Watch CBS News

South Florida Trio Shine At Flo Golden South Track Invitational

Sharon BlockSFHSSports: Twitter | Facebook

If Saturday's 40th Flo Golden South Classic Invitational is any indication, the future of track and field looks bright with freshmen Tyrese Cooper and Jan'Taijah Ford and junior Damion Thomas.

The South Florida trio managed to outshine a field of 750 athletes from throughout the southeast United States and Caribbean at the National Training Center in Clermont.

Cooper of Hialeah American, competing for Miami Gardens Xpress, won his best two individual events and anchored the record-breaking 1,600-meter relay.

Cooper, a freshman national record holder, who ran a wind-legal 20.46 at the FSU Seminole Invitational, won the 200-meter dash in 20.86.

Cooper also won the 400-meters in 46.46, just off his national record.

Fifteen minutes after the 200, Cooper anchored the Miami Gardens Xpress relay that broke the meet record in 3:09.19. Cooper moved up from second place after the handoff with a 45.84 anchor split.

Thomas, a junior at Northeast ranked No. 1 in the nation this year in the 110-meter high hurdles, remained unbeaten this season with a win in his signature event and defended his title in 13.85 against a headwind. The victory made the Trinity Elite Track Club hurdler the favorite for the upcoming Jamaican Trials.

In the girls' 400 prelims, Ford, also from Northeast and Trinity Elite, was top qualifier in 54.57 and went on to win in a personal-best 53.77. Ford's teammate Daneisha Woodside, a sophomore, was third in 54.85. Junior Casly Israel of Trinity Elite was third in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.43.

Cooper, Ford and Thomas were among eight athletes to qualify for the June 18th Brooks PR Invitational at Renton Memorial Stadium in Seattle.

Thomas, a two-time state high school champion, will not defend his Brooks PR Invitational title, opting instead to compete in the June 18-20 Jamaican Trials in Kingston in hopes of qualifying for the July 19-24 IAAF Under-20 World Championships in Poland.

Thomas, competing for Jamaica, won the Under-18 110-meter hurdles title in 13.30 at the March 26-28 CARIFTA Games in Grenada.

"I wanted to defend my Golden South title and fine tune for the Trials," Thomas said. "This was my last meet before Trials. I had competition for the first two or three hurdles. I hit the first hurdle, I crushed it. I just stayed focused. Being undefeated everyone is trying to come at me," Thomas said. "I am just going to keep training and stay focused on staying clean over the hurdles and maintaining my speed. I am pretty happy with my season. Hopefully, the best is yet to come."

In the 400-meter hurdles classic final, Plantation American Heritage senior McKinly Brown of Teon Elite Track won in 53.63.

Among other top local finishers:

Tony Bridges of Pine Crest and Broward Elite was second in the triple jump classic division with a jump of 46 feet, 4 ¼ inches and fourth in the long jump prep division at 21 ½.

Miami Pace senior Alvin McCray, competing unattached, won the long jump prep title with a 21-7 jump and triple jump in 45-1 ½.

GIRLS CLASSIC & PREP RESULTS

Long jump classic: 1. Sophia Falco, Florida Alps 20-5, 2. Devin D'Olivera, Track-Block 19-0, 3. Kala Penn, Fast Lane 18-11.

Triple jump classic: 1. Kala Penn, Fast Lane 39-9, 2. Jada Johnson, Renegade 38-8 ½, 3. Daneesha Davidson, Trackstar 38-5.

Shot put classic: 1. Antonia Thomas, Florida High 39-4, 2. Daija Kiser, Unattached 38-10, 3. Daniella Ficka, Unattached 37-9 ½.

High jump classic: 1. Emily Gauvery, Unattached 5-8, 2. Lisa Laflamme, Unattached 5-8, 3. Jordan Fields, St. John's 5-6.

Pole Vault classic: 1. Carson Dingler, Unattached 13-1 ½, 2. Haidyn Turner, Thin Air 12-0, 3. Nicole Breske, Unattached 12-0.

100-meter hurdles classic: 1. Faith Lee, Fast Lane 14.42, 2. Tejyrica, North Florida 14.49, 3. Kristine Askervold, Florida Alps 14.63.

100-meter classic: 1. Amaru Patterson, Unattached 11.75, 2. Jayla Kirkland, Unattached 11.75, 3. KaTia Seymour, Florida Alps 11.80.

Mile classic: 1. Ashton Endsley, Unattached 4:54.39, 2. Gabrielle Jennings, Unattached 4:58.39, 3. Valerie Lastra, Miami Elite 5:05.96.

400-meter relay classic: 1. Florida Alps 45.12, 2. Pure Athletics 45.69, 3. Sprint Tech 45.78.

400-meter classic: 1. Jan'Taijah Ford, Trinity Elite 53.77, 2. Janae Caldwell, Florida Alps 54.56, 3. Daneisha Woodside, Trinity Elite 54.85.

400-meter hurdles classic: 1. Lakeisha Warner, Sprint Tech 59.79, 2. Daneesha Davidson, Trackstar 1:04.27, 3. Casly Israe, Trinity Elite 1:05.43.

3,200-meter classic: 1. Amanda Beach, Unattached 11:10.11, meet record, 2. Beatriz Ruan, Unattached 11:44.42, 3. Cristal Gomez, Frostproof 12:08.45.

800-meter classic: 1. Mackenzie Ellison, Brookwood 2:12.81, 2. Ken'Naria Gadson, Track Star 2:12.93, 3. Jatana Folston, EOTO Elite 2:13.84.

200-meter classic: 1. Amaru Patterson, Unattached 23.98, 2. Karimah Davis, Fast Lane 24.18, 3. Taria Moses, Sprint Tech 24.27.

1,600-meter relay classic: 1. Sprint Tech 3:41.36, 2. Track Star 3:45.16, 3. Fast Lane 3:50.53.

Long jump prep: 1. Karimah Davis, Fast Lane 17-6, 2. Sherri Ann Norton, OverTake Track 17-5, 3. Tracy-Ann Powell, Boynton Beach 17-3.

Triple jump prep: 1. Nazah Reddick, Raines 35-3 ½, 2. Kailiece Harris, Track Star 34-5, 3. Shacarra Worthy, St. Thomas Aquinas 34-3.

Shot put prep: 1. Rhianne Green, Take Flight 30-1, 2. Kaitlyn Kirby, East Lake 27-8, 3. Amanda Durakovic, George M. 27-5.

High jump prep: 1. Caroline Johnston, Jacksonville 5-2, 2. Natay Williams, Plantation 5-0, 3. Allie Hodorski, Unattached 4-10.

Pole vault prep: 1. Kai Eisenhardt, Unattached 10-0, 2. Alexandra Chlumsky, Unattached 10-0, 3. Raegan Granville, Thin Air 10-0.

100-meter hurdles prep: 1. Gabriella Carter, Miramar 16.30, 2. Carolina Minozzi, St. John's 16.96, 3. Janiyah Dixon, Fast Lane 17.64.

100-meter prep: 1. Terriana Smith, Take Flight 12.48, 2. Maiya Taylor, Unattached 12.51, 3. Hannah Lueders, IMG 12.55.

Mile prep: 1. Chelsey Oliver, Unattached 5:24.79, 2. Cristal Gomez, Frostproof 5:26.81, 3. Clare Pinter, Pearl 5:28.05.

400-meter prep: 1. Jordynn Tyndall, PPG Elite 57.67, 2. Anna Tovkach, PPG Elite 57.85, 3. Kharisma Ochoa, Teon Elite 58.82.

300-meter hurdles prep: 1. Amaya Kier, 727 Youth 47.89, 2. Kailiece Harris, Track Star 49.08, 3. Janiyah Dixon, Fast Lane 49.71.

800-meter prep: 1. Hannah Jones, Fast Twitch 2:23.42, 2. Chelsey Oliver, Unattached 2:27.37, 3. Nikyia Wooten, Plantation 2:28.45.

200-meter prep: 1. Alicia Thomas, IG 25.07, 2. Dianisty Bolden, 727 Youth 25.15, 3. Chloe Ways, Unattached 25.25.

Mixed 3,200 prep: 1. Noah Quintana, Break Away 9:56.58, 2. Terrance Sessoms, Unattached 10:10.07, 3. Nehemiah Rivers II, Unattached 10:39.02.

BOYS CLASSIC & PREP RESULTS

Long jump classic: 1. Frederick Brown, Santa Fe 22-11 ½, 2. Reed Service, Unattached 22-7 ½, 3. Kevon Hudson, Prince Avenue 22-5.

Triple jump classic: 1. Raekwon Archer, North Florida 47-9 ¾, 2. Tony Bridges, Broward Elite 46-4 ¼, 3. Calvin Scott, Lake Nona 45-6 ½.

Shot put classic: 1. Khameron Taylor, Santa Fe 53-2, 2. JP Caglione, Unattached 53-1 ½, 3. Terrence Bobet, Thin Air 50-11.

High jump classic: 1. Alvin McCray, Unattached 6-6, 2. Andre Foster, South Dade 6-6, 3. Willie Rodgers, Unattached 6-6.

Pole vault classic: 1. Cole Colozzo, Unattached 16-0, 2. Seth Musselman, Unattached 15-0, 3. Noah Mumme, Unattached 14-6.

110-meter hurdles classic: 1. Damion Thomas, Trinity Elite 13.85, 2. Brent Carroll, Unattached 14.19, 3. Braxton Canady, Paxon 14.31.

100-meter classic: 1. Daniel Estrada, Unattached 10.55, 2. Shaun Shivers, EOTO Elite 10.75, 3. Steven Simmons, EOTO Elite 10.80.

Mile classic: 1. Jake Shewbert, Unattached 4:12.19, 2. Luke Peterson, Unattached 4:17.51, 3. Matthew McClellan, Unattached 4:17.69.

400-meter relay classic: 1. EOTO Elite A 40.85, 2. EOTO Elite B 41.48, 3. Raines 41.58.

400-meter classic: 1. Tyrese Cooper, Miami Gardens Xpress 46.46, 2. Brandon Cachon, EOTO Elite, 46.99, 3. Tiondre Toomer, Teon Elite 47.96.

400-meter hurdles classic: 1. McKinly Brown, Teon Elite 53.63, 2. Brent Carroll, Unattached 54.36, 3. Austin Campbell, Avery Creek 56.51.

800-meter classic: 1. Daniel Nixon, Unattached 1:51.64, 2. Yohance Haynes, Miami Gardens Xpress 1:52.80, 3. Noah Shore, Asheville 1:53.24.

200-meter classic: 1. Tyrese Cooper, Miami Gardens Xpress 20.86, 2. Tariq Evans, EOTO Elite 21.68, 3. Donald McClinton, Unattached 21.82.

3,200-meter classic: 1. Hunter Jarvis, Thomas Sumte 9:36.29, 2. Dominic Williams, Unattached 9:55.17, 3. Antonio Gomez, Frostproof 9:55.28.

1,600-meter relay classic: 1. Miami Gardens Xpress 3:09.19, meet record, 2. EOTO Elite 3:10.99, 3. North Florida 3:19.75.

Long jump prep: 1. Alvin McCray, Unattached 21-7, 2. Ofordili Ntukogu, Impact Speed 21-2, 3. Steve Fossi-Noue, Unattached 21-1 ½.

Triple jump prep: 1. Alvin McCray, Unattached 45-1 ½, 2. Jordan Chatman, GHS 42-1 ½, 3. Oneil Williams, Fast Lane 41-10 ¼.

Shot put prep: 1. Rodarian Franklin, Pearl 42-8 ½, 2. Kevin Vanderpool, Top Notch 39-11, 3. Kyle Martin, Jacksonville 36-5.

High jump prep: 1. Malachi Shannon, Florida Flight 5-8, 2. Chris Johnson, Unattached 5-6, 3. Jacob Bias, Jacksonville 5-6.

Pole vault prep: 1. Davis Ott, George Jenkins 14-0, 2. Thomas Flament, Unattached 13-6, 3. Quinton Portier, Unattached 13-6.

100-meter hurdles prep: 1. Adrian Winfrey, South Dade 15.42, 2. Skyler Lester, Marietta 15.64, 3. Stacey Baxter, PPG Elite 15.67.

100-meter prep: 1. Jeremiah Hall, Pearl 11.30, 2. Christopher McEnery, Fast Lane 11.31, 3. Treyvon Williams, Florida Alps 11.32.

Mile prep: 1. Shawn Olmstead, Unattached 4:31.02, 2. Antonio Gomez, Frostproof 4:32.96, 3. Omari Miller, Miami Gardens Xpress 4:38.22.

400-meter prep: 1. Dawun Hylton, Miami Gardens Xpress 48.32, 2. James Cook, Miami Gardens Xpress 48.95, 3. Christopher McEnery, Fast Lane 49.49.

300-meter hurdles prep: 1. Brandon Felix, Track Block 39.57, 2. Daniel Mejia, Unattached 40.73, 3. Caleb Minus, Unattached 41.40.

800-meter prep: 1. Terry Young, Asheville 1:58.77, 2. Patrick Dougherty, IMG 1:58.79, 3. Andre Rampergas, Unattached 2:01.26.

200-meter prep: 1. Larry Grier, Raines 22.20, 2. Anthony Brooks, World Class 22.30, 3. Christopher McEnery, Fast Lane 22.32.

Mixed 3,200 prep: 1. Noah Quintana, Break Away 9:56.58, 2. Terrance Sessoms, Unattached 10:10.07, 3. Nehemiah Rivers III, Unattached 10:39.02.

Home Button Long

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.