First Coast Varsity Weekly: Mandarin repeats in Gateway Conference track at UNF

On Northeast Florida's fastest track, the Mustangs repeated as leaders of the pack.

Mandarin made it another year on top of Duval County track and field, winning the Gateway Conference meet at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium.

The Mustangs' girls rallied in the latter events to finish ahead of Jackson and Paxon, and the Mandarin boys comfortably placed ahead of Raines and Jackson.

Sprinter Stephen DeGregorio led Mandarin's boys with victories in the boys 100 (10.82) and 200-meter dashes (21.63), in addition to Tyrone Summerall's 110 hurdles (14.61), a Teryn Lane-Tiant Wyche 1-2 in the long jump (21 feet, 3 1/2 inches) and the 4x800 relay team (8:03.65).

For the Mandarin girls, the key event was the 3,200, a 1-2-3 Mustang finish for Alaysa Chipunov (11:57.40), Ashlin Price and Lilly Kemper. High jumper Danielle Pal (4-11) earned the only other individual event win for Mandarin, but sprinter Kyla Skinner secured significant points with second places in the 100, 200 and 400.

More feats of note from Gateway track:

• Football stars helped keep the Raines boys in the hunt. King Massey (49 feet, 11 1/4 inches) and Jaylen Clark went 1-2 in the shot put, Jyon Simon (135 feet, 2 inches) and Syon Hawkins were 1-2 in the discus and Raquez Bacon (42 feet, 6 inches) topped the triple jump.

• Wolfson senior Andrew Marello turned on the speed for a distance double in the 1,600 (4:26.48) and 3,200 (9:48.22). The USF commit earned two long-awaited Gateway titles after seven previous top-three finishes for track and cross country.

• Jackson sophomore Laila Brown set a personal best in the girls 100 hurdles (15.35) and also won the 400 hurdles, part of an excellent day for the Tigers. Kaitlynn Webbe (200), Kennedy Hill (800) and two relay teams also won for the Jackson girls.

• Jackson's Neiko Garnes set two personal bests on the day and dominated the boys 400 hurdles in 53.38, climbing into the state's top seven.

• In the race of the day, Fletcher sophomore Zyaire Thomas ran a personal-best 53.95 in the girls 400 to hold off Skinner and Webbe. All three finished among Florida's top 10 for the year.

• The girls 100 went to Kyndal Turner in 12.02 for Paxon, which briefly topped the overall standings before Mandarin pulled ahead. Cassidy Timmons and Brielle Smith went 1-2 in the long jump for the Golden Eagles, and the 4x100 relay team won in 47.85.

• The award for versatility on the day, meanwhile, belongs to Wolfson's Colin Maxwell. The senior cleared 5 feet, 10 3/4 inches to win the boys high jump, just after throwing 165 feet for first place in the javelin. He also came in 10th in the long jump.

Defense lifts Commanders in Gateway flag football

The football fluttered Tyra Pierce's way, and even while falling backward, she knew what she had to do.

"As soon as they lined up, I was like, 'Oh, yeah, they're doing to do their big game-changer play,'" the senior defensive back said after the pick to seal White's victory. "So I knew I had to cover that up."

Pierce's interception in the end zone with 40 seconds to play clinched the Commanders' third Gateway Conference flag football title in four seasons, holding off Fletcher 7-0. White also won in 2021 and 2023.

A White defense that also held Stanton scoreless through regulation in the Gateway semis delivered again with three takeaways — interceptions by Pierce at the game's start and finish, and in between, a 20-yard pick-six by Alaysha Williams that produced the only points of the night. Rusher Elyhana Perez-Stevenson made two sacks and kept Fletcher under constant pressure.

With four seniors guiding a roster full of young players, the Commanders have risen to the top with defense. They previously shut out Mandarin in the Gateway quarters and held Stanton scoreless through all four quarters of the semifinal, a game White won 7-6 in overtime.

But the offense enjoyed its moments, too, particularly a clock-draining fourth-quarter march guided by quarterback Kyra Jackson that chewed up nearly 10 minutes and left the Senators with barely a minute to play.

"We had a lot of patience and a lot of discipline, and we made it work," Jackson said.

Fletcher picked up its longest gain of the night with Katie Rodney's reception on a Jasmine Cross pass down the left, but when the Senators tried again, Pierce wrapped up her 11th interception of the season.

For head coach Bachir Saoud, the latest success for the Commanders (12-3) underscores the roster's rapid progress since the season's start. They entered District 6-1A with the top seed.

"The seniors have pretty much carried us, providing good leadership," Saoud said.

Stanton sweeps tennis in Gateway return

After nearly a decade on pause, the renewed Gateway Conference tennis championships for both boys and girls ended in victories for top-seeded Stanton.

The Blue Devils marked the sport's return to the Gateway tournament calendar by topping Fletcher in both finals Thursday, 6-1 in the girls championship at home and 4-3 in the boys finals at MaliVai Washington Youth Center.

Juniors Katie Wong and Emma Ferguson led the Stanton girls, 12-1 on the season, from the top. They won their top-two singles and doubles matches, while multi-sport senior Emma Griner and junior Sharini Krishnan also picked up points in the final.

Depth came through for the Stanton boys, who got wins from Nos. 3-5 singles with Abhinav Sriram, Sri Sai Gunukula and Arya Balasundar as well as the No. 2 doubles tandem of Sriram and Balasundar.

The Gateway titles are the second and third of the year for Stanton, which also won the girls soccer tournament in January.

Trinity, SJCD set for NHSI

Next stop, North Carolina.

Trinity Christian and St. Johns Country Day are ready to hit the road for the USA Baseball National High School Invitational, which begins Wednesday in Cary, N.C. The annual tournament brings together 16 of the nation's leading baseball squads.

Trinity takes the field at 11 a.m. against Apex (N.C.) Friendship, then St. Johns opens at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday against defending champion Huntington Beach (Calif.) in the single-elimination event.

Based on their start to 2024, there's little doubt about the elite credentials for either the Conquerors (16-1) or the Spartans (13-2).

Trinity enters the week with a 16-game winning streak and a No. 18 national ranking in the MaxPreps computer formula, while Perfect Game places the Conquerors at No. 23 in their most recent rankings. Sophomores Brady Harris, Brayden Harris and Ethan Wheeler are among a host of major prospects at Trinity.

St. Johns, No. 21 in the Perfect Game rankings, has beaten every opponent except Oakleaf and national power IMG Academy, with Florida commit Kolt Myers (.356, 4 2B, 16 RBI, 1.011 OPS), UNF commit Seth Alford (.286, 7 2B, 3 HR, .998 OPS) and Flagler commit George Gilson (.442, 3 HR, 1.212 OPS) as top contributors at the plate.

No Northeast Florida team has yet won the NHSI, but St. Johns Country Day was the most recent one to come close, finishing as runner-up in 2022. California schools have won every past edition except for Florida triumphs in 2014 (First Academy) and 2022 (Parkland Douglas).

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Gateway Conference track & field 2024: Mandarin wins boys, girls meet