Boys 1A Preview - Team Outlook

The First Academy is poised to take home its first title in school history. The Royals will garner most of their points in the sprints/hurdles where they are projected to rack up 46 points with their 12 possible scorers. They are 4 track event points better than Holy Trinity’s projected 42 points, and gain an edge with 14 predicted points from Colton Plante in the shot put and discus.  The multi-talented Plante will have a busy day as he is tabbed for another 11 points in the hurdles.

Holy Trinity comes in with the most possible qualifiers of all the teams, 15 in all, and with some clutch performances could make this close. With 4 qualifiers in the 3200m, the penultimate event and a 4 x 400m team in the final event, the team outcome could be decided at the end of the 17 event competition.

Dade Christian has a nice balance of 16 predicted points from the track events and 26 predicted points from field events which should put them in contention.

Boys High Jump

Marquis Haynes owns the best mark in the state. He has cleared that height three times this year.  Matched his lowest clearance at regions with his 6-06.00 win.  Defending champion Orlando Christian's Justin Jack cleared 6-08.00 to qualify, equaling his winning height from last year.  This could come down on misses so it will be important for both jumpers to be hot early.

Boys Pole Vault

Kyle Weaver narrowly lost last year’s state title on the count back finishing second with a 14-00.00 mark.  He’s upped his best to 14-10.00 this year which is 4 inches better than 2nd ranked Evangelical Christian's Drew McMichael. Holy Trinity senior Corey Smith finished third last year with a 14-00.00, also having to settle on the count back. This one again could go down to the wire and having few misses at the early heights will be critical.

Boys Long Jump

Alex Marlowe took third last year and got the best of state leader Marquis Haynes at the region 1 meet going 22-02.50.  Moore Haven's Javonta Broughton and Freeport's Gabriel Moore posted seasonal bests with their wins in their respective regions and are not too far off Marlowe and Haynes marks. This should be a closely contested competition with lead changes throughout the 6 jump competition.

Boys Triple Jump

Mount Dora Bible's Austin Warren finished 3rd behind two seniors last year with his 45-07.75 leap. He improved to 46-00.00 at his region meet which is 2.5 inches better than second ranked Jonathan Santil’s best. The winds at Hodges Stadium can be gusty so timing the jump could play a big role.

Boys Discus Throw

What a difference a year makes?  Chris Olson and Seth Lewis finished off the podium last year with their 10th and 13th place finish. This year, each threw their best at the region meet and will compete for the top spot on the podium.

Olson has three marks over the 150-00 barrier this year while Lewis notched a 17-05 increase onto his personal best to hit his 155-10.00, winning his respective region.

 
Boys Shot Put
                       
Dade Chrisitian's Andrew Florvil leads the state with his winning mark, going 52-02.75 for his regional win. He has three throws over 50 feet including his third place mark in last year’s state championship; the highest placing returnee from last year.  First Academy's Colton Plante tossed his second 50+ mark in as many weeks to win his region. He finished 8-02.25 inches shy of Florvil in last year’s competition, but could slip past him with another improvement.
 
 
Boys 4x800 Meter Relay

Holy Trinity turned back its biggest challenge from a Class 1A team in the regional meet posting a 2.70 second victory over St. Petersburg Catholic. Trinity Prep has a knack for coming up big at the state meet claiming 4 of the past 5 titles in this event. With some tweaking with their line up, they could give Holy Trinity some more competition to the wire.

 
Boys 110 Meter Hurdles
                       
Holy Trinity's Marquis Burgman eclipsed his personal best with a 14.36 to win his region meet. He could unseat this year’s top returnee, Ryan Davis from Highland Christian, who finished 3rd in last year’s final.  Davis led the state prior to Burgman’s clocking at the region meet so expect a competitive final for the title.   


Boys 100 Meter Dash

Fisrat Academy's Kwadarius Smith was just off his state leading time at regions for the win over his teammate Lloyd Hylton. He and Hylton are favored for the sweep which would mean big points for the First Academy Royals.  N’Namdi Davis and Marquis Haynes could break up the sweep, but they will need big time personal best to knock off the top two.


Boys 1600 Meter Run

Alex Brown’s 4:21.06 is the best of all the qualifiers by 3 seconds. His teammate, Cole Oliver, has a personal best of more than 2 seconds on the third ranked time. On paper based on the regional performance, the Tigers earn only 6 points. With a  top two finish, they could make a 12 point swing and make a run at The First Academy.

Not too far off the pace is Mount Dora Bible's  Troy Clark who will undoubtedly push the pace early and try to outlast the field.  Based on the regional performances, the Tigers earn only 6 points. With a  top two finish, they could make a 12 point swing and make a run at The First Academy.

Boys 4x100 Meter Relay

With the top two 100m runners in Class 1A, Kwadarius Smith and Lloyd Hylton, the Royals look to be a shoe in for the win. Moore Haven also has two stellar legs and posted a solid time and seasonal best of 42.39 at their region meet for a convincing win over Admiral Farragut. With three teams within a second of each other, this will bring the crowd to its feet.


Boys 400 Meter Run

Westminister's Joshua Johnson comes in with Class 1A’s best time, but Providence's Andrew James has the best time from the regional meet. These two are close; only 0.14 separates their seasonal bests. This should be a two person race as no one else has cracked the 49 second barrier this season.

Boys 300 Meter Hurdles

Highlands Christian Ryan Davis will look to add another title to his resume. He is the only runner in Class 1A to break 39 seconds. Though he has not come close to his winning time in last year’s  race, 37.54, he is still a second better than the rest of the field. 

Boys 800 Meter Run

Trinity Christian's Ben Manuel ran his best time of the season and in Class 1A in turning back his nearest 1A challenger Cristian Acuna from Jupiter Christian at the region meet. It should be close early on with Connor Cureton, Chris Robin and Brandon Bejarano within 3 seconds of Manuel’s best time.  If Circle Christian's Joseph Ault can keep it close in the latter stages, he also has the pedigree to notch his first state title.


Boys 200 Meter Dash

It is uncommon to see so many sub 22 performers in the smallest classification in the state: 5!

Kwadarius Smith is the best of the lot and will try to add to his team’s total in their final point scoring event. With such a competitive field, the Royals could end up on the short end of the stick and watch Holy Trinity or Dade Christian make a run at them.


Boys 3200 Meter Run

Expect a battle of future Ivy Leaguer's to take center stage.  Trinity Prep Senior and Dartmouth bound Daniel Salas will be the odds on favorite to win his first 3200m title of his career.  Columbia signee Alex Brown, 2nd ranked in Class 1A, finished behind 6.84 seconds behind Salas at the FSU Relays earlier in the season but is the defending State XC champion in 1A.
Holy Trinity will need some big points in this race and has four legitimate chances to score big points much like they did last year in an effort to retain their team title from 2012.


Boys 4x400 Meter Relay

Calvary Christian has the top time in Class 1A which it set at the regional meet. They were pushed to the wire by Dade Christian, the second best team in the state to date.

Holy Trinity and Dade Christian could gain the points needed for the team title if  First Academy falters.  They’ll know what is needed prior to the start of this race.