SEBASTIAN — Marc Harris saw consistency from both his Vero Beach High boys and girls track teams. He’s just not sure if that’s what he wanted during Saturday’s 17th annual Bill Wilson Invitational at Sebastian River High School.
“We had a lot of young kids — freshmen, sophomores and even some juniors — do well,” said Harris, who coaches both squads. “We did well and we were pretty consistent. But, it was not great consistency. I think I expected more. Our relays ran well, and we did a good job in the sprints.”
Merritt Island won the boys title with 120 points, Vero Beach was second at 110 and Sebastian River and Satellite tied for third with 106 points.
Miami Northwestern defended its girls title with 221 points, winning 10 of the 18 events. Merritt Island totaled 109 points, and Vero Beach was one point back at 108. Sebastian River was fourth at 77.
Twelve teams competed in the girls division, and 11 teams competed in the boys division.
Yveneld Toussaint and Joshua Housel finished first and second, respectively, in the 300-meter hurdles with times of 41.87 and 42.18. The two also teamed up with Stephen Bennett to win the 3×100 shuttle hurdles for Vero Beach in 51.81 seconds.
Lumuria McGriff Jr., Ira Graham, Sprickley Martina and Garthner Paul also won the 400 relay (4×100) for Vero Beach with a time of 43.08 seconds. McGriff and Graham are both in ninth grade.
“That group of boys did a good job,” Harris said. “Our best time before that was 43.37. That’s nearly a third of a second improvement. And, we were missing one of our seniors, who anchors it.”
Graham, Paul, Emile Cesaire and Sprickley Martina won the 800 relay (4×200) for Vero Beach with a time of 1 minute, 31.34 seconds. Graham also finished sixth in the 200 with a time of 23.65.
Freshman Reche Thomas placed third in the shot put for Vero Beach with a heave of 45 feet, 9 1/2 inches. Cole Ripple was sixth at 39-8. Ripple also was third in the discus with a throw of 137-1. Joshua Ealy placed fourth at 132 feet.
Jake Sonzogni was fourth in the 1,600 with a time of 4:52.64, and Tyler Hortsman placed fourth in the high jump at 6 feet. The three competitors ahead of Hortsman also recorded a best of 6 feet, but they had fewer misses.
“Tyler hasn’t had a whole lot of practice,” Harris said. “His shoulder has been bothering him.”
Jaymes Cole, Jordan Kutner, Housel and Joseph Granberg placed fourth in the 3,200 relay (4×800) with a time of 8:55.54. Toussaint, Housel, Juwan Forbes and Roosevelt Spruill were fifth in the 1,600 relay (4×400) in 3:47.09.
Dravious Wright placed fifth in the 100 with a time of 11.46, and Peter Lee was fifth in the 2,000 steeplechase with a time of 7:18.44
“I’ve got young kids who can push the older kids well,” Harris said. “Make no mistake, I’m going to change practice up early in the week. We’ve got to get better, faster and stronger. I haven’t gotten what I’ve expected. The ones who have been with me virtually every day since (late) November, December and January, when the preseason started, it has not paid off for them. I’m disappointed that they might be going through the motions. They’re running similar times to last year. I might have to make some changes.”
Jeyland Valentin, a 10th grader, won the 300 hurdles in the girls competition with a time of 45.61 seconds for Vero Beach. Madison Stahler, another 10th grader, placed first in the 2,000 steeplechase with a time of 8:23.89. She also was fifth in 1,600 in 5:58.73.
Kayla Woulard was second in the 400 with a time of 58.45. Quamesha Dixon placed third in the 200 in 26.66 and was fourth in the 100 in 12.75.
Tatyana Jenkins, Valentin and Milland Toussaint teamed up to place third in the 3×100 shuttle hurdles in 54.32. The quartet of Ericka Davis, Quamesha Dixon, Jenkins and Chanye Edwards also were third in the 400 relay (4×100) in 50.33.
“I was pleased with Tatyana Jenkins and Jeyland Valentin,” Harris said. “Tatyana might have had a personal best in her 100, and Jeyland ran well in her leg of the 100 and in the 300 hurdles.”
Edwards, a ninth grader, was fourth in the shot put with a heave of 35 feet, 8 1/2 inches.
The 800-meter relay (4×200) team of Nemchel Brunette, Mikahla Jamison, Toussaint and Jikerria Williamson was fourth in 1:55.51. All are ninth graders.
Another relay team, the 3,200 relay (4×800) of Stahler, Caleigh King, Natalie Zatz and Danielle Traynor placed fourth in 10:56.02. A relay team consisting of 10th graders — Yesenia Schofield, Keltin Federick, Valentin and Woulard — was fifth in the 1,600 relay (4×400) in 4:38.19.
Woulard placed fifth in both the high jump and long jump with leaps of 4-10 and 15 feet, respectively.
Zatz was fifth in the 800 in 2:32.49, Federick placed sixth in the 400 in 61.36 and Schofield was sixth in the triple jump at 31-11 1/4. Toussaint placed sixth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 53.96 seconds.
Winners for Miami Northwest included: La’Kayla Harris in the 400 (58.44), Recardia Cooper in the 800 (2:24.70), Briana Eskridge in the high jump (5-2), Timetria Mitchell in the long jump (15-9 1/2) and Lloydricia Cameron in both the shot put (44-7) and discus (140-9). Northwest also won the 800 relay (4×200), 1,600 relay (4×400), 3,200 relay (4×800) and 3×100 shuttle hurdles.
“We had a lot of freshmen who did well,” Northwest coach Carmen Jackson said. “We kept our vets out of this meet. The beauty of this meet is that we can run a lot of kids and give them an opportunity to develop. It gives them an opportunity to experience some success.”
Sebastian River’s Brandi Jacobs won the triple jump with a leap of 36-10 and she placed second in the pole vault at 9-6. She also placed third in the high jump at 5 feet behind teammate Breanna Moore’s second-place leap of 5-2. Kadasha Eliacin of Sebastian River was second in the long jump at 15-9, just a half-inch out of first place.
Other winners in the girls competition included Tiara Robinson, who won both the 100 (12.61) and 200 (25.83) for Fort Pierce Central. Christina Hamilton of Satellite prevailed in the 1,600 with a time of 5:23.97 and Amanda Rigdon of Merritt Island won the pole vault with a clearance of 10 feet. Central won the 400 relay (4×100) in 49.24 seconds.
In the boys competition, Sebastian River’s Matt Jones won the long jump with a leap of 21-1 1/2 and teammate Tyree Durden prevailed in the high jump at 6 feet.
Hndre Pound won the 100 and 200 for Florida Air Academy with times of 11.18 and 22.62. Satellite’s Terrence Brookins claimed the 400 in 51.19 seconds and Carlos James of Merritt Island won both the 800 in 2:02.02 and the 1,600 in 4:45.43. Justin May of Lincoln Park claimed the 2,000 steeplechase in 6:44.12, Andrew Bocci won the pole vault with a clearance of 11-6 and Lincoln Park’s Cody Newkirk won the triple jump with a leap of 42-1 1/2.
Satellite’s Nathan Knox won both the shot put (51-9) and discus (159-7).
Lincoln Park won the 1,600 relay (4×400) in 3:37.44, and Merritt Island prevailed in the 3,200 relay (4×800) in 8:24.65. Sebastian River’s team of Vincent Harris, James Bissonnette, Robert McBride and Chris Graves placed second in 8:37.84.