- May 23, 2025
Matanzas High freshman Peyton Cerasi won both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races at the Region 1-3A track and field meet on Friday, May 2, at Pine Forest High School in Pensacola.
“Two wins at regional as a freshman is a pretty impressive way to start her track career,” Matanzas coach Katie Hoover said. “I’m really proud of Peyton.”
Cerasi is ranked 10th in the 1,600 and seventh in the 3,200 heading into the Class 3A state championships on Friday, May 9, at the University of North Florida. She set a personal record in the 1,600 with a time of 5 minutes, 6.15 seconds to win by less than half a second over Ponte Vedra senior Daisy Ross.
“That was really incredible,” Hoover said. “She was ranked fourth (in the region) coming in and she came out with a win and a PR. It wasn’t surprising, but it was a huge accomplishment.”
Cerasi won the 3,200 with a time of 11:07.13. Ross was second at 11:09.98.
“They ran the 3,200 near the end, so she had quite a long time to recover,” Hoover said. “She led for a decent chunk of the race and still had a good finishing kick. She was definitely pushed by Daisy Ross, who’s an extremely talented runner.”
Cerasi is the only Matanzas athlete to qualify for the state meet.
“We’re still a very, very young team,” Hoover said. “We’re predominately sophomores.”
Three Father Lopez girls track and field athletes placed first or second at the Region 2-1A meet on May 3 at Satellite High School to automatically qualify for the Class 1A state championships on May 10 at UNF.
Mackenzie Brewton won shot put with a throw of 12.03 meters (39 feet, 5.75 inches), while Adelae Fulton was second in discus (34.95 meters) and Caroline Theriault was second in high jump (1.52 meters).
Brewton also is an at-large qualifier in discus, while Theriault is also an at-large qualifer in 100 hurdles. Mia Bruno-Lodwig (shot put), Caroline Curtis (400), and Lauren Lancing (100 hurdles and 400 hurdles) are also at-large qualifiers.
Sanigh Arneaud of First Baptist Christian Academy in Palm Coast placed sixth in long jump with a leap of 4.87 meters, falling short of the qualifying mark.
On the boys side, Lopez's Ryan Herdel is an at-large qualifier in the 200.
