Elite sprinters look to finish school fast
This track and field season will mark the final stretch for an elite group of sprinters that have come through Broward County.
American Heritage’s Anthony Schwartz and Tyson Campbell, Miramar’s Jamal Walton and Terrence Horne, ChaminadeMadonna’s Shaun Shivers and Piper’s Bryand Rincher are among the seniors racing to the finish line in their high school careers.
Schwartz, committed to Auburn as a four-star wide receiver prospect in football, aims to draw closer to 10 seconds flat in the 100 after running it in a personal-best 10.15 last year as a junior, the best in Florida.
American Heritage coach Greg Barnes says Schwartz could be faster as a senior due to improved strength training.
After leading the Patriots to a Class 2A state title as a sophomore by winning gold in the 100 and 200 and as part of two first-place-finishing relay teams, Schwartz injured his hamstring at the state meet as a junior and will come back hungry to go out on top as a senior. Campbell, whose personal bests are 10.41 and 20.80 in the 100 and 200, respectively, won both titles at state in Schwartz’s place.
Miramar’s Walton owns the nation’s top 400 (44.99) and secondfastest 200 in Florida (20.57), just six-hundredths of a second behind Miami Norland’s Tyrese Cooper. His 44.99 in the Pan-Am Junior Championships marked only the second time a high school athlete ran the 400 under 45 seconds. Miramar coach Chris McComb says Walton’s experience at the IAAF World Championships in London has matured him in his training and approach. Walton won gold at states in both events as a junior in leading the Patriots to their first team track title in Class 4A.
Horne’s 10.29 in the 100 is the second-fastest returning time in the state behind Schwartz. Horne signed to USF during December’s Early Signing Period for football to play wide receiver and compete in track.
“I plan on trying to go to the NFL and the 2020 Olympics,” Horne said then.
One-hundredth of a second behind him, Piper’s Rincher (10.30 in the 100) is signed to FSU. Shivers, bound for Auburn as a running back, has PRs of 10.47 and 20.91 in the 100 and 200, respectively. When Schwartz won 2A state titles in both as a sophomore, Shivers was right behind him in each final.
With Walton, Horne and junior Taylor Banks racking up points in the sprinting events for Miramar, the Patriots are looking to repeat as state champs in Class 4A.
“I call it the Golden State Warriors of track and field,” McComb said. “I honestly like the team better than last year – not saying in a bad way, just with this team the talent is crazy.”
In Region 4-4A, however, the Patriots will have to compete with St. Thomas Aquinas, which fl.milesplit.com ranks as Florida’s top boys team.
“It’s kind of exaggerated because they score kids that technically won’t place at states. We don’t go by that,” St. Thomas coach Alex Armenteros said. “We have a lot of returners coming back, especially in the field, so we’ve got a pretty even team as far as running field events combined.”
A new FHSAA rule this season adds eight at-large bids at states in each event for each class after the four automatic qualifiers from the four regions. This bodes well for sprinters in South Florida – last season Miami Columbus’ C.J. Henderson, who just finished a freshman season at cornerback for the Florida Gators, didn’t qualify for states with a 10.48 in the 100 but 11 runners with slower times elsewhere qualified.
McComb believes the battle between Miramar and Aquinas for state qualifiers in regionals will be the key to a title.
“It opens it up a lot for South Florida,” he said. “I think the state meet will be regionals. State won’t be state. It’s going to be regionals.”
Armenteros counters, however, that the new rule is also advantageous for distance runners in Central Florida, who can get their schools more points in those events at states.
In 2A, the battle appears to come down to Heritage and Hallandale. Last year, with Schwartz going down, the balanced Chargers were able to squeak out a team victory over the Patriots for the title.
“We don’t want to feel what we felt last year, and they know. They understand it,” American Heritage coach Greg Barnes said. “I just told them, ‘We just have to stay focused and push through.’”
Westminster Academy is coming off a split team state title in Class 1A.
dfurones@sunsentinel.com, @DavidFurones_ and