Sprinters dominate Day 2 at FSU Relays; Ft. Myers' Edward gets the double
By Brian Miller, Special to DistancePreps.com

TALLAHASSEE— While the first day of the FSU Relays was dominated with exciting distance performances, sprinting commanded the landscape but for a few moments Saturday at Florida State's Mike Long Track.

Stanton Prep senior sprinter Kendal Williams, who has signed to compete for the Seminoles in college, found his trip north to be enjoyable and relaxing.

"It's pretty much like being out here with my family, because I already know all the people here at Florida State," said Williams.

Williams turned in a 100-meter dash time of 10.82 against a strong but legal headwind, edging out Florida State University School's Josh Davis (11.00) in his only race of the weekend.

"You can play around with the rest of the team, joke around, but when it comes time for business, you have to do what you need to do," Williams said. "Then after, you can play some more. My main focus was executing the first 30 (meters) of that race. As long as I did that, I'm fine."

The Leon boys, behind two second-place results in the sprint relays, a third-place tally in the shot put and fourth-place finish from sophomore Adam Wallenfelsz (4:17.02) in the mile, grabbed a team victory over Niceville. The Eagles were buoyed by Nicholas Morken's second-place results in Friday's 3200 and Saturday's 1600.

In the latter race, Morken (4:15.82) outleaned Belen Jesuit junior Ryan Rodriguez at the line after he and Tennessee state high school champion Wesley Pectol led most of the way. Pectol set a meet record of 4:09.42.

"I think I made my move a little too early," Rodriguez said. "I tried to take off with a lap to go, but I didn't have it today. He ran a great race, and Morken nipped me at the line, but overall I'm happy with a five-second PR. That's after running two-mile yesterday and a really big PR. It was a good weekend."

Another meet record went to Lake Mary pole vaulter Erica Sergeant, who had already cleared 13 feet this year. Sergeant has been working to fix her run and choppy steps, while improving her conditioning through a healthy diet and lots of bodyweight exercises. It paid off with a vault of 12-07.00.

"You have to have some kind of insanity to run with a big pole, plant into a box and try to go as high as you can," Sergeant said. "Having a comfort for knowing you can do what you train to do and you'll be safe and fine."

Tallahassee-based Lincoln High scored a nine-point team win for the girls over Holy Trinity on the day, using wins in the 100 dash from Jadzia Beasley and its 4x200 relay to secure victory.

In the 300 hurdles, Pine Forest freshman Michaela Thompson took down several strong seniors, earning a win in 46.57.

One other notable achievement was obtained by Fort Myers senior Emily Edwards, who won the 3200 on Friday and decided to partake in the 1600 invitational race as well.

"I was really apprehensive about this race because I woke up this morning and was like 'Oh no, this going to be a long day,'" Edwards said. "I let my nerves get to me, but I focused on eating right, hydrating and trying not to let outside people get in my head. My coach told me to focus on myself and not worry about anyone else, so that's what I did."

Edwards led from start to finish, crossing in 4:57.55 to earn the double. The mile seemed more suited to her taste even with the quick turnaround, looking strong the entire race. Sarasota senior Emily Harding and Winter Park senior Charlotte Stephens were second and third, respectively, and the only challengers to get close.

A happy Emily Edwards (Ft. Myers HS) gains her 2nd victory of the weekend in the Girls 1600 in 4:57.55 (Twangster)

"I'm extremely happy," Edwards said. "I'm very satisfied with how I ran, not completely satisfied, but I definitely came out here and did what I wanted to do."

In all, it was a successful two days of action at the 35th annual FSU Relays, which saw 110 high schools and 24 colleges draw over 1,500 athletes to the state's capital city. Compared to last year's bout with bad weather, this was a dream event, and the times showed the difference.

"This is continuing to be a bigger and bigger high school meet," Florida State track and cross country coach Bob Braman said. "We added the team scoring a few years back and it's taken on a lot of excitement. South Florida is where track and field has been born and raised, but there's some really good Panhandle teams.

"The highlight to me was the distance events. Men and women distance really got it done again, and the weather really needed to cooperate for that. That was a big factor, but just a great meet with a lot of enthusiasm and that makes it worthwhile."