‘Tiny’ terrific again at state

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‘Tiny’ terrific again at state

Sports

Wednesday, 11 May 2011 13:22

News-Gazette Photo/Andrew Sullivan

Tynia “Tiny” Gaither polished off the greatest high school track career in Osceola County history Saturday by winning 100- and 200-meters sprint championships at the Class 4A state meet at Winter Park.

Six career championships most ever in Osceola County

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
Don’t talk smack to Tynia Gaither.
If you do, you’ll be watching her heels at the state track meet.
Gaither became Osceola County’s greatest high school track athlete Saturday at the Class 4A meet at Showalter Field by winning the 100 meters (11.41, a personal record) and 200 meters (23.75) championships. That brought her state championship medal total to six over her four-year varsity career.

Her collection includes three successive 100 meters titles, two straight at 200 meters and a 4 x 100 relay crown in 2009. She was the runner up at 200 meters in 2009.
She surpassed former Osceola High discus and shot put champion Brett Williams, who won five state titles from 1996-98.
Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson junior Shayla Sanderson, knowing Gaither was injured before the state meet, spoke of dethroning Gaither as the 100- and 200-meters champion last week.
Big mistake.
“Yeah, there were some people who were doubting me, but I had my group of fans who believed in me,” Gaither said.
Gaither, who signed with Georgia in February, required deep tissue massages and chiropractic adjustment last week to overcome leg muscle injuries, but after she ran 11.51 in the 100 meters preliminary Saturday, Coach Eric Pinellas sensed that Gaither would collect more state championships.
“When she ran the 11.51, I was like, ‘Whoa! I hope she didn’t shoot it all right there.’ But, she ran pretty well in the relay and 200 prelims, so I thought it was OK,” he said.
Gaither’s 11.41 in the 100 is the second-fastest prep time in the nation, behind only Lake Wales’ Octavious Freeman, who clocked 11.29 earlier this season. Gaither missed the Class 4A state record by .01 seconds. She said she could have gone faster.
“I don’t know what was going on with me after the first 20 meters, I kind of let up or something. That’s when (Sanderson, second at 11.45) got in front of me,” Gaither said. “I knew I had a lot left.”
Gaither won the 200 meters by a half-second over Sanderson, but she fell well shy of her personal record (23.17).
“I wanted the record, but there was something crazy going on with the wind. It was like a negative 3.3 miles per hour,” she said.
The only disappointment for Gaither came when the 4 x 100 relay (with Atarah Clark, Jodiann Crooks and Jameshia Gant) set a school record (46.12) but finished second to Boyd Anderson (46.03).
“We could have run 45,” Pinellas said. “That one hurt a little, we wanted it bad.”
Gaither got the baton for the anchor leg in fourth place. It was a similar situation to where Gaither was during her sophomore year, when she had to make up a huge deficit to give OHS the 4 x 100 championship. This time, though, there was too much ground to make up.
“We were too far behind,” she said. “If I had a couple more meters, I could have done it. This team is a lot faster than (the state championship squad, which ran just over 47 seconds). I don’t know how we’re not the champions.”
Osceola’s relay time is No. 5 in the nation, Pinellas said.
“It’s hard to be real disappointed about a 46.1,” Pinellas said. “Last year, almost any year, that wins the state championship. All our girls ran well, they all did PRs or came close.”
Clark placed in both the 100 (6th, 11.93) and 200 (5th, 24.97) sprints for Osceola.
Gant set a personal record by finishing fifth (14.55) in the 100 meters hurdles as Osceola finished third overall with 39 points. South Florida powerhouse Miami Northwestern (109) ran away with the team championship, scoring 69 points in the field events. Boyd Anderson (44) was second.
Senior Defario Phillips finished eighth (10.98) in the 100 for the OHS boys.
Gaither already is training for upcoming national meets.
She’s been invited to the Adidas Grand Prix in New York June 11 to participate in the “Dream 100” which brings together the nation’s nine fastest high school runners. Freeman and Sanderson will be there.
Gaither was invited to the Great Southwest Classic in New Mexico June 4, but will pass. She will miss the Golden South Classic in Orlando because the date conflicts with OHS graduation. She may run at the Junior Pan Am meet in Miramar, where she will compete for the Bahamas.