A total of seven South Florida teams descended on Marathon for the Middle Keys Invitational on April 8. Among those teams were all the Monroe County high schools for a Keys-wide showdown in track and field.
Key West took first place in the boys events, scoring 196 total points. Marathon was fourth with 86 points and Coral Shores was fifth with 59.5. The Lady Conchs captured second place, scoring 172 points. Marathon and Coral Shores were fourth and fifth, respectively, earning 94 and 25 points for their teams.
Key West had a slew of top finishers. Shane Lavallee was first in javelin and second in the 200. Lavallee’s 154’11” javelin toss was not only a personal record for him, but second all-time for Key West. Clerf Alexandre was first in triple jump and second in the 100. Jean Louis was first in shot put, beating out a field of 18 athletes. Jeef Dejean took third in the 100 and triple jump and second in the long jump. Anthony Jenner placed third in both the 110 hurdles and discus events. Coming in second were Malachi Telisma in high jump and Ian Newton in pole vault. Brondson Etienne and Jeremiah Harvey were third in high jump and javelin, respectively.
Marathon’s boys had two first-place finishes in their home meet, both from Jay Marshall. Marshall won the 100- and 200-meter races to maintain his status as the fastest in the Keys.
Coral Shores’ boys team had four athletes crack the top three. Xavier Johnson was second in the 110 high hurdles. William Davila and Ethan Marguet took third in the 400-meter and 800-meter runs, respectively, while Ambrose Sanchez captured third in the 400 hurdles.
The Lady Conchs had strong performances across the board. Audrey Smith won the javelin event, while Alyssandra Camargo took first in the 400. Key West’s final first-place finisher was Caylaa Makimaa, who won the two-mile event, then took third in the mile. Dazmine Jenkins used her speed to claim a pair of second places in the 100- and 200-meter races. Anabel Portuondo was second in pole vault, Claire Boysen was second in shot put, and Colleen Barter was third in the high jump event. Kaylee Matas Cabuzuelo was third in discus and Grace Andrew won a pair of thirds, one in the 100 high hurdles and the other in the 400 hurdles.
Coral Shores sophomore Mira Jones was the only Lady ’Cane to break into the top three. Jones finished the 400-meter race in third place.
Marathon’s Lady Fins had five top-three finishers. Daysi Williams won the high jump, breaking her own school record by clearing 5’1.75”. Williams was also third in the 200-meter race. Justice Lee claimed her third school record, throwing the shot put 33’8.5”. The sophomore sensation won that event as well as the discus. Lee also placed third in javelin. Senior Kayesha Christian capped off the final home meet of her career with style, finishing first in the long jump. Ava Merryman was third in pole vault and Mikkel Ross was third in the 3200-meter race.
Districts for Key West and Coral Shores, both 2A teams, will occur on Wednesday, April 24 at Tropical Park in Miami. Marathon, which competes in the smaller 1A division, will participate in district championships on Wednesday, May 1 at Palmer Trinity School.
