First Coast Varsity Weekly: FHSAA district meets open a zoom month in track & field
The season of zoom has arrived.
District track and field meets kicked off last week, the latest step toward the Florida High School Athletic Association championships in mid-May at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium.
While one notable star not in action last week was Creekside sprinter Christian Miller — the Georgia-signed senior, who ran 9.93 last month in the 100-meter dash in a club event in Clermont, could be among the contenders at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Oregon in June after posting a strong qualifying time — hundreds of Northeast Florida athletes began running, jumping and throwing their way toward a potential hometown state title.
A few of the highlights:
Racing from an unseeded heat, Creekside senior Janay Moorer won the girls 100-meter dash in District 2-4A and followed up with a 200 title to lead the Knights to the team title at Tocoi Creek. Distance runner Alyson Johnson and hurdler Brittney Jennings also scored big points for the Knights.
Mandarin's boys topped the District 2-4A list, including some top performances by gridiron standouts: Tyrone Summerall won both sets of the hurdles, Tiant Wyche captured the high jump and Teryn Lane placed first in the long jump.
At District 4-3A at Ponte Vedra, Fleming Island upset the hosts and reigning Class 3A boys champions with 204 points. Event winners for Fleming Island included Braden Cunningham in the shot put and lots of runners: Sebastian Cruz (100), Kaylib Singleton (200), Roman Mollicone (800) and Graham Myers (3,200).
But Ponte Vedra still came out on top in the girls district, highlighted by Lindy White's distance sweep of the 1,600 and 3,200. Sasha Crowe also won hurdles events, Katherine Kelly took the pole vault and Isabella Madaffari won the javelin.
Juan Pablo Castillo-Zima's 3,200-meter win and overall depth gave the Bishop Kenny boys first place in District 4-2A at Raines. The host Vikings placed five points behind, with event victories for Jabari Armant (pole vault), Amir Green (triple jump), Owen Kaye (100 and 200), King Massey (shot put) and five-star line recruit Solomon Thomas (discus).
Episcopal's girls team captured District 4-2A at Raines, ahead of Bishop Kenny and Jackson. Winning for the Eagles were Isabella Borghese (pole vault), Jadyn Bow (100 hurdles), Brooke McCoy (800) and Skyler Watts (200).
Class 2A overall contender Bolles had no trouble in District 3-2A on the home track, winning the team standings easily. Naeem Burroughs' 10.64 in the 100, Garrison Butler's discus/shot put double and Evie Freeman's wins in the girls 100 and long jump were among the Bulldogs' many highlights.
Providence won the District 4-1A meet, held on the Stallions' home track in a milestone for the school. Emma Akhundjanov won the girls 1,600 and 3,200 for the Stallions, with Grayson Jackson's personal-best 138 feet, 5 inches in the boys discus another highlight.
Riverside raced to the top of the District 3-3A boys standings in Orange Park, led by a discus and shot put double from Chavez Williams, Jalen Cooper's first place in the 400 and Hakim Johnson's javelin win.
Big winners for District 3-3A girls champion Orange Park were Mychaela Parker (discus and shot put), Aaliyah Abbasi (100 hurdles and high jump) and Layla Mazerac (800 and pole vault).
Cardinals' King a strikeout king
If the FHSAA presented an award for accuracy in pitching, Bishop Snyder's Aidan King would be at the top of the list.
The Florida-committed senior pitcher shined again Tuesday night, pitching a no-hitter in the Cardinals' 3-0 district win over Baldwin. After hitting the leadoff man with a pitch, King retired every Baldwin batter the rest of the way except for one who reached on an error.
For the year, King has struck out 118 batters while walking only six, the kind of strikeout-to-walk ratio that most pitchers can only dream about.
The state MaxPreps list, which does not include every school, ranks King at No. 1 in Florida for strikeouts and inside the top 15 among high school pitchers nationwide.
Districts on deck: Teams, players and storylines for FHSAA district baseball tournaments
Blue Devils lead Clay baseball honors
Clay earned four first-team All-County baseball selections in voting by county coaches.
Blue Devil first-team selections are outfielder Cole Carnell, corner infielders Parker Lowrance and Merrick Rapoza and middle infielder Easton McMahan.
Fleming Island utility player Chris Reali, Keystone Heights outfielder Connor Guy and pitcher Austin Musgrove, Oakleaf infielder Jorden Clarke and pitcher Landon McDonald, Orange Park catcher Devon Moore and Ridgeview outfielder Gabe Torres round out the first team.
Second-team selections were pitcher Preston Andrews of Clay; infielder Ben Abram and outfielder Josh Murray of Fleming Island; first baseman Skylar Gray of Middleburg; infielder J.P. Espinosa and outfielder Elijah Brown of Oakleaf; infielder Yaziel Del Valle, outfielder Nehimiah Stephenson and utility player Tyson Cruz of Orange Park; and catcher Clayton Gulbrand and pitcher Keegan Roach of Ridgeview.
Middleburg, Oakleaf head Clay softball
State-ranked Middleburg and Oakleaf each gloved four first-team selections for Clay County's All-County squad in softball.
Middleburg pitcher Morgan Beckham, catcher Alyssa Prather and infielders Kerra Clarida and Kaelyn Hagan represented the hard-hitting Broncos, while Oakleaf players on first team are pitcher Charley Maddox, catcher Meshayla Pettaway, infielder Jaydyn Beall and outfielder Ava Tolbert.
Completing the first team are Keystone Heights' Ashley Nugent and Orange Park's McKenna Bejarano and Zoe Pascoe.
Second-team honorees are Bailey Parker from Clay; Lauren Abram, Ella Morris, Olivia Sikes and Brooke Wilson from Fleming Island; Kadence Massey and Abbie Roach from Keystone Heights; Lily Bennett from Middleburg; Amya Mirelez from Oakleaf; Regan Barnett from Orange Park; and Haylee McCrea from Ridgeview.
Golden Eagles top Clay tennis list
Fleming Island led the way in Clay County's All-County lineups for tennis, voted by coaches within the school district.
The Golden Eagles' state-qualifying Zach Hyatt, Anthony Williams and Kesl Cumpstone made the first team for boys tennis, joining Will Lambert of Clay, Collin Pirner of Middleburg and Andres Alvarado of Ridgeview.
Second-team boys were Shawn Knabb of Clay; Tolen Ayres and Aidan Whipple of Fleming Island; Austin Homminga of Orange Park; and Aaron Jackson and Jadon Jackson of Ridgeview.
The girls tennis first team also included a Fleming Island trio in Sarah Jensen, Tessa Wilson and Courtney Klingenberg, along with Cameron Royal of Clay and Alaynah Deaton and Mariah Bostic-Jones of Ridgeview.
The county second team was Alexis Henninger and Madison Valenzuela of Fleming Island; Adassah Prevost of Oakleaf; and Chloe Bois, Rebekah Chun and Elizabeth Pryor of Ridgeview.
Five Blue Devils on flag football list
Regional top seed Clay received five selections for the All-County first team in flag football.
Blue Devil first-teamers were quarterback Teaghan Moses, rusher Lily Kalil, linebacker Shelby McClain and defensive backs Cora Parker and Tatum Waugh. Regional semifinalist Fleming Island placed two first-teamers in wide receiver London Jenkins and linebacker Gabi Musa.
Also on the first team are Middleburg running back Desiree Hall and receiver Brooke Cooper; Oakleaf receiver Shelby Gaines, center Gloria Lewis and linebacker Isabella Jackson; and Ridgeview utility player Emma Reyes and defensive back Aniyah Campbell.
Around the area
Bradford offensive lineman Jacob Ferguson committed to Old Dominion football. … Hilliard guard Brandyn Seldomridge committed to Flagler basketball. … Eagle's View guards Kenneth Berry and Gary Deleon-Rivera committed to Trinity Baptist men's basketball. … Tocoi Creek midfielder Isabella Pinlac committed to Jacksonville University women's soccer. … Sandalwood goalkeeper Isaac Murie committed to Ouachita Baptist men's soccer. … Trinity Christian nose tackle Lane Fouraker signed with Knox football. … Oakleaf forward Austin Davenport committed to West Virginia Tech men's basketball. … Camden County guard Kaleb Murray committed to Albany State men's basketball. … Anthony Pasquale set a Middleburg record of 146 feet, 1 inch in the boys javelin, and Madison Underwood broke her own school record in the girls discus at 140 feet, 8 inches. … Malik Brown broke the Mandarin school record in the boys pole vault at 13 feet, 3 1/2 inches. … Union County cornerback Gavin Jenkins named a top eight of UCF, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Memphis, South Florida, Toledo, West Virginia and Western Michigan. … Former Brunswick high jumper Riyon Rankin was named men's freshman of the week in SEC track and field. ... Fleming Island's Alia Skinner, who played college soccer at Virginia Tech, signed her first professional contract with IF Brommapojkarna in Sweden. … Former Mandarin runner Eduardo Garcia ran 1:03:53 to place 19th at the Istanbul Half Marathon in Turkey. … Bishop Kenny announced Frank Dineen as boys soccer head coach and Nathan Gavin as girls soccer head coach. … The Jaguars Foundation Dream Big Scholarships, presented by Dream Finders Homes, were awarded to Courtney Brown of Stanton, Olivia Cadiz of Dr. Phillips and Lilyana Hirschi of Ocala Forest. … Ponte Vedra finished third and Creekside seventh in the season-ending United Soccer Coaches national girls poll. … The First Coast Girls Lacrosse Coaches Association awards ceremony is set for 2 p.m. Sunday at Beachside.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast Varsity Weekly: Track districts
