FHSAA 3A state track: Lake Minneola’s Kai Evans hurdles to 2 golds; Tavares 9th grader shines
JACKSONVILLE — National leader Kai Evans won both of his hurdles races but nothing came easy for the Lake Minneola junior in Friday’s Class 3A state track and field meet.
Evans injured his right Achilles tendon in practice earlier in the week and it was clear he was hurting as he ran a grueling workload of four speed events at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium. After his last race, the 200-meter dash, Evans sat down on the infield grass and rubbed his sore tendon before limping to the other end of the track to step onto the awards podium for the third time.
“It hurt me coming out of the blocks in my last three races,” he said. “I could have gotten out faster if I wasn’t hurting.”
Evans still started fast, running a career-best time of 13.81 seconds (wind-legal) to win the 110 high hurdles. About 20 minutes later he was back on the track to place fifth in the 100-meter dash with a 10.66 time. He coasted to a second gold-medal performance in his best event — the 400 hurdles — but without matching the FHSAA state meet record he set last season (52.35). He crossed the line at 53.02, far from his personal-best 51.18 that won the AAU Junior Olympic Games last summer.
In his final race, Evans slowed late while turning in a 21.57 for 10th in the 200 dash.
“I didn’t have the season I wanted,” he said. “I’ve still got next year. I have a lot more work to do.”
Tavares ninth grader Cheyenne Thomas, another Lake County prodigy, scorched her previous personal-best by more than 10 seconds to place second in the girls 1,600. She stayed close to the favorite and winner Christiana Coleman, a Fort Lauderdale Dillard senior, through all four laps to turn in a 4:54.39 time that is fastest ever for a Central Florida freshman.
Thomas, 15, now ranks No. 5 on the 2024 national ninth-grade list, according to MileSplit.com.
“I was training to run 4:59. I did not expect 4:54,” she said with a big smile. “In my brain I was thinking if I could stay near the front through 800 [meters], I could kick at the end and I could actually win it. But Christiana is like insane.”
Thomas came back to record another personal-best of 2:13.34 to finish fourth in the 800. That’s also Florida’s fastest for freshman girls this year.
Edgewater high jumpers Amaya Bien-Aime and Jordin Smith placed high.
Bien-Aime tied for second with a 5-3 3/4 effort to medal for the fourth consecutive season in the girls event. She was hoping for more.
“I felt great coming in. I think my foot just clipped [the bar],” the FIU commit said of her three tries to jump 5-5 3/4 and go higher.
Fleming Island senior Gabrielle Flores cleared 5-7 to win.
Smith matched his 6-5 1/2 regional mark to finish fifth on the boys side. Palm Bay Bayside sophomore Nickiah Wilkinson won at 6-9 1/2.
Lake Buena Vista junior Travis Ligene was fourth in the boys long jump with a personal-best 22-6 1/4.
Winter Springs senior U’nitee Brown, a girls state weightlifting champ, was runner-up in the shot put (41-11 1/4) and fifth in the discus (125-3).
Fort Lauderdale Dillard edged Miami Northwestern 76 points to 73.5 to win the girls team title and end the Bulls’ 14-year state championship streak. The Panthers got off on the right foot with the ninth fastest girls 4×800 relay time in high school history (8:49.73).
Plantation American Heritage outscored Northwestern 76-68 for the boys title and broke the Florida record with a scintillating 39.39 time in the 4×100 relay. That smashed 40.09 another Broward County school, Boyd Anderson, recorded in 1998 in the postseason Golden South Classic at Showalter Field in Winter Park.
Miami Belen Jesuit junior Joseph Socarras set a meet record with a 4:04.53 victory in the boys 1,600.
More records could fall as Saturday’s Class 4A meet at UNF completes the four-day series.
Edgewater jumper aims high with FHSAA track and field championships ahead
Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be contacted by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
