It's still early in the track & field season, but already some impressive performances have been registered by south Florida athletes.
There were two of special note last Saturday at the Hallandale Invitational. Shayla Sanders, a junior sprinter for
Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes), clocked 23.68 seconds in winning the 200-meter dash. That's the quickest in the nation this season, but Sanders' effort was wind-aided just enough to not allow the time to be registered atop the national list.
"My goal before the meet was to run at least 24.7. To come here and run a 23.68 is amazing," Sanders told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, admitting that the wind "did kind of help."
Nonetheless, we'll want to keep an eye on Sanders, who also won the 100 Saturday. Sanders can concentrate solely on perfecting her starts in the two sprints and keeping her legs fresh for every meet this season because she is not needed on Boyd Anderson's relays, which are stacked with speed.
Sanders' teammate, Jasmine King, also had an impressive meet, winning three events to help Boyd Anderson, long a state power in track, to a runaway victory in the girls competition. The Cobras scored 100.5 more points than runner-up Hallandale, giving them their second invitational meet title in eight days. The Boyd Anderson girls captured first place in every event except for two races.
King won the 100 hurdles in 14.89 seconds and clocked 45.59 in winning the 300 hurdles after landing a leap of 35 feet, 2 inches to snag first place in the triple jump. King still is trying to round into track shape after recently finishing basketball season, so she's another one to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
"I don't expect anything less than first place at the meets," King said of Boyd Anderson's dominance. "Basically, it's being committed. If you mentally want to run and you want to win, you have to train hard for it."
DEL VALLE SETS MEET DISTANCE MARKSArmando del Valle of
Columbus (Miami) breezed to victories in meet-record times in both distance races last Saturday at the Sam Burley Hall of Fame meet at Southridge Park in Miami.
Del Valle clocked 4:13.7 in winning the 1,600 run and followed that with a winning time of 9:13.32 in the 3,200. Both times established meet records.
Phillip Dorsett of
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) was named the top male athlete after recording wins in the 100 and the long jump. Dorsett collected the second-place ribbon in the 400, which was won by teammate Arman Hall, also set a meet record in winning the 200 in 20.82.
The top female athlete trophy went to Jatavia Wright of
Central (Miami). She won the 100 hurdles in 14.90 and was runner-up in the 300 hurdles.
Aquinas won the boys meet by 24 points over runner-up Columbus, and made it a sweep by also claiming the girls team title by 35 points over runner-up South Dade (Homestead).
Steve Dorsey is a freelance writer based in West Palm Beach, Fla., who
covers the south Florida region for MaxPreps.com. He also is a
contributing writer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and American
Football Monthly.
