Double Knight delight: Christian Miller, Alyson Johnson lead Creekside at FHSAA 4A track

No more second place.

Christian Miller received an unwanted surprise two weeks ago at regionals. The lesson: Staying in the national top 10 for high schoolers was going to take a little extra work. The grade: Passed with flying colors.

"It feels great to have my name up there," he said after his hometown victory in the boys 100-meter dash at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium.

Creekside junior Miller returned to the top of the Sunshine State's sprint scene and freshman teammate Alyson Johnson announced the latest step in her athletic rise, claiming two state trophies apiece in Saturday's Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A track and field championships.

Miller swept the boys 100 and 200 and Johnson stamped her dominance on the girls 1,600 and 3,200 as the Knights excelled at both ends of the distance spectrum.

Though state giants remained atop the team standings, where Niceville exploited its patented mastery of the field events to top the boys list and Miami Southridge continued South Florida's traditional strength in the girls overall tally, Creekside placed a solid fifth in both boys and girls points overall.

"It's just awesome," Johnson said after her 1,600 win.

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MILLER LEADS THE PACK

For Miller, the return to the top step of the podium meant going back to basics. Earlier this month he was nosed out by a hundredth of a second against Amari Turner of Sanford Seminole, and resolved to bury any issues once and for all.

"I definitely went back and fixed up my block start, making sure I was getting out with a lot of force, getting out quickly and maintaining it," he said.

Lined up again next to Turner in his first event of the day, the 100, he got his test.

"Once I started transitioning up [from the blocks] and stepping down, I felt good and I thought, 'Yeah, I've got this,'" Miller said.

Turner was fast (10.37) but Miller was even faster, crossing in 10.31 for the second-fastest competitive outdoor 100 of the junior's career.

About an hour later, Miller outdueled his rival again in the 200, running 20.57, defending his FHSAA championship from last May in Gainesville. The national MileSplit rankings list Miller tied for fifth in the 100 and seventh in the 200 among wind-legal times.

"I had a good amount of confidence, but I knew at the same time I had a great field of athletes behind me," Miller said. "I just needed to come out and do what I do."

ELECTRIC NEWCOMER STARS AGAIN

In her first FHSAA state meet, ninth-grader Johnson showed Florida she's more than ready for prime time.

Her winning times — 4:54.37 in the 1,600, 10:49.47 in the 3,200 — place her sixth and 27th, respectively, in the national list for the 2026 class.

"I'm really excited," she said of her 1,600 time. "I didn't expect this to be like that."

Johnson also displayed a tactical sense beyond her years in the 1,600. Waiting patiently to counter a move by Gainesville Buchholz's Kate Drummond, she timed her final assault on the backstretch to break from a pack of five.

"I was like, 'I have to go now,'" she said. "I just tried to kick as hard as I could until the end."

Creekside also recorded second-place results for Tanner Simonds in the boys 1,600 and Janay Moorer in the girls 400.

NEASE TRADITION GOING STRONG

The Nease distance tradition isn't going away, not even after Rheinhardt Harrison's 2022 graduation. Matt Ryan proved that again.

Ryan, a surprise state champion in the fall in cross country, raced away with the title in the boys 3,200 in 9:07.41, a three-second victory over Jonathan Leon of Oviedo Hagerty.

Also faring well in the longest high school race was Nease's Mary Pace-Balzan, second behind Creekside's Johnson in the girls 3,200 with a 10:52.16.

Versatility was the name of the game for senior Sasha Gregory. Jumping for height, distance and speed, Gregory juggled a frenetic schedule to score in four events — fourth in high jump, long jump and 100 hurdles and sixth in 400 hurdles — to help the Panthers girls to 25.50 points, eighth in the team standings.

"We've been training really hard every day for this entire season, so just to have the opportunity to be here is really big," she said.

JENNINGS HEADS DUVAL ATHLETES

While St. Johns County came away with the top honors, other area schools enjoyed a few highlights of their own.

Brittney Jennings ran 13.87 in the girls 100 hurdles but had to settle for second behind one of the meet's shining stars, sophomore Chelsi Williams of Lakeland George Jenkins.

"I thought I could have been a little quicker off the blocks, but I'm still grateful," said Jennings.

A baton pass ruled outside the zone cost Mandarin in the boys 4x100 relay, but the Mustangs scored six points in the 4x800. Seeded first, Mandarin got boxed in traffic during the early going, and needed a superb final-lap acceleration from anchor Gavin Nelson to come home third behind Gainesville Buchholz and St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Mustangs' Aliyah Robertson also took third in the girls shot put, and Oakleaf's Madison Linscomb also earned a fourth place in the girls javelin.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school track & field 2023: Creekside pair stars at FHSAA meet