FPC boys: District 1-4A runners-up

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

The Flagler Palm Coast boys track-and-field team finished in second place, with 127 points, Wednesday, April 20, at FPC. The girls team finished sixth, with 35.

Despite the return of Tyler Cue, one of the area’s top sprinters, the Flagler Palm Coast boys track-and-field team’s run of six straight District 1-4A titles ended Wednesday, April 20, when Gainesville Buchholz edged out the Bulldogs by 21 points.

The boys team finished second, and the girls team finished sixth. Overall, FPC coach Dave Halliday said the athletes he expected to qualify for the regional meet advanced.

Girls send two individuals, relay team
Sophomore Paige Way finished second in the 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 25 seconds. Jen Henry finished in fourth place in the pole vault. Also, the girls 4x400-meter relay team, which finished second, features Diamond McIntosh, Way, Quiarra Cade and Namie Thomas. The team finished in 4:15.22, finishing .16 seconds behind Mandarin.

“The girls team is still progressing and learning, but we had some nice performances from a team of girls that is almost exclusively made up of freshmen and sophomores,” Halliday said after the meet.

Sprinters set pace for boys team
Having Tyler Cue back was a big boost for the boys team, Halliday said.

“It was disappointing to have the boys team place second,” Halliday said, noting it ended the Bulldogs’ run of six-straight district titles.

Cue and Gilbert Absolu finished one-two in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash. In the 100 meters, Cue finished in 10.98 seconds while Absolu crossed the finish line in 11.04. In the 200, Cue finished with a time of 21.94 seconds and Absolu’s time was 22.27 seconds.

Three boys relay teams qualified for the regional meet.

The boys 4x800-meters relay team, which finished in fourth place, features Bentlee Critcher, Vanti Williams, Chris Stubbs and Ali Sayed. The team finished in 8:23.15, 11 seconds behind first-place Mandarin. The boys 4x100 relay team also qualified after finishing second. Eric Mejias, Absolu, Stubbs and Turrel Matthews make up the relay team, which finished in 43.04 seconds. The 4x400 relay team, which finished first, features Williams, Mike Hymon, Josh Walker and Stubbs. The team finished in 3:23.85, about four seconds ahead of second-place Orange Park.

Crichter and Kadeem Williams finished the 300-meter hurdles in third and fourth place, respectively. Critcher finished in 41.36 seconds while Kadeem Williams finished in 41.90 seconds. Vanti Williams finished in second place in the 200 meters with a time of 1:57.65.

Mario Austinskas finished third in the high jump after clearing 6 feet, 2 inches.

Cory Soard dominated the pole vault, clearing 13 feet. Kadeem Williams launched 11 feet, 6 inches, high enough for fourth place in the pole vault.

The regional 1-4A meet took place Wednesday, April 27, at Showalter Field, in Winter Park.