Chaminade boys, girls place 2nd at state meet

Chaminade-Madonna coach Damian Sutton didn’t have much of a track team when he first took charge of the program two years ago.

But with roughly 10 athletes combined on the boys’ and girls’ side, a foundation was laid for future success.

At a school known for its state championship-winning football program, Sutton and the Lions took a strong step toward making track and field a perennial contender late Wednesday night when both the Chaminade boys and girls finished state runners up at the Class 1A meet in Gainesville.

“The kids bought in more this year and more of them came out to run track this year,” said Sutton, who was an assistant track coach at Plantation American Heritage for seven years prior to being hired at Chaminade. “They got faster and stronger and helped each other to succeed on the field.”

It was an all-time best finish for both Lions programs.

The previous best finish for Chaminade’s boys was a third-place finish in 1973 and for the girls, it was a ninth-place finish in 2007.

Chaminade’s boys, who won a regional title last season, barely missed out on winning the school’s first state title in track, finishing with 63 points, only two behind champion Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin. The Lions narrowed the gap significantly after finishing second at regionals to Benjamin by 32.5 points.

On the girls’ side, the Lions finished second with 43 points, one point ahead of third-place Maclay. Tampa Cambridge Christian won the state title with 70 points.

“For it to be done for the first time, it’s a great feat especially starting last year just building the team from scratch mainly on the girls side,” Sutton said. “Everybody came together and they had fun and got the job done.”

The Lions surge was keyed largely by a thrilling finish to the meet in which they swept the state championships of both the boys’ and girls’ 1,600-meter relays.

The quartet of Tywan Cox, Kwame Smith, Johnoy Johnston and Jeremiah McGill (Chaminade’s lone senior on the boys team) ran a time of 3:21.34 to finish a little more than a second ahead of Gainesville Oak Hall’s time of 3:22.37.

The Lions’ girls’ squad of Kashia Hoo, Tyra Cox, Haley Blades (a Tennessee-Martin signee) and Leanna Rose finished their victory with a time of 3:52.30. It was nearly 10 seconds better than Pahokee’s runner-up time of 4:02.01.

“Everybody knew what they were supposed to do,” Sutton said. “We came up a little short here and there in spots, but we know what we need to do to come back and finish next year.”

THREE-PEAT CHAMPION

Palmer Trinity’s Brandon Pottinger, who entered the meet with the highest jump in the state, repeated as the state high jump champion with a high mark of 2.12 meters (611½).

Pottinger, who cleared seven feet earlier this season and was the lone state champion at Wednesday’s meet from Miami-Dade County, won a silver medal for Jamaica at the NACAC U18 Championships in Athletics last year.

It was also the third consecutive state title in the high jump for Pottinger, who also won it as a freshman at Florida Christian. In 2020, the state meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

Team - Boys: 1. Benjamin 65; 2. Chaminade 63; 3. Indian Rocks Christian

43; Others: 7. Palmer Trinity 27; Girls: 1. Cambridge Christian 70; 2. Chaminade 43; 3. Maclay 42; Others: 27. Divine Savior and Palmer Trinity 9; 35. South Florida HEAT 6.

Boys’ individual (Only events with Dade/Broward winners or top 8 finishers listed) - High jump: 1. Brandon Pottinger (Palmer) 2.12; Long jump: 1. Will Richards (First Academy) 6.92; 3. Duane Thomas (CM) 6.75; 6. Brandon Pottinger (PT) 6.62; Triple jump: 1. Micah Mays (Benjamin) 14.01; 4. Robbie Robertson (PT) 13.61; 3200 relay: 1. Indian Rocks Christian 7:57.23; 4. Palmer Trinity 8:08.56; 110 hurdles: 1. Darian Mills (Port St. Joe) 14.05; 3. Tyson Waters (CM) 14.72; 100: 1. Kevin Levy (Cardinal Newman) 10.66; 2. D’Angelo Ponds (CM) 10.67; 1600: 1. Tristan McWilliam (Out of Door) 4:17.97; 7. George

Stark (PT) 4:27.49; 400 relay: 1. Cardinal Newman 41.91; 4. Chaminade 42.63; 400: 1. Twaniese Johnson (St. Francis) 55.84; 3. Tyra Cox (CM) 56.48; 7. Leanna Rose (CM) 58.36; 400: 1. Micah Mays (Benjamin) 47.52; 4. Kwame Smith (CM) 49.53; 5. Johnoy Johnston (CM) 49.56; 7. Tywan Cox (CM) 49.91; 1. Darian Mills (PSJ) 37.75; 2. Tyson Waters (CM) 38.03; 200: 1. Jacob Panzarella (First Baptist) 21.23; 4. D’Angelo Ponds (CM) 21.72; 5. Kwame Smith (CM) 22.08; 1600 relay: 1. Chaminade 3:21.34; 7. Palmer Trinity 3:29.45.

Girls’ individual (Only events with Dade/Broward winners or top 8 finishers listed) - Long jump: 1. Leah MartinGonzales (St. John Neumann) 5.45; 3. Claire Davisson (Divine Savior) 5.37; Triple jump: 1. Kendall Brown (Wildwood) 11.47; 6. Imani Mudiay (DS) 10.78; 3200 relay: Cambridge Christian 9:32.49; 7. Chaminade 10:01.53; 100 hurdles: 1. Leah MartinGonzales (SJN) 14.26; 5. Maria Camposano (PT) 15.54; 6. Noelani Sadler (PT) 15.64; 7. Nadya Grayson (CM) 15.95; 8. Kahalia Hoo (CM) 15.96; 400 relay: 1. Oxbridge Academy 48.31; 6. Chaminade 50.07; 300 hurdles: 1. Camila Garanton (Carrollwood) 44.88; 2. Kahalia Hoo (CM) 45.67; 3. Selah Sims (SFH) 45.85; 8. Noelani Sadler (PT) 47.02; 800: 1. Mary Ellen Eudaly (Cambridge) 2:14.85; 6. Kashia Hoo (CM) 2:19.96; 200: 1. Azaria Whitehurst (Fort Meade) 23.75; 3. Tyra Cox (CM) 24.50; 1600 relay: 1. Chaminade 3:52.30; 8. Palmer Trinity 4:11.63.

Andre C. Fernandez: @FernandezAndreC