In track and field, northwest Florida is in FHSAA's Region 1. The Region has always included more than the Panhandle stretching from Pensacola in the west to Jacksonville in the east, and then as far south as the situation required. But if you lived in the northwest and wanted to go to the State Finals, you had to make it through the Region 1 meet.


That hasn't changed. For this year's northwest's class 2A athletes the road to State went through the Region 1 meet on April 18 at Jacksonville Bolles. Class 1A got to stay in the northwest; their Region 1 meet was at Tallahassee's Florida High on April 19. Likewise, class 3A will be in Tallahassee at Chiles High on April 24.

For the Region 1-1A meet in Tallahassee, the weather seemed to be having a hard time deciding between a tropical depression and a cold front. That Saturday morning dawned damp with moisture off the Gulf of Mexico and unseasonably cool temperatures. By the time competition started in the afternoon, though, only the cool air remained. The skies stayed threatening, but it was an idle threat. A stiff breeze remained, but no more rain fell.


Jacksonville Providence nearly swept the first distance event, the girls 1600. Senior Eden Meyer took first in 5:15.12, with senior Emily Stallings a breath behind at 5:15.21, and freshman Katherine Messer fourth in 5:41.97. Only Maya Espinosa, a sixth-grader from Baker High, broke up Providence's hold on the top places. Espinosa was third in 5:37.39.


The Panhandle was better represented in the boys 1600. North Florida Christian senior Griffith Rutherford flashed by Baker senior Dylan Scott during the last 200 meters of that, winning in 4:33.28, a career best. Scott was second in 4:35.21, and First Coast junior Drew Hart was third in 4:39.69. Blountstown junior Thomas Howell also advanced to State, taking fourth in 4:41.88.


Providence was back in the girls 800. Emily Stallings went right to the front in the two-lapper, with FAMU freshman Audrey Dogan in her wake. Dogan started to fade early in the second lap, so Maclay freshman Caroline Willis and Jay junior Jessica Thornton took over the pursuit of Stallings. It was Stallingsí race, though, and the Providence runner took the Region 1 800 title with a 2:24.03. Willis was second in 2:26.73, Thornton third in 2:27.88, and Dogan fourth in 2:32.01.


The boys 800 quickly developed into a two-man race. By the end of the first 200 meters Maclay senior Connor Daughton was out front, but North Florida Christian senior Alex Strickland was just a step behind. The other runners slipped out of contention as Daughton continued to lead and Strickland stayed on his tail. On the final turn Daughton widened the gap slightly, but he had to still be hearing Strickland's footsteps on the homestretch. Daughton stayed out front all the way to the tape, though, winning the race in 1:57.99. Strickland was runner-up in 1:59.83. Maclay sophomore George Escobar inched by Harvest freshman Isaiah Nields on last straight to take third, 2:03.39 to 2:03.41.


Girls 1600 champ Eden Meyer was back in the girlsí 3200. The Providence senior led the field through the first lap in 79 seconds, followed by St. Johns Country Day junior Katie Lyerly, Providence seventh-grader Audrey Woods, and Baker sixth-grader Maya Espinosa.  Neither the top four nor their order changed during the eight-lap race. Meyer ran 11:25.98 to get her second title of the day, Lyerly was second in 11:38.24, Woods was third in 11:57.23, and Espinosa took fourth in 12:06.14.


The day's distance events concluded with the boys 3200 meters. 1600 champ Griffith Rutherford took the field through a swift 71-second first lap then throttled back. Baker senior Dylan Scott took over pacemaking. Rutherford stayed tucked right behind him, shadowed in turn by First Coast junior Drew Hart. Farther back, Pensacola Christian senior Jeremy Carlson and Jay junior Micah Kemp were fighting for fourth. Scott continued to lead, reaching halfway in 5:01. Rutherford was still hanging around, but Hart had lagged. Farther back, Kemp and Carlson swapped positions back and forth.


The sixth lap slowed to 80 seconds and Griffith Rutherford regained the lead. Dylan Scott stayed right behind him. Jeremy Carlson had dropped Micah Kemp and was challenging Drew Hart for third. On the gun lap, Scott leaped out front, but Rutherford stayed with him. It was still a race on the final straight. Fighting toward the tape, Rutherford clawed his way ahead of Scott for a 10:07.62 to 10:07.96 win. Carlson passed Hart on the final lap to take third in 10:15.29. Hart was fourth in 10:20.70.


Their Region 1 business done, the qualifiers can look forward to the State Finals on May 2. The northwest still has one last bit of high school track to look forward to before then, the Region 1-3A championships on April 24. Headlining that meet will be the likes of Emma Rudman, Nick Morken, Avery Bartlett, Karen Xiang, Thomas Howell, and Sukhi Khosla. It's hard to believe, but the State Finals will be even better.

Northwest Florida Correspondent Herb Wills

Herb Wills' running career goes back to the 1971 boys' age-group mile at the Florida Relays. Since losing that race he has won the 1976 Florida High School class 4A cross-country championship, 1979 AAU USA junior titles in cross-country and the 10,000 meters, and the 1989 TAC USA 30K national championship. As a distance runner at Florida State University from 1978 to 1982, he was NCAA All-American three times in track and once in cross country, and won a silver medal in the marathon at the 1981 World University Games. Graduating Florida State with a degree in mathematics, in the following years Wills ran in the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in 1984, 1988, and 1992, and placed tenth in the Boston Marathon in 1989. After more than a few years of duty as a hurdle setter and lane judge at track meets, Wills discovered that the public address announcer not only got to sit down at meets but was also sheltered from the rain. Since that revelation you can hear him with a microphone in his hand at several track and cross-country events in the Tallahassee area. Writing is another activity you can do while sitting down, and Wills has written about running for Racing South magazine and Tallahassee's local newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat.

You can read more running related tidbits in his blog at http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/

Herb Wills NorthWest Florida Reports LINK