- April 24, 2024
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Matanzas qualified 16 track and field athletes for the regional and won three events at the District 4-3A championships April 26 at St. Augustine High.
“Everyone qualified who we expected to qualify,” Matanzas coach Tim Kane said. “Last year we absolutely crushed our district meet and then we got to region and were a little flat. We expect to do a lot better team-wise.”
The Region 1-3A meet is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, at the University of North Florida.
We were very surprised she was able to get through the meet, but she’s a really tough athlete.” — TIM KANE, Matanzas coach on hurdler Jordan Youngman
Jordan Youngman overcame a sprained back to qualify in three events. She won the 400-meter hurdles, finished second in the 100 hurdles and ran anchor on the district-champion 4x400 relay.
Olivia Gaines won long jump with a leap of 4.94 meters (16 feet, 2.5 inches). The junior also qualified in triple jump with a personal-record 10.85 meters (35 feet, 7.25 inches) to finish fourth.
Evanne Miller qualified in the 400 with a personal record 58.62 seconds for a second-place finish. Sierra Howard placed second in the 800 with a time of 2:20.36, just .23 of a second behind Fleming Island’s Kaitlyn Scherer. Howard is ranked eighth in the state in Class 3A in the 800.
Kane said Howard got beat in the 800 for the first time this season other than in the ultra-competitive Florida Relays.
“It was a tight race, but she’s ready to run against this girl again at region,” Kane said.
Howard, Miller and Luise Sommer joined Youngman on the winning 4x400 relay team, running a 4:02.78.
The Pirates’ Jayden Wright, Destini Burgess, Stella Dayton and Gaines qualified in the 4x100 relay with a third-place finish in 51.68 seconds.
For the Matanzas boys, Bradyn Cox threw a personal record 154 feet, 7 inches in discus to finish second behind the top-ranked discus thrower in Class 3A, Ponte Vedra’s Nathan Lebowitz. Cox is ranked fourth in 3A.
Chandler Lane (fourth place, 1:02.22) qualified in 400 hurdles and freshman Jordan Theus-Vales (fourth, 137 feet) qualified in javelin.
The Pirates also qualified two boys relays. Dominic Nocero, Aiden Langford, Clayton Vogel and Sho’Marion Gaines placed third in the 4x100 (44.48 seconds), and Sophathan Phan, Lane, Vogel and Langford finished third in the 4x400 (3:33.46).
Sho’Marion Gaines, who has been suffering from a quad injury, just missed qualifying in the both the 100 and 200, missing fourth place by .03 of a second in the 100 with a time of 11.65 and running 23.62 in the 200, just .31 of a second behind fourth-place.
Youngman crashed into a hurdle the week before districts and was still sore on the day of the meet, Kane said. But she won the 400 hurdles by .03 of a second with a time of 1:06.11. In the 100 hurdles, she ran a 16.64, just .23 of a second behind winner Sasha Crowe of Ponte Vedra.
“We were very surprised she was able to get through the meet, but she’s a really tough athlete,” Kane said. “If you beat her, it’s because you’re better than her, not because you gave any more effort than she does.”
