Tiger Sharks head to state track tourney Friday

The Port St. Joe varsity track team is sending 10 student athletes to the state tournament Friday, after they took several firsts at the regional !A meet this past weekend.

Lexi Fountain, Madelyn Gortemoller, Amani Jones, and Jae Lenox placed first in the 4×100 relay, the 51:43 time their best of the year.

“It was their first time against competition that pushed them,” said coach Keion McNair. “They were right on point.”

Gortemoller placed third in the 400-meter dash, with a season-best 1:02.25, and Damari Johnson placed second in the 100-meter hurdles, with a season best 17.18.

Amani Jones placed first in the triple jump, with a season best 10.27 meters, with Gortemoller third with a season best 9.56 meters, and Emily Lacour 10th with a season best 8.99 meters.

Lily Wockenfuss placed first, with a season best 3.3 meters, and Emily Lacour fourth, with a season best 3 meters, in the pole vault, with Jessica Dunn vaulting a season best 2.1 meters for 14th

Bladen Levins placed fifth in the pole vault with a season best 3.45 meters, and Russel Dunn 10th, with a season best 2.7 meters.

Darian Mills placed first in the 100-meter hurdles, with a season best 14.76. DJ Oliver placed fourth in the shotput with a season best 13.45 meters.

The state will be held at the University of North Florida at Jacksonville on Friday starting at 8 a.m.

“Our girls, we’d beat any public school in Class 1A,” said McNair.

The teams began their trek to the state on April 20, by the girls dominating the district tournament, easily swamping Blountstown, with Wewahitchka coming in third.

In the 100-meter dash, sophomore Lexi Fountain ran second, with a 13.08, sophomore Jae Lenox third. In 13.70, and freshman Shamarya O’Neal ran 10th, in 14.68 seconds. Fountain ran seventh at regionals, with a 13.33 and Leon a season best 13.32 for eighth.

In the 200-meter dash, O’Neal ran a 31.09 for sixth place, with freshman Ella Dimitrijerich running a 32.79 for ninth, and sophomore Claire Hatchell a season’s best 32.97 for 10th.

In the 400-meter dash, junior Madelyn Gortemoller won with a time of 1:04.51, while O’Neal ran a 1:12.80 for seventh, and Dimitrijerich a 1:13.79 for eighth, both season bests.

In the 800 meters, freshman Hannah Decosta won in a time of 2:47.52, ahead of senior Savannah Burkett, who ran a season best 2:55.69 for third, and freshman Arlena Gleichner, who was sixth with a time of 3:02.22. At regionals DeCosta ran a season best 2:47.29 for 10th, and Burkett a 3:00.99 for 12th.

In the 1,600-meters, DaCosta’s winning time of 6:28.66 at districts was a season’s best, with Gleichner running third with a 6:43.79 time, and seventh grader Katie Trochessett fourth with a 6:48.52. At regionals, DeCosta ran 12th with a 6:42.14, Gleichner 13th with a 6:49.33 and Trochessett 14th with a 6:52.77.

In the 3,200-meters, junior Kristen Bouington’s season best 13:19.32 earned her a second, while seventh grader Farrah Spring’s season best 14:26.19 got her a fourth, and a 16:52.43 time got seventh grader Celie White a fourth place. At regionals, Bouington got 11th with a 14:53.55 and Spring 14th with a 17:20.49.

In the hurdle events, sophomore Damari Johnson won the 100-meters, with a time of 18.57, and took second in the 300 meters, running a season best 54.70. Johnson posted a 56.39 time at regionals, good for 13th place.

In the 4 x 100 relay, 4 x 400 and 4 x 800 relays, the Tiger Sharks were dominant, winning all three, with times of 52.48, a season best 4:28.58 and 11:41.09, respectively. At regionals, in the 4 x 400 and 4 x 800, the teams ran seventh, with a 4:33.77 and a season best 11:38.64.

In the field events, junior Emily Lecour took second in the high jump, leaping 1.42 meters, while junior Lily Wockenfuss’ season 1.37-meter leap earned her a second, and eighth grader’s Jessica Dunn’s 1.27 meters a fifth. At regionals Lacour hit the same height, for fourth.

In the long jump, senior Jae Lenox won with a jump of 4.24 meters, with a second for Fountain, who leaped 4.18 meters, and a third for Johnson, with a 4.16-meter spring. At regionals, Lenox hit a season best 4.8 meters, for third, and Fountain a season best 4.68 meters for seventh.

In the triple jump, it was again a one-two-three finish, with Jones winning with a 10.05 meter performance, Gortemoller second with a 9.25 meter, and Lacour third with a 8.55 meter bound.

In the pole vault, it was again a clean sweep for the Tiger Sharks, as junior Lily Wockenfuss by clearing 2.85 meters, Lacour second with a 2.55-meter vault and Dunn third with a 1.95-meter achievement.

In the discus, junior Alexis Price threw the sphere, 22.75 meters for third place. Freshman Tysha Shackleford threw a season best 22.73 meters for fourth, and freshman Zhyion Quinn tossed it 15.83 meters to finish 14th. At regionals, Price threw a season best 25.15 for eighth, and Shackleford a season best 24.61 for ninth.

Bouington won the javelin with a season best 24.4-meter fling. At regionals her toss of 21.97 earned her 12th.

In the shot put, Shackleford threw 8.9 meters for second place, Quinn 7.89 meters for fourth, Price 7.87 meters for fifth. At regionals, Shackleford threw a season best 9.25 for seventh and Quinn a 9.18 for eighth.

Among the boys at districts, with the team running third, sophomore DJ Oliver ran a 11.96 in the 100 meters for seventh place, while sophomore Kellen Speights had a season best 12.11 for 10th place, and seventh grader Donnell Hill a 13.46 for 13th place.

In the 200 meters, sophomore LaQuan Zacarrow posted a time of 26.04 for 11th place.

In the 400 meters, sophomore Russel Dunn finished ninth with a time of 59.80, and Hill 17th with a 1:09.73 finish.

In the 800 meters, junior Ricky Forbes ran a 2:17.10 for second, while junior Walker Chumney was fifth with a season best run of 2:24.38, and junior Parker Hicks 11th with a season best 2:30.91. Forbes ran a season best 2:09.43 to finish third.

Hicks finished fifth in the 1,600 meters, running a season best 5:14.16, while junior Austin Jones ran a 6:05.85 for ninth place, and seventh grader John Cullen a 6:07.59 for 10th.

Jones ran seventh in the 3200 meters, with a time of 14:00.49, and seventh grader Nathan Lipford a season best 14:14.79 for ninth.

In the 110-meter hurdles, junior Darian Mills won with a time of 15.49.

The 4 X 100-meter squad ran a season best 45.17 for third place, while the 4 X 400 meter quartet ran a 4:00.73 time for fourth place. The 4 X 800-meter team won the event with a 9:27.01 time. At regionals, the team ran a season best 3:50.27 for 11th, and a season best 9:19.01 for fifth in the 4 x 800.

In the field events, Zacarrow leaped a season best 5.88 meters in the long jump for fifth place, while Speights in the triple jump achieved 12.25 meters to win it.

In the pole vault, Port St. Joe went one-two, with junior Bladen Levins clearing 2.85 meters to win, and Dunn 2.55 meters for second.

In the discus, junior Kobe Flowers threw 24.81 meters for fourth place, and seventh grader Andrew Fountain a season best 23.01 meters for eighth place. At regionals, Flowers’ season best 25.53 earned him 15th.

In the shotput, Oliver won with a toss of 12.48 meters, with Fountain fifth with a push of 9.81 meters, and Flowers seventh with a 9.36-meter hurl.