Northwestern, Columbus extend GMAC track streaks
The list of GMAC track and field meet records is a who’s who of Miami-Dade County’s greatest athletes to compete in the sport.
Topping one of those marks isn’t easy and usually takes an elite performance.
Columbus junior Adrian Cordero is used to delivering those in clutch moments for the Explorers.
On Thursday night while running the anchor leg of the 1,600-meter relay, Cordero sped past two of his competitors and secured victory for Columbus in a meet record time of 3:11.90. It’s the fastest time by a 1,600 relay team in the state this season per FLRunners.com and fourth in the nation per Athletic.net.
The victory was the icing on the Explorers’ proverbial cake as they locked up their eighth consecutive GMAC championship at Traz Powell Stadium.
“He has a reputation for doing that and it shows how unselfish he is and how he’s doing that for his teammates and everyone at Columbus,” Columbus coach Danny Areces said. “We’re in good shape and everything is going according to plan.”
The relay win broke the mark set by Northwestern in 2011 with a time of 3:12.56 by a quartet that included former NFL cornerback Artie Burns. Columbus finished with 160 points and edged Northwestern, which had 135 and Norland, which finished third with 117.
The Northwestern girls extended their own championship streak by winning their fifth in a row with 197 points. The Bulls scored enough to finish ahead of runner-up Southridge’s 181 points.
Northwestern was led by senior Shakynah Tresvant, who broke her own record in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 58.71 seconds and also won the triple jump in 11.92 meters. Tresvant overcame a minor hamstring injury early in the season and is running stronger with the postseason races set to begin with districts in two weeks.
Junior Kahalia Hoo also won two events, prevailing in the 100 meter hurdles in 14.07 seconds and the 400 meters in 55.71 seconds. Hoo’s win in the 400 was one of the most thrilling finishes of the meet as she edged Southridge’s Courtney
Green by a tenth of a second. Hoo also finished second in the triple jump.
Junior Tyra Cox won the 100 meters in 11.98 seconds and the 200 meters in 24.02 seconds.
“The team is coming along,” Northwestern girls coach Carmen Jackson said. “People thought we might have looked a little weak early on, but we knew what our focus was and that’s to be strong now at the end.”
Seven meet records were set overall.
Cox’s brother, Tywan, who is also a junior, broke the record in the 400 meters set by former Southridge runner Brandon O’Connor (46.65) in 2008, by running a time of 45.76. The time is the fastest in the state so far this season, according to FLRunners.com and second-fastest in the nation in the 400 per Athletic.net.
Cox also won the 200 meters in 21.36 seconds, edging teammate J’Vari Flowers by three-tenths of a second and sharing a quick hug with him just after they crossed the finish line.
The Bulls also broke the record in the 400-meter relay when they ran a time of 41.13 seconds, surpassing the mark set by Northwestern’s relay squad in 2022.
On the girls’ side, Southridge’s 400-meter relay team also broke a record set by one of their predecessors when they ran a time of 45.85 seconds, beating the record of 46.15 seconds set by the Spartans in 2015. It’s the fastest time in the state per FLRunners.com.
Norland senior Isaiah Scott, a wide receiver on its state runner-up football team, ran a time of 54.33 in the 400 hurdles to break the mark set last year by Devin Jones (55.19) and topped in Tuesday’s qualifying round by Norland teammate Terrence Honeywood (55.02).
Columbus also had Remington Goins set a high mark in the javelin with a mark of 48.54 meters.
Shaddai Carter also led the Explorers by winning the long jump (7.07m) and triple jump (14.35m). orland’s William Rothmiller won the shot put (15.88m) and discus (47.34m).
Other multiple event winners included Goleman’s Lydia Kentis, who was the only athlete at the meet to win three individual events, winning the javelin (34.38m), shot put (11.74m) and the discus (42.96m).