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First Coast Varsity Weekly: Creekside's Christian Miller zooms to No. 1 in United States

clayton freeman, florida times-union
·7 min read
Creekside's Christian Miller, the state champion in 2022, set the fastest high school 200-meter dash time in the nation this week.
Creekside's Christian Miller, the state champion in 2022, set the fastest high school 200-meter dash time in the nation this week.

Watch out, Florida.

Christian Miller needed just one race to stamp his name among the state's premier sprinters.

Turning on the accelerator around the blue Hodges Stadium track that will later hold the Florida High School Athletic Association championships in May, the Creekside junior rocketed to the top of the national rankings in the boys 200-meter dash.

Miller's 20.78 not only broke his own school record but ranks nearly half a second faster than the nation's second-fastest high school time in 2023, the 21.12 of Cayden Broadnax of Sienna (Texas) Ridge Point. Miller hadn't even run a competitive race previously this season.

The Class 4A champion in the 200 last year, Miller also sliced his 100 time to 10.42, 11th in the national MileSplit list.

As Miller's performance shows, school records are an endangered species at the start of March in Northeast Florida:

Christ's Church seventh-grader Tyson Manley leads the pack during the middle school 1,600-meter run at the Bolles Bulldog Classic. Manley ranks second in the nation at the distance for the 2028 class.
Christ's Church seventh-grader Tyson Manley leads the pack during the middle school 1,600-meter run at the Bolles Bulldog Classic. Manley ranks second in the nation at the distance for the 2028 class.

  • Fleming Island set school records in the boys (10:35.11) and girls (13:02.89) distance medley relays, junior Graham Myers set a school mark with his 9:12 in the boys 3,200 at the Bolles Bulldog Classic and freshman Mikayla Shavers leaped 37 feet, 3 3/4 inches to win the girls triple jump at the River City Relays.

  • At the Bolles Bulldog Classic, the hosts picked up a pair of school records on their way to the team titles. Presley Wolfe broke the Bulldogs' girls triple jump record with a distance of 38 feet, 6 1/4 inches, and Zee Curtis hurled the discus 138 feet, 3 inches to set Bolles' girls record.

  • Also at the Bolles Bulldog Classic, Bishop Kenny athletes took down two school girls marks. Ka'Myya Haywood ran 2:10.98 in the 800 meters, surpassing Mason Cathey's Crusaders record from 23 years ago, and Gabrielle Johnson leaped 18 feet, 8 1/2 inches in the long jump.

  • Middleburg sophomore Madison Underwood set a Broncos record of 125 feet, 9 inches in the girls discus at the Bolles Bulldog Classic.

  • Sandalwood placed first on home turf at the Donell Butler Relays. Kaleb Tankard led the Saints, winning the boys 100 and 200 and placing second in the long jump.

  • At the Craig Speziale Invitational, Ponte Vedra's Nathan Lebowitz won the boys discus at 166 feet, 5 inches, the state's second-best mark for 2023.

  • Down U.S. Highway 301 at the Buffalo Invitational at The Villages, Mandarin used sprint speed to clinch both boys and girls titles. Kyla Skinner won the girls 100, 200 and 400, while Jaylin Lewis, Kieren Jackson and Stephen DeGregorio combined for 1-2-3 finishes in the boys 100 and 200.

  • Christ's Church seventh-grader Tyson Manley again showed why he's one to watch for years to come. He won the Bolles Bulldog Classic's middle school 1,600 in 4:44.13, the second-fastest middle school time in the nation this year.

The coming week is a relatively quiet one on the Northeast Florida track calendar leading up to the Bob Hayes Invitational Track Meet on March 18 in the meet's first-ever edition at the University of North Florida.

Bori, Ivey team up in FACA match

Bartram Trail midfielder Grace Ivey (2) dribbles upfield against Creekside in the FHSAA Region 1-7A high school girls soccer final.
Bartram Trail midfielder Grace Ivey (2) dribbles upfield against Creekside in the FHSAA Region 1-7A high school girls soccer final.

Three-time champions of the Sunshine State, Bartram Trail teammates Olivia Bori and Grace Ivey get another chance to line up together in high school soccer.

The Bears' pair are among nine Jacksonville-area players selected to the Florida Athletic Coaches Association's All-Star Classic, planned for Friday through Saturday at Mulberry High School in Polk County.

Bori, signed with Florida Atlantic, and Ivey, signed with Texas A&M, starred in the Bears' ride to the FHSAA Class 7A championship.

St. Johns Country Day has two statewide honorees in midfielders Lauryn Mateo and Avery Raimondo, both starters on the Spartans' Class 2A finalists.

Also heading to the FACA All-Star event will be Atlantic Coast goalkeeper Elisabeth Lewis, Bolles forward Annalise Cannada, Creekside goalkeeper Amaya Logan, Fletcher midfielder Brianna Campos and Mandarin forward Adrienne Trerotola.

Sharks to chomp together Saturday

Ponte Vedra's Nathan Bunkosky (3) goes up for a basket against Dwyer in the Class 6A state championship.
Ponte Vedra's Nathan Bunkosky (3) goes up for a basket against Dwyer in the Class 6A state championship.

Ponte Vedra's senior trio gets one more chance together on the basketball court as part of the rosters for the Reps on Reps Northeast Florida All-Star Classic, set for Saturday at FSCJ South Campus.

Nathan Bunkosky, Israel Nuhu and Ben Ritchie all represent the Class 6A state finalist Sharks for Team East, which will play under Providence coach Jim Martin.

Also on the list are Pierce Shirk (Bolles), J'den Golding (Clay), Beza Miller (Episcopal), Mandon Seapoe (First Coast Christian), Karl Knighten (Matanzas), Dylan Lewis (Oakleaf), Michael Swift (Potter's House), Mason Lee (Providence), Keenan Johnson (San Jose Prep) and Curtis Phillips (Tocoi Creek).

For Team West, coached by Oakleaf's Jason Price, the roster consists of Juan Bruce (Fletcher), Seth Childers, Josh Hayes and Theo Stephens (all Gainesville), Isaac Edwards (Impact Christian), Tommie Hall and Isaac Taveras (NFEI), Cameron Coachman (Oakleaf), Kyle Jones (Paxon), George Woods (Ribault), Sam Wolff (St. Joseph) and Travon Miller (Temple Christian).

The Oakleaf trio of Fantasia James, Kamiya Jones and Kaylah Turner highlights the girls Team East, which also includes Dezeray Bright (Keystone Heights), Asiana Britt (Camden County), Jazarri Henderson (Riverside), Paetyn Miller (Ridgeview), Yakiya Milton (Mandarin), Janise Respess (Parker), Cami Robinson (Nease) and Tenia Thomas (Baldwin). Orange Park's Michael Nesmith will coach the squad.

Qualisaya Howell of San Jose Prep coaches Team West for the girls, including Aja Pollard (Bartram Trail), Nevaeh Morris (Fernandina Beach), Anna Buchanan (Hilliard), Xaniya Jackson and Alexia Taliferro (Jackson), Kendyl Ryan (Nease), Abby Kanady and Ella Ortman (Providence), Charlee Evoniuk (Stanton) and Zoe Tennell (The Villages).

Bell retires from Mandarin baseball

One of Jacksonville's most experienced and successful baseball coaches is stepping away from the dugout.

Mandarin head baseball coach Billy Bell announced his retirement Tuesday, citing health reasons. Assistant Matt Miller is scheduled to take over the Mustangs for the remainder of the season.

Bell won 306 career games in a head coaching career spanning nearly a quarter of a century in Jacksonville, including two final four visits and an FHSAA Class 2A championship at Providence in 2003. He also served on the Englewood staff under Mike Boswell when the Rams won the 1999 state championship, and he won four Gateway Conference titles (three at Sandalwood, one at Mandarin).

The Mustangs entered the week 4-1 for the season.

Week of breakthrough wins

The theme of the past week: Welcome to the win column.

A few samples:

  • Columbia won the first game in the school's flag football history, 14-0 over Baker County, and Fernandina Beach earned its first flag football win in Thursday's 26-0 win over West Nassau.

  • Beachside picked up its first-ever victory in baseball, winning 10-0 on Wednesday night against Parker with 12 strikeouts from Jake Meadows and a 3-for-3 night for Derek Ochoa.

  • Also on a roll is Bishop Snyder beach volleyball. In their opening week of 2023 competition, the Cardinals went 3-0, defeating Clay, Atlantic Coast and Stanton to surpass their victory total from 2022.

Around the area

Fleming Island running back Musthafa Marshall committed to Minot State.
Fleming Island running back Musthafa Marshall committed to Minot State.

Fleming Island running back Musthafa Marshall committed to Minot State football and linebacker Tabari Tucker committed to Methodist football. … Eighth-grade Yulee Middle School outfielder Preston Matricardi committed to Florida State baseball. … Middleburg infielder Kaley Barnes committed to St. Johns River State College softball. … Union County softball players Hayley Burke (Florida Gateway), Leah Clark (College of Central Florida), Hailey Rivera (Florida Gateway), Hannah Rivera (Florida Gateway), Angela Tucker (West Georgia) and Tamia Young (West Georgia) signed letters of intent Wednesday. … Creekside hired former Nease assistant Jessica Sundstrom to lead its volleyball program, following the January resignation of original Knights coach Megan Bowers. … Clay County's school board on Thursday honored Clay's state champion girls weightlifting team as well as individual champions Emma Heck and Kyleigh LaFary from Clay and Autumn Leviston from Fleming Island. … All-Clay County cheerleaders are Eliza LaBelle, Kyla Sawdo and Cody Mobley (all Clay), Javen Garay, Arelys Trabal and Samuel Stofsky (all Fleming Island), Kendall Bryan, Tenleigh Sanford and Khoda Moses (all Middleburg), Dayna Grannis and Bailey Nelson (both Oakleaf), Kendall Bagmon, Abbie Ricks and Brandon Lopez (all Orange Park) and Lyndsey Brown, Haley Bartlett and Blake Pu (all Ridgeview). ... Baseball doubleheaders complete the week at 121 Financial Ballpark, with games at 4 and 6:30 p.m.: First Coast-Ribault and Fletcher-Sandalwood on Wednesday, Stanton-Baldwin and Paxon-First Coast on Thursday and Parker-Englewood and Mandarin-Wolfson on Friday.

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast Varsity Weekly: Christian Miller sets 200-meter mark