I’m pretty sure that if we had a more complete record of ancient Egyptian history, we’d know that not only did the construction of the Great Pyramid run over budget and behind schedule, but also that the contract didn’t even get started on time. In our own era, that’s certainly been the case with renovation of the University of Florida’s O’Connell Center. That project means the death of the O-Dome’s indoor track--and as goes the track, so goes the Jimmy Carnes Invitational. The story was that construction would start last spring, meaning that the 2015 Invitational would be the last.

Well, we’re in 2016, and the demolition just hasn’t happened. Complain all you want about government contracts, but one happy consequence of this delay was that there could be one more Carnes Invitational on Saturday, 6 February 2016. Inefficiency isn’t always a bad thing.

Happily, the meet started with the mile run. Actually, the first four events were all the mile run. The fastest of these was the fourth, the boys 17-19 mile.

Shorecrest Prep senior Luke Peterson took off quickly, hitting the first 400 meters in 62 seconds. No one else in the field was interested in running quite that fast, and allowed Peterson a large lead. Peterson's own enthusiasm for the early pace waned during the next two laps, and he hit the 800 in 2:08. By then, though, he had been overtaken by Charlotte High senior Marshall Dillon. The last half of the race looked like a time trial for Dillon; unchallenged, he opened up a huge gap on the field on his way to the finish line. His winning time was 4:21.41. Benjamin Gilman moved up late in the race to place second in 4:27.83.

"I wanted to go out in 2:07, 2:08," said Dillon. Apparently, that went according to script. What about this spring?

"I've got big plans this season," said Dillon. "There's a lot of competition in 3A that I want to be ready for, Steven Cross and guys like that. I'm going to take a couple of weeks off to train and then race the 3200 at Louie Bing."

 

So the 3200 is his event? Or the mile?

"Oh, no, I'm more of an 800 guy."

800 guy or not, at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational Marshall Dillon looked like a miler.

Julie Johnson, a first-year student at Florida College, also looked like a miler. Kayla Easterly was the early leader in the first section of the 17-19 girls' mile, enjoying a big lead at the 400 mark. But by the 800, Johnson had caught up with Easterly. Following closely, Johnson challenged Easterly again and again, then made a big move with 400 to go. By the time Easterly began her own kick, Johnson had the race in hand, going on to win in 5:21.81. Easterly took second in 5:24.14.

"I didn't even want to lead during the first half of the race," said Johnson. "My PR was 5:27, so I wanted anything under that, and as close to 5:20 as possible."

For now, Johnson is happy with 5:21.81. Later, she'll be looking at 5:20 again.

North Broward Prep sophomore Katie Pinell edged Jacquelyn Abanses 5:22.37 to 5:23.81 to take first in the girls 15-16 mile run.

"I felt relaxed and good the whole way," said Pinnell. "I just followed the leader and then went for it at the end. It was four seconds faster than I ran here last year, so I'm happy with where I am."

Pinnell's race was close, but Jacksonville Bolles frosh Chase Rivera had an even narrower win in the boys 15-16 mile, running 4:32.94 to Charles Hicks' 4:33.16.

The O'Connell Center track has very short straightaways, so that each 200 meter lap is almost all turns. The turns are also tighter than those on a 400m outdoor track. This isn't a design you'd expect sprinters to be happy with. Jan'Taijah Ford shrugged it off, though.

"I raced here last year so I'm used to it now," explained Ford, a frosh at Northeast High.

With that positive attitude, Ford won the girls 15-16 200-meter dash, posting a 25.07.

Tyrese Cooper was likewise undaunted by the track's dimensions, winning the boys 15-16 200-meters in 22.25.

 

Khalifa St. Fort, a Trinidad and Tobago athlete competing for Born2DoIt TC, also thrived on the turns, posting a 24.99 victory in the girls 17-19 200 meters.

"This meet is a stepping stone to outdoor season for us," explained St. Fort. "We just want to see where we are right now."

And where is that?

"A pretty good place, I think!"

In the boys 17-19 200, Jeffery Hulon was also in a good place--first place. Coming out of the second section of the race, the St. Lukes Lutheran junior blazed a 22.23 for the victory.

In the girls 15-16 800, Emoni Coleman took the field through the first 200 in 32. After the pace lagged to a 69 for the 400, Katie Pinnell took over. Coleman stayed with her.

"I just tried to pace myself and stay with the leader," said Coleman.

The race was all Pinnell and Coleman until 100 meters to go, when it was Coleman and Pinnell. Coleman retook the lead on the backstretch, then thundered home to win in 2:19.12. Pinnell was second in 2:20.72.

"By the end of the summer I would like to go 2:10 or under," said Coleman. "I think I can do it."

In the more immediate future, Coleman was planning on coming back later in the meet to race the 400 meters. After a win in the mile and a runner-up finish in the 800, Pinnell was also scheduled to return in the 400.

The boys 15-16 800 was even closer than the girls' race had been. Jamir Ferguson eked out the narrowest of victories over Ignacio Veloz, 2:05.17 to 2:05.21. Hairbreadth? The word was made for races like this one.

Not so much the girls 17-19 800. After the field went through the 400 in 70 seconds, Gainesville Eastside sophomore Anna Tovkach took over. A lap later she had a commanding and growing lead.

"Once I got to the front I knew I had to go," said Tovkach. "I didn't know where everyone was so I had to keep pushing myself."

Way behind Tovkach is where everyone was, and they were still there when she crossed the finish line in a winning 2:23.66.

"That was a PR," said Tovkach. "Last year my best was 2:25."

Kayla Easterly, earlier the runner-up in the girls 17-19 mile, came back to collect another second place in the 800. Running in the second section, Easterly posted a 2:31.17 to place second to Tovkach.

Leading the boys 17-19 800, Yohance Haynes set a stiff pace for the field for the first 400. After that, though, Justin Pacifico went for it, making an authoritative move and grabbing the lead.

"I knew that was the time to go," said Pacifico.

Haynes wasn't going away though. During the final 200 he began to eat into Pacifico's lead, inching closer and closer.

"I wasn't aware of him at all," said Pacifico. "But I heard the public address announcer say he was coming. So I tried to go, to pick up my knees."

In spite of Pacifico's efforts, Haynes continued to narrow the gap. But at the finish line Pacifico was still ahead, running 1:54.99 to Haynes' . It was a new meet record, and the tenth-ranked time in the country. Pacifico will be taking that mark to New Balance Nationals, two weeks after the Jimmy Carnes Invitational.

After picking up a title in the 200, Jan'Taijah Ford was back to collect another win in the girls 15-16 400, running 56.70. It's quite a different race from the 200, but Ford prefers it.

"Every time I run the 400 I feel like I'm getting better," explained Ford.

Two races at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational was enough for the double champion, who races next at the Louie Bing Invitational. Three, though, was the limit for Katie Pinnell. Pinnell ran a 60.58 in the fourth section of the girls 15-16 400 to place fifth in the race behind Ford, Kasia Cooper (57.94), 800-meter champ Emoni Coleman (58.68), and Morgan Rhett (59.68). After that Pinnell started on the long drive home before someone could enter her in the pole vault or shot put.

Like Ford, Tyrese Cooper had a successful 200 - 400 double. Returning in the boys 15-16 400, Cooper sped to a 49.03 win, with Trevor Solomon Wilson taking a distant second in 51.19.

"I don't like indoors," declared Chyna-Joi Staton.

Staton likes winning, though, and she handily won the girls 17-19 400 with a 57.98. Maiah Walker ran 58.86 in the fourth section to place second. Staton's time was her indoor PR, but then again, she has only run about three indoor meets. Remember, she doesn't like indoors.

"Outdoors I go 55.76," said Staton.

The senior will be getting back outdoors with her Boyd Anderson team at a tri-meet on 17 February 2016, followed by the Louie Bing Invitational.

Outdoors, the 400 meter dash is run in lanes. Not so the indoor 400 at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational. The first 200 meter lap is run in lanes, but after that the runners break for the poles. With the track's tight turns, it makes it hard to pass on the final lap.

"Very hard," agreed Jariq Charles.

Yet when the runners broke at the end of the first lap of the boys 17-19 400, Charles found himself running second behind Shammond Williams.

"I'm thinking, I need to try hard," said Charles. "Swing my arms. Don't give up."

Charles didn't give up. On the short home stretch, he inched by Evans 51.10 to 51.13.

But the race was run in sections, and McKinly Brown--a senior at Durham, North Carolina's Hillside High, ran 50.29 in the second section, winning the event. Coming out of the fourth section, Stanley Smith, Jr., was second in the final standings at 50.63. Duran Bell was fourth with a 50.79 from the second section.

Nearly all the running events were run in sections with places determined by time. The sole exception was the 55 meter dash. Instead of sections, there were multiple semifinal heats of the short sprint, with runners advancing to a championship final. That final combined the fastest athletes in both the 15-16 and 17-19 divisions.

The girls championship went to Pasco High senior Alfreda Steele, Florida’s defending class 3A state champ in both the 100-meter dash and the long jump. The future Miami Hurricane blazed a 6.90 on the O’Connell Center Track, just ahead of Khalifa St. Fort’s 6.92.

“The 55 helps me work on driving,” said Steele. “It’s not like the 100. You don’t have time to recover from a mistake.”

Seneca Milledge took the boys’ championship 55-meter race. Representing the Olympia Track Club, Milledge ran 6.41, just ahead of runner-up Jeffery Hulon’s 6.43.

By the time the meet wrapped up the weather outside had degenerated into a cold rain. It wasn’t one of those days up north where you cancel practice because no one wants to shovel snow off the track, but it was enough to remind you how cozy it was in the O’Connell Center. Next year at this time we’ll be out in the rain--unless there are further delays and the Jimmy Carnes Invitational survives another year. I don’t know about you, but I’m rooting for red tape.

 

 

Northwest Florida Correspondent Herb Wills

Herb Wills' running career goes back to the 1971 boys' age-group mile at the Florida Relays. Since losing that race he has won the 1976 Florida High School class 4A cross-country championship, 1979 AAU USA junior titles in cross-country and the 10,000 meters, and the 1989 TAC USA 30K national championship. As a distance runner at Florida State University from 1978 to 1982, he was NCAA All-American three times in track and once in cross country, and won a silver medal in the marathon at the 1981 World University Games. Graduating Florida State with a degree in mathematics, in the following years Wills ran in the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in 1984, 1988, and 1992, and placed tenth in the Boston Marathon in 1989. After more than a few years of duty as a hurdle setter and lane judge at track meets, Wills discovered that the public address announcer not only got to sit down at meets but was also sheltered from the rain. Since that revelation you can hear him with a microphone in his hand at several track and cross-country events in the Tallahassee area. Writing is another activity you can do while sitting down, and Wills has written about running for Racing South magazine and Tallahassee's local newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat.

 

You can read more running related tidbits in his blog at http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/

 

 

Herb Wills NorthWest Florida Reports   2016 ARTICLES/ 2015 ARTICLES / 2014 ARTICLES