Port St. Joe girls defend North Florida Relays championship

PANAMA CITY — In non-Olympic years, track and field gets about as much notice in this country as some of the recently concluded Winter Games specialties.

Not so at Tallahassee Godby and Port St. Joe.

Their impressive squads successfully defended North Florida Relay titles on Saturday at Tommy Oliver Stadium, all the while pointing toward their respective state meets in May.

Godby’s boys, who have won three state crowns and finished runner-up three times in the past decade under renowned coach Jesse Forbes, ran away with the boys title with 204 points. Runner-up Martin Luther King, a charter school from Tennessee was second with 90 and host Bay third with 77.

Port St. Joe edged Martin Luther King in the girls division with 157½ points to 154 for its fourth consecutive meet title.

It was the 30th and final NFR, which will become an invitational meet next spring. Forbes’ Cougar squad sent it out with a dominant performance as Godby won seven events and scored in all 16.

Forbes, in his 31st year, has more than 60 athletes and four assistant coaches to call on for another state run.

“We’ve still got work to do, and have had some injuries to overcome,” he said. “We have some events still coming together.

“The biggest thing is to get the kids out. We tell them academics first and athletics second and we treat them with respect. Kids respond to that.”

Kentucky commitment Kayla Parker won three individual events and teammates Mariah Johnson and Fanequa Larry one each to pace Port St. Joe.

Bay finished fourth, leading a county contingent that included Mosley in fifth, Arnold sixth and Rutherford seventh.

 Mosley was the lone county team to win a girls event, taking the 1600-meter sprint medley and having Kaitlyn Blais place first in the 3200 meters.

 Bay was the only county school to win an event in the boys division. Kevin Russell won the long jump with 20 feet, 6 inches, and the Tornadoes copped the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

They put on a dazzling performance in the latter, as anchor Terrance Lowder (individually) and members of the 4x400 quartet are looking to improve on sixth-place finishes at state last spring.

Lowder, a junior, was sixth in the open 400 and is undefeated in that race this season. He had a relatively easy task on Saturday as Demetrius Barnes, Shaquille Adderley and Gabe Holguin opened a 30-yard gap during the first three legs.

“I think we’re better than last year,” said Lowder, who ran as fast as 48.4 last year and is confident he can lower that by almost a second. “Maybe even by region.

“I’m feeling really good about it. I ran 49 really early in the season.”

Bay was timed in 3:27.06 while beating Godby by more than five seconds. Tornadoes coach Aaron Byas thinks the unit has a chance to eclipse 3:20.

“Three of them are the same as last year, and Adderley was the fifth guy,” he said. “They’re stronger and bigger. They’ve got more upside than we’ve seen.”

Results:

• Girls team: 1. Port St. Joe 157½, 2. Martin Luther King (Tenn.) 154, 3. Godby 63, 4. Bay 58½, 5. Mosley 52, 6. Arnold 30, 7. Rutherford 29, 8. Graceville 27, 9. FAMU 1.
• 4x800: 1. MLK 10:29.64, 2. Arnold 10:31.81, 3. Bay 10:33.76, 4. Godby 10:44.23, 5. Mosley 11:59.16
• 100 hurdles: 1. Kayla Parker PSJ 14.55, 2. Johnson PSJ 15.89, 3. Butler MLK 16:18, 4. Wilkerson MLK 16.83, 5. Thorpe R 17.10, 6. Scott M 17.41, 7. Carter M 17.43, 8. A.Parker PSJ 19.24
• 100: 1. Kayla Parker PSJ 12.33, 2. Larry PSJ 12.95, 3. Jones MLK 12.97, 4. Robbins PSJ 13.20, 5. Thomas G 13.21, 6. Owens MLK 13.58, 7. Mack G 13.79
• 4x200: 1. Bay 1:46.94, 2. MLK 1:47.96, 3. Godby 1:48.43, 4. PSJ 1:52.20, 5. Mosley 1:52.82
• Distance medley: 1. MLK: 14:41.73, 2. Mosley 14:42.69, 3. Rutherford 16:34.58, 4. Graceville 16:50.82
• 4x100: 1. PSJ 48.93, 2. Bay 50.72, 3. MLK 50.84, 4. Rutherford 53.78, 5. Graceville 55.15
• 300 hurdles: 1. Mariah Johnson PSJ 47l.39, 2. Hall G 50.33, 3. Butler MLK 50.50, 4. Edwards B 51.87, 5. A.Parker PSJ 55.35, 6. Dzadek A 55.59, 7. Wilkerson MLK 56.27
• 1600 sprint medley: 1. Mosley 4:43.45, 2. MLK 4:44.10, 3. PSJ 4:44.98, 4. Rutherford 5:06.92
• High jump: 1. Jalyn Burr MLK 5-0,2. Corn MLK 4-10, 3. MacKenzie A 4-10, 4. (tie) Mosley B, Walker PSJ 4-10, 6. Lewis PSJ 4-8, 7. Jinks G 4-6, 8. Welch PSJ 4-6
• Pole vault: 1. Ashleigh Lewis PSJ 9-0, 2. Endres PSJ 8-0, 3. McCall PSJ 6-6
• Long jump: 1. Kayla Parker PSJ 17-8, 2. Butler MLK 16-1½, 3. McCray R 15-1½, 4. Thomas G 15-1½, 5. Robbins PSJ 14-10½, 6. Nwoke MLK 14-1½, 7. Smith G 13-11, 8. K.Crowley A 13-8¾
• Triple jump: 1. Fanequa Larry PSJ 35-11, 2. Johnson PSJ 35-3, 3. Burr MLK 34-11, 4. Butler MLK 34-8½, 5. Welch PSJ 32-1½, 6. A.Parker PSJ 31-11, 7. Wilkerson MLK 31-2, 8. Byas M 30-7
• Discus: 1. Michelle Edwards G 108-3½, 2. Curry MLK 88-9, 3. Webb B 88-6, 4. Meeks A 84-1½, 5. Spilde PSJ 79-9, 6. Hall MLK 75-8, 7. Martin B 75-6½, 8. Clark G 72-7½
• Shot put: 1. Michelle Edwards G 37-6, 2. Curry MLK 37-2½, 3. Ward G 34-10, 4. Webb B 33-4½, 5. Martin B 32-0, 6. Hollifield G 30-9, 7. Ekadi MLK 29-5½, 8. Pryor PSJ 28-9½
•  3200: 1. Kaitlyn Blais M 13:15.65, 2. Moore MLK 13:26.75, 3. Bauer M 13:50.27, 4. Reed MLK 14:17.63, 5. Muller M 14:47.93, 6. Delgado G 15:54.99, 7. Veliz MLK 16;05.45, 8. Rodriguez G 17:08.90
• 4x400: 1. Godby 4:06.50, 2. Bay 4:08.51, 3. MLK 4:13.68, 4. Arnold 4:20.35, 5. PSJ 4:20.44, 6. Graceville 5:01.37

• Boys team: 1. Godby 204, 2. Martin Luther King 90, 3. Bay 77, 4. Arnold 54½, 5. Rutherford 51, 6. FAMU 39, 7. Sneads 35, 8. Graceville 31, 9. Mosley 26½
• High jump: 1. James Anderson FAMU 6-2, 2. (tie) Andrews G, St. Hilaire G 6-0, 4. Hollifield G 6-0, 5. Dunklin B 5-10, 6. Baxstresser B 5-4, 7. Crain MLK 5-2, 8. Nowells A 5-2
• Pole vault: 1. Billy Mueller G 12-6, 2. Griffin B 9-6, 3. (tie) Milam M, Baker A  7-0
• Long jump: 1. Kevin Russell B 20-6, 2. Cull G 20-1, 3. Condry G 20-¾, 4. Miles R 19-6, 5. Potts G 19-1½, 6. Johnson G 19-1, 7. Screen G 19-0, 8. Eutsay S 18-7½
• Triple jump: 1. Jamar Cull G 43-3½, 2. St. Hilaire G 42-9½, 3. Miles R 41-5½, 4. Cotton A 39-9, 5. Allen A 39-4½, 6. Andrews G 38-2½, 7. Brooks M 38-½, 8. Campbell G 35-4½
• Discus: 1. Devin Screen G 167-3½, 2. Stroman G 149-5½, 3. Watson R 136-7, 4. Williams B 132-9, 5. Simons MLK 122-3, 6. Cassey S 121-5, 7. Burns MLK 113-2, 8. Kane R 106-10
• Shot put: 1. Mickey Cassey S 48-2½, 2. Simons MLK 48-1, 3. Stroman G 45-6, 4. Screen G 45-5½, 5. Coleman G 43-8½, 6. Ford G 41-2½, 7. Williams B 40-8, 8. Oliver-Barnes G 40-4
• 4x800: 1. Godby 8:28.11, 2. MLK 8:34.87, 3. Arnold 8:39.03, 4. Bay 8:39.67, 5. FAMU 9:11.74
• 110 hurdles: 1. Ben Tankard MLK 14.93, 2. Barrington FAMU 15.14, 3. Davis G 15.55, 4. Williams G 15.96, 5. Anderson FAMU 16.37, 6. St. Hilaire G 16.51, 7. Shaw G 16.61, 8. Coleman B 16.76
• 100: 1. Lavorrie Johnson G 11.08, 2. Hughes A 11.28, 3. Allen A 11.42, 4. Condry G 11.48, 5. Smith R 11.52, 6. Powell G 11.77, 7. Works G 11.78, 8. Dates G 11.86
• 4x200: 1. Bay 1:31.61, 2. Sneads 1:32.06, 3. Godby 1:32.57, 4. Rutherford 1:34.52, 5. Mosley 1:36.73
• Distance medley: 1. Godby 11:13.34, 2. MLK 11:24.03, 3. Bay 12:08.52, 4. Arnold 12:09.40, 5. Rutherford 12:13.52
• 4x100: 1. Godby 43.31, 2. Sneads 43.48, 3. Bay 43.90, 4. Arnold 44.48, 5. Rutherford 44.49
• 300 hurdles: 1. Ben Tankard MLK 40.66, 2. Williams G 41.60, 3. Barrington FAMU 42.50, 4. St. Hilaire G 43.17, 5. Coleman B 43.92, 6. Mouser MLK 46.42, 7. Bush A 59.14
• 1600 sprint medley: 1. Graceville 3:52.61, 2. Godby 3:5802, 3. Rutherford 4:05.41, 4. Sneads 4:05.91, 5. MLK 4:08.75
• 3200: 1. Micah Waserman MLK 10:20.32, 2. Cochran M 10:22.38, 3. Klockenkemper MLK 1;28.71, 4. Gilmore MLK 10:51.31, 5. Wyllie R 11:25.25, 6. Mwenya MLK 11:43.48, 7. Love G 11:43.56, 8. McRae G 11:51.82
• 4x400: 1. Bay 3:27.06, 2. Godby 3:32.57, 3. MLK 3:36.52, 4. FAMU 3:38.54, 5. Arnold 3:39.19