- May 4, 2026
Flagler Palm Coast senior Karina Marcelus and Matanzas sophomore Peyton Cerasi each won two individual events at their regional track and field championships to secure their spots at state.
Marcelus won the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles, breaking a school record along the way, at the Region 1-4A meet on Saturday, May 2, at Seminole High School in Sanford. Her triple jump of 12.29 meters (40 feet, 3 inches) broke Alyce Williams’ 24-year FPC record in the event.
“A female jumping 40 feet is pretty amazing stuff,” FPC track coach David Halliday said.
Marcelus' triple jump distance is ranked second in Class 4A heading into the state meet May 9 at the University of North Florida. She placed fourth in both events at state last year.
Cerasi repeated her regional championships in the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Region 1-3A meet May 2 at Pine Forest High School in Pensacola. She placed second at state in the 3,200 last year as a freshman. Cerasi is seeded fourth in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200 among qualifiers for the Class 3A state championships on May 8 at UNF.
Mainland’s Aquila Rivers also collected two regional gold medals. Rivers won the 400-meter run at the Region 2-3A meet on May 2 in Lakeland. She also ran the first leg of the Bucs’ 4x400 winning relay. Rivers shared the medal stand with relay teammates Jalissa Rodney, Gabrielle Lett and Yasmin Polk.
FPC’s boys 4x400 relay of Logan Jacobelli, Will Roberts, Michael Najpaver and Justin Goings also took home regional gold.
The first- and second-place finishers in each event at regionals automatically qualify for the state championships. Ten at-large qualifiers in each event, based on the next best regional results, will fill out the fields.
The FPC boys placed second as a team in Sanford and had two second-place finishers — Jacobelli in the 100 and the 4x800 relay. At-large state qualifiers include Jacobelli in the 200 — giving him four events at state — Jordan Haymon in the 400 and La’Darius Simmons and Jack Wronowski in the javelin.
Freshman Douglas Seth was sick and could not finish the 3,200-meter run, Halliday said.
“We held him out of the 4x8,” Halliday said. “Mateo (Alemeida) did a great job qualifying in his place. Douglas tried his best to run the 3,200. We stayed with him for one mile, but he was really struggling, so we pulled him off the track. We didn’t want to take a chance. He’ll be back in the 4x8 (at state).”
Haymon was still not 100% from a minor quad injury. He placed fifth in the 400 at regional but has run the second fastest time in Class 4A this season in 46.88 seconds.
“If he’s 95% healthy, he has a shot in the 400,” Halliday said.
Simmons has recorded the longest distance in javelin this season among Class 4A competitors. He placed third at regional throwing from a grass surface.
“He will do better on a real collegiate runway,” Halliday said. “He definitley has the opportunity to win a state title next week, but it’s not going to come easy. He can’t have a so-so day. Three other throwers have thrown over 60 meters. He’s thrown 62.”
FPC’s Grace Taylor automatically qualified in girls javelin with a runner-up regional finish. Arianna Slaughter received at-large bids in the 800, 1,600 and 4x800 relay with Anna Grigoruk, Jayden Wright and Everly Mucciolo. They broke a school record with a time of 9:35.44. Danteria Rankin received an at-large bid in the shot put.
Mainland freshman Makayla Doe also broke a school record, placing second in triple jump with a leap of 11.31 meters (37 feet, 1.25 inches). Mainland’s Sydney Noelien is also an automatic qualifier for the Class 3A championships. She placed second in discus at regional. Ethan Figueroa (long jump) and Michael London (discus) are at-large qualifiers. They both placed third at district.
Seabreeze had two automatic qualifiers to the Class 3A championships — Drayton Brackett placed second in the 110-meter hurdles and Dominic Dowell placed second in the 400-meter hurdles.
Matanzas freshman Dylan Ciardi received an at-large bid in the boys' 3,200.
Two Father Lopez individuals and two relay teams qualified for the Class 1A state championships on May 6 at UNF. Lauren Lansing won the 100-meter hurdles in a school-record 14.96 seconds at the Region 2-1A meet. Lancing also qualified in the 100-meter dash.
Father Lopez's Mia Bruno-Ludwig earned a second-place finish in shot put. The 4x100 relay (Gabby Green, Caroline Curtis, Valerie Aldrich and Lancing) set a school record of 50.3 seconds to finish third and receive an at-large bid. The 4x400 relay of Curtis, Marlena Cornwell, Green and Lancing also received an at-large bid.
