Maclay girls track and field win Class 1A state championship by one point

Last year, one point separated Maclay from Chaminade-Madonna for second place at the FHSAA state meet.

This year, Maclay flipped the script.

Coming down to the final event Wednesday, Maclay girls track and field edged Chaminade-Madonna by one point to win the Class 1A girls track and field state championship with 50 points.

It's the Marauders' sixth girls' state title, first since 2013, and first under head coach Angie Milford.

Similar to last season, sophomore Elizabeth Dowdy made up a chunk of the points, gaining 10 as she repeated as state pole vault champion. She cleared a height of 3.45 meters (11.4 feet), .15 meters ahead of second place. In just her second high school season, she has now won back-to-back state titles.

On the track, freshman Caroline Couch was steady, placing fifth in the 1600 run with a time of 5:01.89. In the 3200 runs, she picked up the leading points off a state runner-up finish with a time of 10:48.16. Senior and Cornell signee Rachel Bethke also had a state runner-up finish in the 400 dash with a time of 55.56.

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In the 800 runs, Mary Clayton Soto picked up five points off a fourth-place finish with a time of 2:20.39. In the final event of the night, Maclay's 1600 relay team won the Marauders the state title, gaining six points off a third-place finish with a time of 3:59.97. Coming into the top heat, the relay team had the slowest seed time.

The state championship puts a cherry on top of a dominant season.

The Marauders won their district by 242 points and their region by 59.5 points.

The boys' team also had a decent showing, placing 18th. James David Milford brought in a point in an eighth-place finish in javelin with a distance of 45.20 meters. He'd add another point to Maclay's overall tally with an eighth-place finish in pole vault, clearing 3.60 meters.

Douglas Harrell gained two points off a seventh-place finish in the 100 dash with a time of 11.16. Clayton Knox had the largest point total in the 3200 run, earning five points off a fourth-place finish with a time of 9:34.22.

Results

Team

Tallahassee Maclay 50, Chaminade-Madonna 49, Oxbridge Academy 48, Cambridge Christian 43, Providence 33.50, Fort Myers Evangelical Christian 29, Melbourne Holy Trinity 28, Northside Christian 27, P.K. Yonge 27, University Christian 22, Wildwood 22, Palmer Trinity 20.50, Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin 20, Oviedo Master's Academy 19, St. Stephen's Episcopal 17, Admiral Farragut 14, Gainesville Oak Hall 14, Tampa Prep 14, Baker 13, Pensacola Christian 13, Shorecrest Prep 12, Delray Beach American Heritage 11, Indian Rocks Christian 11, Pahokee 11, Bell 10, Carrollwood 10, Father Lopez 8.50, Lakeland Victory Christian 8.50, Geneva School 8, Ocala Trinity Catholic 7.50, Marathon 7, Melbourne Central Catholic 7, Gulf Coast HEAT 6, Mount Dora Christian 6, Port St. Joe 6, Divine Savior 5, Lakeland Christian 5, Seven Rivers Christian 5, Highlands Christian 4, Moore Haven 4, Southwest Florida Christian 4, Florida Prep 3.50, Fort Myers Canterbury 3, Orlando First Academy 3, Westminster Academy 3, Bradenton Christian 2, Naples First Baptist 2, Winter Garden Foundation Academy 2, Tampa Bay HEAT 2, Bishop Snyder 1, Rocky Bayou Christian 1

Individual results

Discus: 1. Hanley (Carrollwood) 125-8. 2. Ortiz (Victory Christian) 122-7. 3. Willis (Trinity Catholic) 120-9. Javelin: 1. Kasica (Shorecrest Prep) 146-11. 2. Moyer (Indian Rocks Christian) 129-7. 3. VanZwieten (Holy Trinity) 128-10. Shot put: 1. Mason (Baker) 37-10. 2. Dillingham (St. Stephen's) 37-8.75. 3. VanZwieten (Holy Trinity) 36-5. Pole vault: 1. Dowdy (Maclay) 11-3.75. 2. Flores (Geneva) 10-10. 3. Harwick (Gulf Coast HEAT) 9-10. High jump: 1. Shepherd (Bell) 5-3.75. 2. Nuce (Northside Christian) 4-11.75. 2. Salars (Melbourne Central Catholic) 4-11.75. Triple jump: 1. G. Lathrop (Northside Christian) 38-7.50. 2. Hall (Tampa Prep) 37-6.50. 3. Johnson (Port St. Joe) 37-1. Long jump: 1. G. Lathrop (Northside Christian) 18-7.75. 2. M. Jeanite (Oxbridge) 18-4.25. 3. Hall (Tampa Prep) 17-0. 100: 1. Dixon (Providence) 11.79. 2. Cox (Chaminade-Madonna) 12.09. 3. Cleveland (University Christian) 12.26. 100 hurdles: 1. Cleveland (University Christian) 14.09. 2. Presley (P.K. Yonge) 14.15. 3. Sadler (Palmer Trinity) 14.95. 200: 1. Dixon (Providence) 24.46. 2. Reed (P.K. Yonge) 24.77. 3. Cleveland (University Christian) 24.90. 1,600: 1. Gear (Cambridge Christian) 4:49.68. 2. Black (Cambridge Christian) 4:49.73. 3. Wyant (Master's Academy) 5:00.36. 800: 1. Wyant (Master's Academy) 2:18.66. 2. Black (Cambridge Christian) 2:19.23. 3. Miller (Oak Hall) 2:20.10. 400: 1. Cox (Chaminade-Madonna) 55.32. 2. Bethke (Maclay) 55.56. 3. Dixon (Providence) 56.06. 400 hurdles: 1. Kas. Hoo (Chaminade-Madonna) 1:03.21. 2. Buller (Benjamin) 1:03.68. 3. Kah. Hoo (Chaminade-Madonna) 1:05.37. 3,200: 1. Povich (Evangelical Christian) 10:47.99. 2. Couch (Maclay) 10:48.16. 3. Hendrix (Cambridge Christian) 10:48.73. 400 relay: 1. Wildwood 47.75. 2. Oxbridge 48.09. 3. Evangelical Christian 48.55. 1,600 relay: 1. Chaminade-Madonna 3:51.83. 2. Oxbridge 3:52.96. 3. Maclay 3:59.97. 3,200 relay: 1. Benjamin 9:19.68. 2. Oak Hall 9:25.97. 3. Admiral Farragut 9:28.99.

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics and prep sports for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Maclay girls track and field win FHSAA Class 1A state championship