Region Track: After sweeping districts, Vero Beach boys and girls teams do the same at regionals
STUART — The Vero Beach track and field teams couldn’t possibly march into next week’s state meet with more momentum.
After sweeping districts two weeks ago, the boys and girls squads repeated that feat at the Region 3-4A meet on Wednesday at Martin County High School.
The Vero boys successfully defended their regional title from a year ago with four members capturing victories. They finished with 114 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Dwyer, which tallied 65 points.
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Meanwhile, the girls had champions in three events en route to topping the standings with 70 points, nine ahead of second-place Olympia.
Nyla Christian stood at the top of the podium on two occasions.
By the narrowest margin, the sophomore won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.99 seconds, just 0.01 seconds ahead of Boca Raton’s Taylor Nicole Overton. She had a bit more breathing room in the 100 hurdles, crossing the finish line in 13.93 seconds while Olympia’s Omaria Gordon (14.36) was second.
Christian started her day with a second-place finish in the long jump, putting up a mark of 19 feet, 7 inches. She also teamed with Viviandra Phinizee, Azariah Gibson and Cetirria Evans to a runner-up result in the 400-meter relay (47.89).
Athletes and relay teams receive automatic bids to state with top-two finishes in a respective event.
Camryn Reid captured back-to-back regional titles in the shot put. The Florida International signee won the event with a mark of 37-5 1/4, beating Fort Pierce Central senior Nikayia Wilder (36-4). Reid was also the runner-up in the discus throw (110-7).
The Cobras tied with Wellington for fourth overall with 43 points. Freshman La’Neal Wilder claimed second in the 200 (25.95) while Alana Veal took home first in the triple jump (38-8 3/4). The FIU commit also placed third in the long jump (17-9) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.61).
On the boys side, Kenan Willard led the Vero Beach effort. The junior long-distance runner won 3,200 (9:48.55), just beating out Viera’s Jack Girard (9:49.16) and Jayden Santos-Gonzalez (9:49.36).
Taking runner-up honors, Willard crossed the line 0.51 seconds behind Lake Nona’s Dylan Torres (4:23.52) in the 1,600. He later teamed with Parker Banzhaf, Marcus Campione and Evan Dunham to a second-place finish in the 3,200 relay (8:05.8).
Elsewhere, Derrick Williams sped to a victory in the 100 (10.51) and took third in the 200 (21.36).
The senior also anchored Vero’s 400 relay that finished third (42.36).
The rest of Vero Beach’s regional titles came in the field. Michael Carter, the reigning TCPalm Track Athlete of the Year, picked up gold in the triple jump (44-1 1/2), just ahead of junior teammate Brian Carter. The senior was also second in the long jump (22 2 1/2) and sixth in the 100 (10.89).
Anthwone Montgomery completes the list of Vero champions after winning the shot put with a personal-best mark of 50-4 1/2.
Two other boys programs finished in the top 10 overall as Treasure Coast and Fort Pierce Central finished tied for seventh with 30 points. Each school had triumphed in two events.
Tyon Reed took care of the winning for the Titans, as the junior was victorious in the 110 hurdles (14.45) and the 400 hurdles (54.68).
For the Cobras, Tyler Hughes leaped over the competition by taking first in the high jump (6-5 1/2) while Colson Elisme showcased his power by capturing the discus (154-11). Elisme also was fourth in the shot put (46-11 1/2).
The Class 4A state championship takes place on Saturday, May 18, at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida.
Region 4-3A meet
Two area schools earned top-10 finishes during the Region 4-3A meet from the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar.
Behind a victory from Addison Boyer, the South Fork girls team placed eighth overall with 29 points. Sebastian River wasn’t too far behind as the Sharks tied with Miami Norland for 10th with 21 points.
Boyer’s triumph came in the 3,200 as she turned in a winning time of 10:48.71. The senior finished more than 10 seconds in front of Dillard senior Christiana Coleman.
Elsewhere for the Bulldogs, Emerson Brinn punched her ticket to state with a second-place finish in the 1,600 (5:01.96). Coleman just beat out the sophomore at the stripe by 0.04 seconds. Brinn also had a place on the podium after placing eighth in the 800 (2:22.2).
Other podium finishes for South Fork include Adriana Jackson and Heather Wash in the high jump, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. The 3,200 relay team of Sawyer Spatara, Ada Robinson, Talia Brown and Amelia Yanora was sixth.
Joniah Holson put up most of Sebastian River’s points. The sophomore was second in both the discus throw (132-0) and shot put (39-6).
As for the Sharks boys team, three sixth-place finishes were good enough for a three-way tie for 16th overall with nine points. Collecting those finishes were James Hamilton in the pole vault (10-4), Isaiah Cummings in the triple jump (43-1) and Joseph Butler in the discus (142-3).
Highlighted by Maxum Kornilov’s fifth-place finish in the 1,600, South Fork was part of a four-way tie for 20th.
Automatic state qualifiers
Region 3-4A
Fort Pierce Central - Boys
Colson Elisme - DT (1st)
Tyler Hughes - HJ (1st)
Fort Pierce Central - Girls
Alana Veal - TJ (1st)
La’Neal Wilder - 400 (2nd)
Nikayia Wilder - SP (2nd)
Treasure Coast - Boys
Tyon Reed - 110H (1st), 400H (1st)
Vero Beach - Boys
Parker Banzhaf, Kenan Willard, Marcus Campuone, Evan Dunham - 3,200R (2nd)
Brian Carter - TJ (2nd)
Michael Carter - LJ (2nd), TJ (1st)
Anthwone Montgomery - SP (1st)
Willard - 1,600 (2nd), 3,200 (1st)
Derrick Williams - 100 (1st)
Vero Beach - Girls
Nyla Christian - 100 (1st), 100 H (1st), LJ (2nd)
Viviandra Phinizee, Azariah Gibson, Cetirria Evans, Christian - 400R (2nd)
Camryn Reid - SP (1st), DT (2nd)
Region 4-3A meet
Sebastian River - Girls
Joniah Holson - SP (2nd), DT (2nd)
South Fork - Girls
Emerson Brinn - 1,600 (2nd)
Addison Boyer - 3,200 (1st)
Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at (772) 985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Region Track: Vero Beach continues momentum, sweeps Region 3-4A meet
