Schwartz leads Heritage boys into regional meet

Anthony Schwartz currently owns the nation’s fastest high school time in the 100-meter dash with the 10.15 seconds he clocked early this month at the Florida Relays.

But for the American Heritage junior, that’s not fast enough.

“I’m trying to run 10.00,” Schwartz said.

Ten flat happens to be the all-time prep record, set in 2014 by Trentavis Friday (Cherryville, N.C.).

Florida’s reigning Class 2A champion in the 100 and 200, Schwartz recently won his second straight district title in both events and looks to repeat at regionals this week en route to back-to-back state titles.

The FHSAA track and field championships are set for May 5-6 in Brandenton, where Schwartz has a legitimate shot to break the state-record 10.19 set by Orlando Boone’s Marvin Bracy in 2010.

A receiver with 27 scholarship offers, Schwartz won’t be the only four-star football player trying to qualify for state track in the 100 and 200 sprints in the Region 4-2A championships, set for Thursday at Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale.

His teammate at American Heritage, junior Tyson Campbell, placed third in the District 15-2A 100 and 200. A defensive back in the fall, Campbell was edged for runner-up honors last week by Chaminade-Madonna junior Shaun Shivers, an Auburn commit at running back.

Heritage could repeat

A member of the Patriots’ 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, Schwartz also could lead American Heritage to a second straight state team title.

Patriots coach Greg Barnes says he expect a strong showing team-wide. “We’re looking to win on the boy’s side, and come close for the girls.”

While Heritage’s boys finished second behind Hallandale for the District 15-2A title, Barnes is confident his squad won’t be also-rans at regionals or states.

Hallandale beat Heritage by a score of 146-129 — but much of that difference came from “bottom-end points,” points earned by competitors who made it to the finals round of a competition but did not place high enough to advance to regionals.

“When it comes to regionals,” said Barnes, “it’s a lot different.”

Pine Crest in it for long haul

The girls’ distance runners at Pine Crest will be a force to contend with when the 4-2A championships get underway on Wednesday.

Led by freshman phenom Tsion Yared, who is among the state’s top runners in the 800, the 1600 and the 3200. The Panthers’ rotating 4x800 crew — consisting of Yared, her 8th-grade sister Mahdere, Simone Vreeland, Amanda Schwartz and Emily Faulhaber — are currently ranked No. 2 in the the state.

Prime Time for Brown

Westminster Academy may have the runners to beat in boys’ Region 4-1A. Coach Vaughan Nembhard predicts at least 11 of his 15 athletes will make it to states.

The Lions took every relay event at districts and bested the runner-up South Florida HEAT by nearly 50 points. Among their hopefuls is Matt Brown. The Westminster junior took the district 300 hurdles (41.89) and triple jump (13.05) titles.

More elite sprinters on tap

St. Thomas Aquinas will host hundreds of athletes from dozens of teams for both the Region 4-4A and 3-4A meets Thursday at Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar.

Among the top 100 contenders is a trio of elite sprinters out of Miramar High — Terrence Horne Jr., Jamal Walton and Taylor Banks. Horne, a junior, ran a 10.46 to win gold at this spring’s District 14-4A meet. Banks, a sophomore, finished second with a personal-best 10.50, while Walton, also a junior, placed third.