It was a “Dog Day Afternoon,” as the St. Cloud Bulldogs swept the Orange Belt Conference track meet at Harmony Wednesday.
The boys’ team tallied 165.5 points to outdistance Gateway (138.5). Celebration (82) was third, Poinciana (80) fourth and defending boys’ champion Harmony was fifth (69.5).
The girls’ championship came down to the end as St. Cloud went into the final event, the 4x400 meter relay, with a narrow 2.5 point lead over Harmony. The Lady Dogs finished one spot behind the Longhorns in the race to win the team title, 156-154.5, for their second consecutive girls championship.
“It certainly feels great to win both titles, but it certainly did not play out the way we thought it would,” St. Cloud Coach Kevin Harkema said. “We really thought it would come down to the wire on the boys’ side with Gateway. We were more confident on the girls’ side, but the opposite happened. Give Harmony a ton of credit, they had a great meet and challenged us from start to finish.”
Junior Kyla Perez had a huge meet for the Bulldogs, winning the 400, 800, and 1,600 meter races. Other Lady Bulldogs standouts were Priscilla Rodriguez, who doubled in the 100 meter and 400 meter hurdles, and Brooke Bonesteel, who won the pole vault with a leap of 9’-5 ¼”.
Distance runner Lailana Decker dominated the 3,200 meter event for St. Cloud by more than 30 seconds over teammate Perez. She also finished second to Perez in the 1,600 by just .03 seconds.
On the boys’ side, St. Cloud won two of three relays and posted champions in the 400 meter hurdles (Denzel Hawkins), high jump (Jonathan Rodriguez) and a school-record setting performance in the pole vault by Mason Shafer (14’-6”).
But it was the overall depth of the St. Cloud roster that really made the difference, scoring multiple points in many individual events. Key examples where the 1,600 meters run, where Brody Ansbaugh, Silas Corchado, Isaiah Casiano and Luis Rivera finished second through fifth, and the 3,200 meters, where the Bulldogs placed second (Casiano), third (Jonathan Araya) and sixth (Rivera). They got 40 points in those races.
“We had some great performances in several events, including the high jump and pole vault, but we scored a lot of team points in the distance events,” Harkema said. “Those races have been strengths of our team all season.”
There were several other outstanding performances. On the boys’ side, Poinciana’s Levi Lee ran away the 1,600 meters for a third straight year (4:29.31), and also won the 800 meters (1:59.09) and 3200 meters (10:17.89). Eagle teammate Tyler Johnson won both the long (21-7) and triple jump (49-9 ¾).
Perhaps the most impressive performance may have come from Gateway’s Jose Calderon who set school records winning 100 (10.51) and 200 meters (21.78) and also won his signature event, the 400 (49.03). An all-state performer in the 400, he now holds the Gateway school record in all three events.
In field events, Celebration’s Gavin Konopka won both the shot put and discus; while Harmony’s Ivan Ramos (144”-3”) continued his county dominance in the javelin.
Next up for track is district meets. St. Cloud, Harmony, Osceola, Poinciana and Tohopekaliga will competed in the District 4A-7 meet April 18 at Viera; Celebration will be at the 4A-6 meet at George Jenkins on April 17 and Gateway and Liberty will compete in the 3A-7 meet April 19 at Lake Region.
Team Scores
Boys: St. Cloud 165.5; Gateway 138.5; Celebration 82, Poinciana 80, Harmony 69.5, Tohopekaliga 67.5, Osceola 57, Liberty 41.
Girls: St. Cloud 156, Harmony 154.5, Osceola 107, Celebration 96, Gateway 72.5, Tohopekaliga 62, Poinciana 51, Liberty 0
Individual Champions
Girls
800 meter relay: Celebration (Claire Reburn, Sophia Meadows, Carly Robbins, Evelyn Juden), 10:23.96
100 meter hurdles: Priscilla Rodriguez (SC) 15.42
100: Christ Guerrier (H) 12.47
1600: Kyla Perez (SC) 5:44.25
4x100 relay: Harmony (D'Vinity Cook, Jamya Louverture, Brianna Collins, Nicole Oliveira), 51.15
400: Kyla Perez (SC) 1:00.01
400 hurdles: Priscilla Rodriguez (1:08.34)
800: Kyla Perez (SC) 2:26.21
200: Anna Balba ( C) 25.62
3200: Lailana Decker (SC) 12:01.24
4x400 relay: Celebration (Anna Balba, Carly Robbins, Sophia Meadows. Evelyn Juden) 4:05.58
High Jump: Joy Duncan (Poinciana) 5’-5 ¾”
Pole Vault: Brooke Bonesteel (SC) 9’-6 ¼”
Long Jump: Aaliyah Strachen (O) 18’-8 ½”
Triple Jump: Cheyenne Pryce (O) 36’=5 ¾”
Discus: Sofia Delgado (T) 107’-11”
Shot Put: Sofia Delgado (T) 33’-10 ¾”
Javelin: Sophia Meadows (C) 97’-10”
Boys
800 meter Relay: St. Cloud (Brody Ansbaugh, Adon Elienist, Jayden Chofooklun, Silas Corchado), 8:31.34
110 hurdles: Christ Guerrier (Tohopekaliga) 15.22
100 meters: Jose Calderon (G) 10.51
1600: Levi Lee (P) 4:29.31
4x100 relay: Liberty (Luke Herron, Jenarr Cobb, Kelly Milein, Alverez Toussaint), 42.74
400: Jose Calderon (G) 49.03
400: Denzel Hawkins (SC) 58.03
800: Levi Lee (P) 1:59.09
200: Jose Calderon (G) 21.78
3200: Levi Lee (P) 10:17.89
4x400 relay: St. Cloud (Adon Elienist, Denzel Hawkins, Yossiel Rodriguez, Jayden Chofooklun) 3:29.74
High Jump: Jonathan Rodriguez (SC) 6’-1 1/2”
Pole Vault: Mason Shafer (SC) 14’-6”
Long Jump: Tyler Johnson (P) 21’-7”
Triple Jump: Tyler Johnson (P) 49’-9 ¾”
Discus: Gavin Konopka ( C) 136’-10”
Shot Put: Gavin Konopka (C ) 50’-2”
Javelin: Ivaniel Ramos (H) 144’-3”
