ahmad Louis Charles, Adyn Cox and Daniel DeFalco. Their time of 51.64 seconds edged Seabreeze’s Ralph Arreaza, Hayden Hayes, Chandler Mitzo and Christopher Sarno, who ran 51.79.

FPC senior Brandon Kalasnik won the boys 600 meters with a time of 1:23. While he won’t be able to run that event during the season, his breakout cross country season has helped the 400-meter runner evolve into a middle-distance runner.

“I’d say 800 is my calling now,” said Kalasnik, who ran his first sub 17-minute 5K at the district cross country meet this past fall.

“He has a lot of speed. We just made him stronger,” Halliday said.

The Bulldogs had several Pinnacle champs, including Isaiah Joseph (110 hurdles); the boys 4x400 relay of Dennis Murray, Kalasnik, Joseph and Barak Olago; Robert Harris (long jump); Gerod Tolbert (triple jump); Jake Blumengarten (shot put); and Maya Tyson (girls shot put and discus).

Besides Gaines and Bradyn Cox’s victories, Matanzas’ Sierra Howard won the girls 600, Youngman won the 400 hurdles and the Pirates’ Evanne Miller, Howard, Youngman and Luise Somer won the 4x400 to sweep the girls traditional relays.

Seabreeze’s Mitzo won boys javelin, joining Low with wins for the Sandcrabs.

Girls results

(Top five locals in each event)

100: 2. Summer Barnes, FPC, 12:02; 3. Olivia Gaines, Matanzas, 12.89; 5. Jada Dotson, FPC, 13.04.

200: 2. Jada Dotson, FPC, 27.34; 3. Keeva Heggins, Seabreeze, 28.30.

300: 2. Luise Sommer, Matanzas, 42.60; 3. Summer Barnes, FPC, 43.29; 4. Evanne Miller, Matanzas, 43.61; 5. Fabiola LaPlante, FPC, 43.78.

600: 1. Sierra Howard, Matanzas, 1:38.25; 2. Evanne Miller, Matanzas, 1:39.41; 5. Cassidy De Young, FPC, 1:45.35.

1,200: 4. Cassidy De Young, FPC, 4:02.27.

100 Hurdles: 1. Veronica Low, Seabreeze, 16.86. 3. Jordan Youngman, Matanzas, 17.33; 4. Karina Marcelus, FPC, 18:13; 5. Taylor Spann, FPC, 18:54.

400 Hurdles: 1. Jordan Youngman, 1:06.04; 3. Taylor Spann, FPC, 1:09.47; 5. Aliana Martin, Seabreeze, 1:18.13.

4x100: 1. Matanzas (Olivia Gaines, Destini Burgess, Jayden Wright, Jinayah Fennell), 52.90.

4x400: 1. Matanzas (Evanne Miller, Sierra Howard, Jordan Youngman, Luise Somer), 4:14.83. 3. FPC (Annabelle Moore, Taylor Novak, Arianna Slaughter, Lexie Shupe), 4:23.45; 5. FPC (Summer Barnes, Cassidy De Young, Fabiola La Plante, Karina Marcelus).

4x400 throwers: 2. Seabreeze (Keeva heggins, Aliana Martin, Kendra Uneda, Kirsten Glaenzer), 4:42.56  3. Matazas (Kamryn Miller, Bryonna Bowdry, Janiyah Smith, Kyma Thompson), 1:07.88.

High Jump: 5. Jordan Youngman, Matanzas, 4-feet-7.

Pole Vault: 3. Leilany Rosa, FPC, 7-feet-11.25; 4. Veronica Low, Seabreeze, 6-feet, 11.5 inches.

Long Jump: 1. Olivia Gaines, Matanzas, 15-feet-10.25; 4. Kayla Villafane, FPC, 14-feet-7.

Triple Jump: 1. Olivia Gaines, Matanzas, 34-feet-3.5.

Shot Put: 1. Maya Tyson, FPC, 31-feet-11.5; 3. Janiyah Smith, Matanzas, 29 feet-3.25.

Discus: 1. Maya Tyson, FPC, 89-feet-5; 2. Jamie Bandell, Seabreeze, 80-feet-10; 5. Isabella Fontanelli, Seabreeze, 75-feet-10.

Javelin: 2. Kelilah Epstein, FPC, 75-feet-5; 3. Isabella Fontanelli, Seabreeze, 73-11; 5. Jamie Bandell, Seabreeze, 66-11.

Boys results

(Top five locals in each event)

100: 3. Denali Campbell, Seabreeze, 11.0; 4. Isaac Oliver, Seabreeze, 11.11; 5. Oshane Park, Seabreeze, 11.15.

200: 3. Dennis Murray, FPC, 22.37; 4. DZ Steward, FPC, 22.40.

300: 4. Aiden Langford, Matanzas, 37.50

600: 1. Brandon Kalasnik, FPC, 1:23.0; 4. Kamron Davis, FPC, 1:25.25; 5. Dennis Murray, FPC, 1:25.66.

800: 4. Klellan Lubbe, Seabreeze, 2:04.78; 5. Andrew Hatten, Matanzas, 2:09.76.

1,200: 2. Peyton Woodward, FPC, 3:21.47; 3. Barak Olago, FPC, 3:22.77; 4. Brandon Kalasnik, FPC, 3:23.29; 5. Justin Gilliam, FPC, 3:23.79.

1,600: 3. Justin Gilliam, FPC, 4:40.23; 4. Braedyn Wormeck, FPC, 4:44.32; 5. Hunter Shuler, Seabreeze, 4:46.49,

110 Hurdles: 1. Isaiah Joseph, FPC, 15:57; 2. Christian Pacheco, Seabreeze, 18.16; 3. Eli Campbell, Seabreeze, 18:44; 4. Chandler Lane, Matanzas, 18:53.

400 Hurdles: 2. Charles Scrabis, Seabreeze, 57.38; 3. Isaiah Joseph, FPC, 57.42; 4. Chandler Lane, Matanzas, 1:01.33; 5. Sophathan Phan, Matanzas, 1:02.54.

4x100 throwers: 2. Matanzas (Bradyn Cox, Ahmad Louis Charles, Adyn Cox, Daniel DeFalco), 51.64; 3. Seabreeze (Ralph Arreaza, Hayden Hayes, Chandler Mitzo, Christopher Sarno), 51.79; 5. FPC (Jake Blumengarten, Drew Droste, Logan Pinkston, Colby Cronk), 1:00.20.

4x100 Relay: 2. Seabreeze (Oshane Parkes, Crawford Olsen, Isaac Oliver, Denali Campbell), 43.27.

4x400 Relay: 1. FPC (Dennis Murray, Brandon Kalasnik, Isaiah Joseph, Barak Olago), 3:26.33; 3. FPC (DZ Steward, Gabriel Costa, Peyton Woodward, Kamron Davis), 3:30.51.

High Jump: 2. Carson Kato, FPC, 5-feet-7.

Pole Vault: 3. Chase Magee, FPC, 10-feet-4.75.

Long Jump: 1. Robert Harris, FPC, 21-feet-2.5; 2. Gerod Tolbert, FPC, 20-feet-8; 5. Cody Newton, FPC, 19-4.25.

Triple Jump: 1. Gerod Tolbert, FPC, 44-feet-0.5; 3. Robert Harris, FPC, 39-feet-6.5; 5. Christian Pacheco, Seabreeze, 36-feet,10.5.

Shot put: 1. Jake Blumengarten, FPC, 49-feet-3.75; 2. Colby Cronk, FPC, 45-feet-0.5; 3. Drew Droste, FPC, 43-feet-10; 5. Logan Pinkston, FPC, 41-feet-9.25.

Discus: 1. Bradyn Cox, Matanzas, 140-feet-8; 2. Ashton Bracewell, FPC, 134-feet-9; 5. Levi Hayworth, Seabreeze, 129-feet-8.

Javelin: 1. Chandler Mitzo, Seabreeze, 146-feet-8; 2. Levi Hayworth, Seabreeze, 146-feet-4; 3. Elijah Thero, FPC, 146-feet-0. 4. Daniel DeFalco, Matanzas, 140-feet-4.