Gulf County track teams take home medals from district meet
Track and field athletes from eight high schools descended upon the Port St. Joe Jr/Sr High School track this past Tuesday, April 25, for the FHSAA 1A District 2 Track Meet.
When the final event concluded, the Port St. Joe girls placed first with 264 points, 57 more than runner-up Blountstown. The Wewahitchka girls claimed third place with 73 points.
In boys action, Blountstown took home the first place trophy, while the Wewa boys captured second place. Port St. Joe boys finished in fifth place.
The other schools in the competition were Cottondale, Franklin County, Graceville, Liberty County, and Sneads.
“I am super proud of both teams; everyone worked so hard,” said St. Joe track coach and event host Keion McNair. “We had about seven 7th graders come out, and all of them made it to regionals.”
In similar fashion, Wewa coach Karen Shiver said “We are so proud of this small, young team. Coach (David) Peavy set the bar before this meet, and the team exceeded the mark.”
“We are grateful for all the assistance from our community and parents,” she said.
Echoing his fellow coach, Peavy said “For a team with only 26 athletes, our boys and girls teams did incredibly well. The boys finished as district runner-up behind strong performances from David Rich, PJ Garrison, and Bailey Cox.”
“The girls finished 3rd with only 12 athletes, led by Arianna Myers, Avery Forehand, Kyleigh Catrett, and Janessa Small. With only two seniors on the team (Garrison and Miguel Gavrun), our future looks pretty bright,” he said.
It should be noted that Mari Johnson is the only senior on the Port St. Joe squad, so Gulf County track appears to be on solid ground for several years.
Here is the list of Port St. Joe (P) and Wewa (W) girls who earned points in the various events:
High Jump
● Chloe Cook (P) 3rd with 4’8”
● Leila Smith (P) 5th with 4’2”
Pole Vault
● Avery Forehand (W) 1st with 7’4.5”
● Molly Partin (P) 2nd with 7’4.5”
● Madelyn Shoaf (P) 3rd with 6’10.75”
● Kate Patrick (P) 4th with 5’5”
● Kyleigh Catrett (W) 5th with 5.5”
● Janessa Small (W) 6th with 4’11”
Long Jump
● Arianna Myers (W) 1st with 15’11” ● Mari Johnson (P) 4th with 14’10”
● Madelyn Shoaf (P) 7th with 13’8.5”
Triple Jump
● Mari Johnson (P) 1st with 35’4”
● Molly Partin (P) 3rd with 32’2.5”
● Jayla Hill (P) 4th with 31’4.75”
Discus
● TyShawn Shackleford (P) 1st with 83’7” ● Lilly Earley (P) 2nd with 77’4”
● Annabelle Whitfield (W) 7th with 64’0”
Javelin
● TyShawn Shackleford (P) 2nd with 80’2” ● Ava Vauheerden (P) 4th with 75’6” ● Aubrey Ake (W) 6th with 59’6”
● Lilly Earley (P) 7th with 58’4”
Shot Put
● TyShawn Shackleford (P) 1st with 30’1.5” ● Lilly Earley (P) 6th with 22’9.5”
● Annabelle Whitfield (W) 8th with 22’1”
100 meter hurdles
● Mari Johnson (P) 1st with 16.68
● Ava Tannehill (P) 3rd with 20.34
● Avery Forehand (W) 4th with 20.63 ● RJ Gerlach (P) 6th with 21.31
400 meter hurdles
● Mari Johnson (P) 2nd with 1:16
● RJ Gerlach (P) 3rd with 1:21.86
● Ava Tannehill (P) 4th with 1:24.03
100 meter dash
● Jayla Hill (P) 2nd with 13.43
● Janessa Small (W) 5th with 14.102 ● Madelyn Shoaf (P) 6th with 14.107
● Arianna Myers (W) 7th with 14.39
200 meter dash
● Jayla Hill (P) 3rd with 28.81
● Arianna Myers (W) 4th with 29.49
● Janessa Small (W) 5th with 30.00
● Ella Dimitrijerich (P) 7th with 30.41
400 meter dash
● Molly Partin (P) 1st with 1:05.57
● Claire Hatchell (P) 2nd with 1:09.97
● McKenna Peak (P) 7th with 1:17.73
● Melinda Meyer (W) 8th with 1:18.74
800 meter run
● Hannah DaCosta (P) 1st with 2:40.68
● Farrah Spring (P) 4th with 3:08.66
● Celie White (P) 6th with 3:20.22
1600 meter run
● Katie Trochessett (P) 2nd with 6:07.54
● Libby White (P) 3rd with 6:24.43
● Kate Patrick (P) 4th with 6:32.85
● Kyleigh Catrett (W) 5th with 6:51.18
3200 meter run
● Katie Trochessett(P) 2nd with 14:52.19
● Libby White (P) 3rd with 15:00.71
● Kate Patrick (P) 4th with 15:01.82
4 x 100 relay
● Madelyn Shoaf, Hailyn Levins, Joselin Hernandez, Ella Dimitrijerich (P) 2nd with 55.92 ● Arianna Myers, Janessa Small, Avery Forehand, Melinda Meyer (W) 4th with 1:00.80
4 x 400 relay
● Hannah daCosta, Jayla Hill, Claire Hatchell, Molly Partin (P) 1st with 4:41.92 ● Kyleigh Catrett, Kameron Easter, Avery Forehand, Melinda Meyer (W) 3rd with 5:10.87
4 x 800 relay
● RJ Gerlach, Hannah DaCosta, Katie Trochessett, Kate Patrick (P) 1st with 11:51.48 ● Aubrey Ake, Kyleigh Catrett, Kameron Easter, Riley Ferrell (W) 5th with 14:27.71
Boys who earned points:
High Jump
● Corbin Hysmith (W) 1st with 5’9.75”
Pole Vault
● Zah’von Turner (W) 1st with 9’4.25”
Long Jump
● Donnell Hill (P) 5th with 18’6”
Triple Jump
● Daren Angelino (P) 2nd with 38’10.25” ● William Cole (W) 7th with 33’9.5”
Discus
● Bailey Cox (W) 2nd with 124’5” ● Jace Zbikowski (W) 8th with 65’0”
Shot Put
● Bailey Cox (W) 2nd with 38’8.5” ● PJ Garrison (W) 6th with 36’6.5” ● Jace Zbikowski (W) 8th with 28’2.5”
Javelin
● Bailey Cox (W) 1st with 148’7” ● Tyran Williams (W) 2nd with 114’5”
110 meter hurdles
● PJ Garrison (W) 1st with 16.25
● Daniel Nguyen (P) 3rd with 17.83 ● Corbin Hysmith (W) 5th with 18.70
400 meter hurdles
● Daniel Nguyen (P) 1st with 1:07.71
100 meter dash
● Donnell Hill (P) 6th with 11.62
200 meter dash
● PJ Garrison (W) 8th with 26.17
400 meter dash – none
800 meter run
● William Cole (W) 7th with 2:22.34
● Nathan Lipford (P) 8th with 2:24.09
1600 meter run
● David Rich (W) 2nd with 5:01.61
● Nathan Lipford (P) 5th with 5:23.90
● Preston Beckwith (P) 6th with 5:41.67
3200 meter run
● David Rich (W) 4th with 12:42.71
● Davy Gray (W) 5th with 13.44
● Bryce Ethridge (W) 6th with 14:07.49
4 x 100 relay
● Devin Cuttino, Daren Angelino, Daniel Nguyen, Donnell Hill (P) 3rd with 45.37 ● PJ Garrison, Zah’von Turner, Tyran Williams, Bailey Cox (W) 5th with 46.99
4 x 400 relay
● Daren Angelino, Daniel Nguyen, Nathan Lipford, Donnell Hill (P) 2nd with 3:48.49 ● William Cole, David Rich, Tyran Williams, Lukas Moore (W) 3rd with 4:06.83
4 x 800 relay
● David Rich, William Cole, Davy Gray, Lukas Moore (W) 3rd with 9:58.53
As the long day ended, a tired but pleased McNair said “We’re ready to get back to work for regionals,” which will be held on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville on May 5 and 6.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.