‘A great feeling’
St. Thomas Aquinas boys edge Dillard, win 3A title in final event
Dillard came within five seconds of winning a second consecutive state track and field championship at James G. Pressly Stadium, Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, but St. Thomas Aquinas got a royal anchor leg in the 4x400-meter relay from junior King Mack to earn a comefrom-behind 62-61 win over the Panthers in the Class 3A meet.
It is the Raiders seventh boys state championship in school history and first since 2014. St. Thomas Aquinas joined defending champion Dillard and American Heritage in Class 3A this year after competing in Class 4A.
St. Thomas Aquinas entered the final race of the evening with 52 points and trailed Dillard by four points after Panthers’ junior Chris Johnson won the 200 (20.78), his second win of the night. He also captured the 100 (10.45).
“I just went out and ran my race and not overthink it,” said Johnson, who has the third best 200 time in the country. “I had a great start in both races. Winning the 100 gave me confidence to win the 200.”
Mack, who earlier in the meet placed fourth in the 100 (10.64) and won the 400 (46.68), anchored the final leg of the 4x400 relay and gave St. Thomas Aquinas the win in the event (3:12.80) and the meet championship as well with 62 points. Dillard ended the night with 61. The other members of the winning relay team were senior Raynell Chambers and fellow juniors British Wilkerson and Shamar Morgan.
“I knew that Dillard had to place in the top 3 in the 4x400 to either tie or beat us,” Mack said. “It was crazy. Before the race, I went up to one of the (third place) Raines runners and said they had to make a dogfight with Dillard and he was like, ‘man, we got this.’ ”
“This is a great feeling because we were expected to come in third at state,” said Mack, who also won a state championship in football. “We came in as an underdog and finishing it off as a champion and bringing it back to St. Thomas was the most we could do for everything the families and supporters do for us.”
The Panthers 4x400 relay team got off to a bad start on the first leg and couldn’t make up the difference as they finished fourth with a time of 3:17.76. The finish earned the Panthers five points. They needed to place first or second to win the meet or third to tie for the championship.
Dillard coach Davidson Gill said the team fought through a lot of adversity this year, even at regionals where they finished fourth.
“We left some points in a lot of different places and came up one point short,” Gill lamented. “We got in a hole early in the last race and tried to fight our way back, but not far enough.
“Nobody expected us to contend for the title,” Gill said. “We were patching holes all season and they kept fighting. We wanted to rebuild this program to have a chance to compete every year. I think the girls have a chance to win next year too.”
Dillard freshman Armondo Blount became school’s first-ever shot put state champion after a throw of 54 feet, 1 inch. Blount has started for the school’s football team as a defensive end since his eighth-grade year. Panthers senior Damario Allen won the pole vault (15-1).
“This is very big for me,” said Blount, who won both middle school and Junior Olympic championships last year. His best throw this year is 54-10. “I thought I had a chance to win it because I kind of got used to competing against older guys all year. This felt even better because my family was in the stands.”
St. Thomas Aquinas coach Alex Armenteros was happy that the football players on the team, including Mack gave up spring football to compete at the state meet. He expected the meet to come down to the Raiders, Dillard and Miami Northwestern.
“There is so much talent in 3A,” Armenteros said. “It was a total team effort for us. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the teams in 3A and I knew it would be a dogfight. I tip my hat to them. Our girls did well, they just came up short.”
Armenteros also received an unexpected boost from senior Khalil Hunter, who was seeded 10th in the shot put and wound up taking third (52 9 ¼).
In addition to Johnson, Pembroke Pines Charter senior Kyvon Tatham also was a double winner winning the high jump (23-10 ¼) and triple jump (48-11) titles.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ girls team saw its three-year reign of state championships come to a halt as Miami-Dade powerhouse Miami Northwestern won its 13th consecutive championship with 90 points. The Raiders (50 points) finished in fourth.
Dillard’s girls, who finished sixth as a team, won the 3,200 relay in 9:03.27, shattering their own top mark statewide this season. Aquinas’ lone state champion was junior Cha’iel Johnson, who won the 800 in 2:08.35.
Flanagan’s Carter sweeps 100, 200; Metellus makes school history:
Flanagan senior Jassani Carter finished up her high school track career by sweeping the 100 (11.59) and 200 (a personal-best 23.43) in the Class 4A state meet on Saturday.
Carter won the same two events last year and earned a bronze in her freshman year for a total of seven individual medals. COVID canceled her sophomore-year opportunity to win more titles.
“I just came out and wanted to have fun tonight,” said Carter, who is a University of Southern California signee. “I knew the field of the girls. This is one of my favorite tracks so I knew this was going to be a perfect day for me.
“I really wanted to PR in the 200, and I was at the top of the track in lane 7, so I knew they were going to have to come and get me,” she added. “I pushed really hard and came off the curve and I was just confident and pulled away.”
Other top girls performances in their respective events at the Class 4A meet included Palm Beach Gardens junior Selena Calix who was runner-up in the javelin (129-1); Flanagan sophomore Callia Harris was second in the high jump (5-3 ¾); Palm Beach Central senior Jada Smith was third in both the 100 (11.77) and the 200 (24.27).
South Florida teams swept the top two places in the girls 4x100 relay as Palm Beach Central (46.47) edged Fort Lauderdale (47.13) for top honors.
Flanagan’s 4x400 girls relay (3:53.71) was third to help the Falcons to a fifth place finish with 35 points, while Palm Beach Central’s girls took seventh with 31.
In the boys portion of the meet, Deerfield Beach senior Nathan Metellus won the 400 in a personal-best 47.37 and finished eighth in the 200 (21.59). He is the first boy at Deerfield to win a 400 state title.
“This year I was able to run the 400,” said Metellus, who finished fourth at state in the 200 last year. “Coach always told me I could do it. It’s a blessing. I dreamed about being a state champion and now I am. I always stayed humble.
“I worked really hard to get to this point,” he continued. “My strategy today was to go 22 seconds for the first 200 and then do 24 for the second 200. I came up a little short going 25. I wanted to run 46. It’s the state meet and I tried. I still have a gold medal.”
McArthur senior Hasmar Francois won the boys high jump (6-5 ½). Spanish River junior Nicolas West was third in the 300 hurdles (38.10), while West Boca Raton senior Ryan Douihech placed third in the 1,600 (4:14.31).
Ft. Lauderdale, led by its thirdplace 4x400 relay team (3:14.25), and McArthur’s boys tied for 14th with 15 points.