For Bok Academy North runners, hard work and training pays off
Gavonnah Williams remembers it like it was yesterday.
His Bok Academy North 4x100-meter team — a first-time track program — was in position to outdo the entire county of 14 teams and qualify for the state meet at Davenport High School.
In the first leg, seventh-grader Hannah Dallas was in third place before handing the baton to eighth-grader Nayelie St. Fleur, who raced to first place. Then, on the third leg, seventh-grader Imaria Peterson kept the lead before passing the baton to seventh-grader Leilani Levertson, who was neck-and-neck with a Bartow runner.
Levertson barely won, though, crossing the finish line for first place. The Polk County school eclipsed a county middle school record that day, finishing with a time of 55.12 seconds — the previous record was 55.28.
More importantly, Bok won a county title in its first year as a track program. Levertson also broke the school 400-meter record.
“It was shocking because, to be honest, nobody knew who won, so the whole track meet stalled for about 15 minutes," said Williams, the Bok head track coach, who also works as an assistant football coach at Lake Wales. "And when the time finally appeared on the scoreboard, we realized we won."
When the win was official, the team and their fans erupted in a frenzy.
“To help my team win the (Polk) championship was a very good feeling,” St. Fleur said. “I feel like all the time and effort we put towards training paid off.”
Training continued as normal, and a few weeks later at the Florida Middle School Track and Field Championships at IMG Academy, Bok Academy placed fourth, first in its heat.
“When it comes down to all the hard work and the dedication they put in, each athlete has their own special talent," Williams said. "And based on how they put in the work from the beginning of the season until the end, I know they’ll be able to compete at the next level.
"All these athletes we have, have the potential to compete at the next level. From there, we’ll eventually receive Division I scholarships, God willing. Based on all the hard work they put in, blood sweat and tears, everything has built up.”
Early mishaps make team stronger
In the first meet of the season on April 10, Bok ran in a meet at Lakeland. While Bok ultimately finished first, the switching of the baton from the second leg to the third didn’t go quite as smoothly.
Bok essentially went back to the drawing board and realized handoff exchanges needed to be bolstered. In the following weeks, the school focused on measurements, marks and exchange zones.
“We can win the whole championship,” Williams said. "We just (need to) get the baton round (and) everybody focus on their job. Everybody has one job. That one job is to get the baton around.”
“Once we started practicing handoff techniques, I felt more comfortable with receiving and handing off the baton,” St. Fleur said. “I didn’t have to worry too much on dropping it because at practice, we learned to trust our teammates.”
St. Fleur will take her running ability to Lake Wales High in the fall. Meanwhile, Justice Alston, Peterson, Levertson and Dallas will return to Bok next year.
Additionally, Williams is in the process of continuing to organize and coach in the Elite Speed Geeks, which is a part of a middle school AAU summer program. All Bok 4x100 state qualifiers will compete in this program over the summer.
A little extra work is all it takes to pursue track dreams, Williams said.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: For Bok Academy North runners, hard work and training produces results
