By Tracy McDonald
Marathon High School traveled to Miami to compete in the FHSAA 1A District 16 track meet held at Palmer Trinity School on April 20. At the end of the day, the boys team captured second place and the girls took third. Most importantly, two dozen runners, jumpers and throwers qualified for the regional meet in two weeks, with their sights set on a coveted invite to the state meet held in Gainesville on May 11-14. In order to qualify for regionals, athletes must place in the top four for their events, with the top three earning hardware. Boys coach Jim Murphy attributed the team’s success to the athletes’ efforts across the board. “We have had many school records broken this season in our field and hurdle events,” he said. “It shows we are becoming a more well-rounded program.”
Mason Buxton led the boys team in points, medaling in three of his four events. Buxton took firsts in javelin and pole vault, sixth in the open 800, and ran a leg of the third place 4×800 relay team. Buxton has been a part of Marathon’s elite distance squad for several years, but his field events are what set him apart. His overall win in the pole vault was a nice surprise for the Fins, considering that he picked up a pole for the first time just a week before the district meet. Fellow pole vaulter Victor Segura will also represent the Dolphins at regionals with his second place finish.
Junior Aaron Dolton was not far behind on the points board, taking second place in both the 110 and 300 hurdles, third in the high jump, and eighth in the triple jump. In his first year on the track team, Dolton broke the school’s 300 meter hurdle record, a mark that will remain unbroken as the school transitions to run the 400 meter hurdles in 2023. He is not complacent in his progress, stating that his goal is “making it to states.” Behind Dolton but still earning a medal and a spot at regionals was Mylan Henriquez, who placed third in 110 and 300 hurdles, and jumper Fabbianho Louis Jeune, who took third in the triple jump.
A trio of senior throwers took turns breaking one another’s personal bests and earned spots on the regionals roster. Rodolfo Castillo Perez took first place in shot put and fourth in discus. Sergio Morales placed fourth in shot put and third in discus, and Kymani Dixon took second place in discus.
Distance runners Jakub Bursa, Vaclav Bursa, Pedro Zapata and Buxton finished in second place in the 4×800 relay and will participate at regionals as a group. Vaclav will also compete in the individual 800 after earning a third place finish, while Zapata secured a spot in the open 1600, taking a third place finish while running with severe shin splints.
Freshman Mikail Marshall was the lone Fin to medal in a sprinting event, earning third place in the 100. His sixth place finish in the 200 was a few hundredths of a second shy of qualifying to move on, but was good enough to earn points for the team in the meet standings.
For the girls, relays were the name of the game, with all three squads moving on to regionals. In the 4×800, Rain Banks, Ava Merryman, Jordan MacDonald and Rilynn Richards captured third place. Also taking third was the 4×100 team of Kayesha Christian, Abrianna Marshall, Janiya Pyfrom and Caylie Globe. The 4×400 team took fourth with Banks, Christian, Merryman and MacDonald pulling double duty. Banks also managed to fit in an additional eight laps to secure a fourth place finish in the 3200 individual event.
Two Lady Fins came up with individual wins, with junior Abrianna Marshall pulling off a big upset in the high jump and eighth grader Ava Merryman winning the pole vault. The Fins dominated the vault, with fellow eighth grader Ryleigh Garcia coming in third and freshman Ella Dunn taking fourth.
Kayesha Christian took a break from her relays to secure second place in the long jump event, while fellow field competitors Nicole Merryman and Molly Prince took third and second place in the shot put and discus, respectively.
The two-week hiatus in competition gives the athletes a chance to work on the nuances of their individual events, including their hurdling form, jumping marks, starting block usage and relay handoffs. It also allows a few of the Fins to heal a bit as some are nursing minor injuries and the usual aches and pains after a long season.
