This week, all that's left of Florida's 2014 high school track and field season is the State Meet on May 2-3. The tracks of northwest Florida are devoid of competition. They're not deserted. You'll find folks out there getting ready for the State Finals, or already starting their training for cross country in the fall, or even working out for next year. It's never too early to start.


Last week, though, was the finale for racing in the Panhandle, the class 3A Region 1 meet. In class 1A and class 2A it had already been decided who was going to state and in what event. At Chiles High on Thursday, April 24, the same thing was decided for all of north Florida in class 3A. The boys' 1600 at that meet also shook up the list of state leaders as well as the list of national leaders in that event. It also propelled two athletes onto the watch list for the adidas Dream Mile, coming up in New York City on June 14.


Among the athletes lining up for the 1600 at Chiles were Niceville senior Nick Morken, the defending state champion, and Leon junior Sukhi Khosla, the state leader in the event. Like two gunfighters wary of each other, Khosla and Morken hadn't raced against one another since cross country season. They had been at some of the same meets, but never in the same event. This time there was no avoiding the showdown.


Khosla came out shooting, hitting the first 400 in 61.07. Morken was a step or two back. By the end of the second lap, the rest of the field had let the two leaders go. Khosla turned that lap in 62.20. No one but Morken wanted anything to do with that kind of pace.


At the open of the gun lap, Khosla had run the third 400 in 62.72. Morken was still right behind him. There was just a slight gap between the two runners, and Morken narrowed it further, getting ready to pounce on the final straight. Khosla met Morken's challenge with his own final sprint, racing down the homestretch ahead of the Niceville senior. The Leon junior crossed the finish line in a winning 4:06.45, just ahead of Morken's 4:07.12. Chiles junior Avery Bartlett moved up two places during the last lap to finish third in 4:16.79. Lee senior Rayford James was fourth in 4:18.83. All four qualifiers had run their best times ever. Khosla had run the fastest 1600 time in the country so far this season, and Morken the third. On the strength of those performances, Khosla and Morken were put on the watch list for the adidas Dream Mile. The Dream Mile is six weeks into the post-season, though; there's still a State championship to be run.


Although not nearly as fast, the Region 1-3A girls' 1600 developed much like the boys' race. Nease senior Karen Xiang led for the first 1500 meters, while Fort Walton Beach sophomore Emma Rudman lurked close behind. When Rudman accelerated on the homestretch Xiang had no answer. Rudman got the win in 5:04.72, with Xiang second in 5:05.43. The other two state qualifiers in the race were Chiles senior Ashton McMurray, third in 5:12.59, and St Augustine sophomore Kelly Aponte, 5:14.68.


Three of those runners were back later in the girls' 3200. Karen Xiang set the pace from the start again, but this time she wasn't shadowed by Emma Rudman. Xiang ran alone up front till a lap to go. Bartram Trail senior Hannah Giangaspro had been closing on Xiang during the second half of the race, and with 400 left almost pulled even. As if jarred awake, Xiang came to life on the last lap to get the win over Giangaspro, 11:03.26 to 11:06.04. Well behind them, Emma Rudman, Ashton McMurray, and Creekside junior Colleen Openshaw had entered the last lap as a group--three runners fighting for the two remaining spots for State. Rudman came out on top in that struggle, taking third in 11:18.53, while Openshaw got the fourth spot, running 11:21.83.


"I like to run tactical races," mentioned Sukhi Khosla after the meet. "They're fun."


The 1600, which had all the tactical subtlety of a duel fought with hand grenades, couldn't have offered much of that kind of fun. The Region 1-3A boys' 3200 made up for that, though.


There were some parallels to the earlier 1600. Once again you had a defending state champ in the event lining up against the state leader in the event--Niceville senior Thomas Howell versus Leon's Sukhi Khosla. Neither of them were the early pacesetter, though. That honor went to St. Augustine senior Noah Kemp. Kemp led the first half of the race, with Howell tucked behind him in second. Khosla stayed back in fourth or fifth, but not far back--it was a tight group of runners knocking off 70-second laps.


On the fifth lap Pensacola Washington senior Mark Robertson moved up to take the lead. Howell held second behind the new leader while Khosla moved into third. Robertson spent less than two laps up front, because with 800 meters to go, Howell took off. It wasn't entirely unexpected.


"He did the same thing last year," remarked Khosla. "It's kind of his signature move."


Unlike last year, Khosla went with Howell. Howell doubled down on the backstretch, opening a bit of daylight. Khosla clawed back up to him, though, and with 400 meters to go challenged for the lead. Howell held him off on the turn, but with 300 meters to go Khosla charged ahead. That was the race. Khosla romped home first in 9:10.96, having covered the last 800 meters in 2:04. Howell was second in 9:16.50. Kemp placed third in 9:21.70 and Robertson fourth in 9:26.54.


Between the 1600 and the 3200, Creekside senior Alexis Jackson had won the girls' 800 in 2:23.87. Running in section two, Jackson had taken the lead on the first backstretch and never relinquished it. Her closest challenger had run in section one--Terry Parker junior Jessica Brinson had run 2:23.91. The other two qualifiers in the two-lapper were Bartram Trail junior Sydne Grier with a 2:24.07 and Kelly Aponte at 2:25.18. In the boys' 800 Creekside sophomore David Tampa led through 600 meters, but then Chiles junior Avery Bartlett came thundering by on the final turn. Bartlett got the win in a personal best 1:54.62, with Lee senior Rayford James second in 1:56.37. Tampa was third in 1:56.51 and Chiles senior Sean Turner fourth in 1:56.79.


Of course, there are four regions so Region 1 is providing only one-quarter of the talent that will compete for state titles in Jacksonville at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium. As long as the weather cooperates it should be a great show.

Northwest Florida Correspondent Herb Wills

Herb Wills' running career goes back to the 1971 boys' age-group mile at the Florida Relays. Since losing that race he has won the 1976 Florida High School class 4A cross-country championship, 1979 AAU USA junior titles in cross-country and the 10,000 meters, and the 1989 TAC USA 30K national championship. As a distance runner at Florida State University from 1978 to 1982, he was NCAA All-American three times in track and once in cross country, and won a silver medal in the marathon at the 1981 World University Games. Graduating Florida State with a degree in mathematics, in the following years Wills ran in the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in 1984, 1988, and 1992, and placed tenth in the Boston Marathon in 1989. After more than a few years of duty as a hurdle setter and lane judge at track meets, Wills discovered that the public address announcer not only got to sit down at meets but was also sheltered from the rain. Since that revelation you can hear him with a microphone in his hand at several track and cross-country events in the Tallahassee area. Writing is another activity you can do while sitting down, and Wills has written about running for Racing South magazine and Tallahassee's local newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat.

You can read more running related tidbits in his blog at http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/

Herb Wills NorthWest Florida Reports LINK