Marathon’s track and field teams made the big trip to Fort Lauderdale for a meet at Calvary Christian School. In all, 14 girls teams and 16 boys teams were in attendance, and the Fins held their own, finishing sixth in boys and seventh in girls.
All of the Lady Fins’ top-three finishes were in the field events. Seniors Daysi Williams, Ava Merryman and Justice Lee Isom earned the lion’s share of the points for the team. Williams won the high jump with a 4’ 11.75” mark. Lee Isom hurled the shot put 39’ 7.75” for first place, then picked up a pair of thirds in discus and javelin. Merryman finished second in the pole vault after clearing 9’ 4.25” – the same height as the winner, who had one fewer miss.
For the boys, the younger athletes pulled their weight and earned all of the Dolphins’ top-three finishes. Lucian Burns was the big point scorer, fueled by a pair of firsts in the 1,600 and 3,200-meter races. Burns finished his first four laps in 4:35, then the other eight in 10:14, both PRs for the talented freshman. Teammate Tony Bursa, a sophomore, was second in the 3,200.
In field events, freshman Eian Batzer and eighth-grader Maverick McDonald picked up third-place finishes. Batzer cleared the bar at 5” 7.5” in high jump, then McDonald sailed 9’10” over the pole vault bar. McDonald’s vault set a new PR and school record, which he has done three times this season in as many meets.
Coral Shores opted to compete at Monsignor Pace on March 26. There, the boys and girls both finished third out of six teams and had some solid performances. Julieanna Oddo won the girls 100-meter hurdle race in 19.19 seconds and Ali Wheatley took first in the 1,600, finishing in 12:28. Wheatley then teamed up with Tess Hill, Kate King and Olive Welch for a win in the 4×400 relay. Welch and King were also part of the second-place 4×800 team along with Jenna Mandozzi and Samantha Bates, plus the second-place 4×100 team with Niveah Howard and Miracle Woods. Woods placed third in the individual 100-meter race and Karla Gutierrez was third in the discus event to round out the Lady ’Cane top-three finishers.
The boys team had plenty of success as well. Jaime Cary was first in the 1,600, running the mile in 4:53. Victor Lopez was third in the same race. Adrik Gadea Mayer won two individual events, including the long jump after a 19’7” leap, then the 800-meter race, completing the two laps in 2:08 with teammate Alaric Rodriguez finishing right behind him in second. William Roberts was the runner-up in the 400-meter hurdle race, while Ricardo Mack was third in long jump and Casey Konrad was third in shot put.
The boys relay teams also had success, with two 4×400 teams placing. The A-team of Gadea Mayer, Rodriguez, Will Theis and Colton Connolly was second and the B-team of Cary, Lopez, Roberts and Tristan Rios was third. The final top-three finish was in the boys 4×100 relay, in which Ekon Edwards, Daniel Fernandez, Isaac Woods and Uriel Gutierrez placed third.
Track and field’s regular season closes April 10. Key West and Coral Shores will send their top athletes to districts April 15 at Southridge Park while Marathon must wait until April 23 for its postseason debut at Palmer Trinity School. Regionals for all three teams are scheduled for May 1 in Fort Lauderdale.
