Runners from all over Marion County traveled north to Gainesville last weekend to compete indoors at the Florida / Georgia Challenge held at the Alachua County Event Center at Celebration Pointe.
The action began on Saturday with Certain Williams of Ocala Track and Field Elite running the 600 m in a time of 1:25.20 to place 6th in the event.
Next up from North Central Florida Lightning was Ariana Damon who placed 2nd in the girls 60m Dash with a time of 10.12.
Following the short sprints, a group of runners from the Ocala Distance Project dominated the mile. First up was 8th grader Alex Lammens who ran 5:09.45 in an all high school race to qualify for both Nike and New Balance Indoor National Championships. Following Alex was Jacob McGovern who placed 2nd in the boy’s 13-year-old mile with a 5:49.34.
Next up were the youth girl milers. To start things off, 7th graders, Rachel Chiles and Natalie Lammens ran 5:59.14 and 6:08.89 to place 4th and 5th in their age groups. Following this was Brooklyn Risner who placed 2nd in the 12-year-old age group. Rylee Mcgovern broke the facility record for 10-year-olds with her 6:39. 71 and was followed by teammate Sadie Graham who placed 2nd in 8:59.59. To close out the mile races, we saw Reese McGovern break the facility record for 9-year-olds with her 6:28.66.
Next up from North Central Florida Lightning was Daniella Wray who placed 3rd in the 10-year-old girl’s 400m with a time of 1:14.91.
In the boys 14-year-old 400m we saw Ocala Track and Field Elite’s Koi Davis run 56.29 for 2nd, while Ocala Distance Project’s Jacob Rogers runs 57.42 for 3rd.
Sunday’s competition saw the 8th grader from the Ocala Distance Project, Collin Moore, run a 9:52.19 3k to place 11th against high school competition. His time currently ranks him #1 in Florida for middle school athletes.
Next up were the boys and girls 800m. In the high school 800 we saw Isaiah Rios from Ocala Track and Field Elite run 2:07.34 and Zade Hamed from the Ocala Distance Project run 2:29.37. In the 14-year-old race, we saw Jacob Rogers of the Ocala Distance Project win in a facility record time of 2:09.73. Placing 2nd from Ocala Track and Field Elite was Koi Davis in a time of 2:15.35. Finishing up the day for Ocala athletes was Daniella Wray from North Central Florida Lightning who placed 3rd in the 10-year-old 800 in a time of 3:02.23.
Full results can be found at www.halfmiletiming.com
Runners will have the opportunity to compete one more time indoors in Florida next weekend at the Florida Indoor Championships in Gainesville.
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