Fort Meade's Whitehurst looking to add 2 more gold medals at state meet
FORT MEADE — Azaria Whitehurst continued to get faster as the high school season progressed, but she surprised even herself last week when she ran 11.73 to win the 100-meter race at the Class 1A-Region 3 track and field meet in Naples. She then followed up with another big improvement in the 200.
The Fort Meade sophomore's times are the fastest in Class 1A this season in the two events, and she heads into the 2022 FHSAA Track and Field Championships as the favorite to win two gold medals. The 1A state meet is Wednesday at the University of Florida and is the first of four meets that run through Saturday.
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Whitehurst's 11.73 in the 100 is the fastest by a Polk County runner since Haines City's Amuru Patterson ran 11.57 in 2016, and it is the third-fastest time of the past 10 years. Lake Wales' Sabria Hadley ran 11.71 in 2012.
Overall since 2000, Whitehurst ranks fourth. Lake Wales' Octavious Freeman holds the county record with an 11.11.
Whitehurst, who is the defending champion in the 100 in 1A, didn't expect to be quite that fast last week. Her personal record in the 100 was 12.04 set last summer, and her best time this season was the 12.07 she ran at the county meet.
"Honesty when I PR in races, I feel like I've done my worst," Whitehurst said. "I just wanted to get under 12 seconds and hit 11.8 or 11.9 I was happy with the 11.7. I didn't expect a dramatic drop."
Fort Meade coach Anita Daughtry was expecting Whitehurst to take another step forward.
"I knew it was just going to be a matter of time before she would break under 12 (seconds)," Daughtry said. "She didn't come out of the blocks like I expected her to, but I was just happy that she was able to come back. She knew that she didn't come out like she was supposed to, so I was just excited to see her come like she did."
Whitehurst's improvement didn't stop with the 100. Her PR in the 200 was 24.57 and she ran 24.23 at the region meet. Her next goal is to run under 24 seconds.
"The 200 is starting to be my favorite race," said Whitehurst, who finished third in the 200 at last year's 1A state meet. "It's always as been my hardest, but I like the dynamics of the race and the dynamics run the curve, and I love doing curve running."
Whitehurst has been running high school races since the sixth grade and has been moving up the ranks each year. As a sixth-grader, she ranked No. 9 in the county in the 100. She moved up to No. 6 as seventh-grader, No. 3 as an eighth-grader and No. 2 as a freshman.
Now Whitehurst is moving up the ranks statewide. She is tied for No. 12 in the state among all classifications, and all but one runner are older.
"It feels good," she said. "I'm always the baby of the bunch when it comes to running. Last year, I was a freshman and everyone else were sophomores, juniors or seniors."
Whitehurst ranks No. 2 in the state among sophomores and No. 11 in the nation.
Whitehurst's state championship last year put her on the map.
"I knew she was going to place near the top, but I knew (Northside Christian's Erica Robinson," Daughtry said. "I knew what her times were. But after she beat Roberts in regionals, I figured she had a chance. I think it surprised her too."
As the No. 1 seed in both the 100 and 200, Whitehurst enters those races in a different spot when she was chasing the other top runners, but her mindset is staying the same.
"I still try to take it the same way because you never know what could happen," Whitehurst said. "What could happen no. 2 or what could happen at No. 6."
Whitehurst is just focused on herself and how she runs.
"We worked on her big issue with her start and finish, so I think if she come out of the blocks good, stay down lie she supposed to, shell be OK," Daughtry said. "Azaria is a very aggressive young lady. She works hard. She just get out the do what she we worked on and remember what we told her. She just got to be confident in herself."
Whitehurst will be one of the first of Polk County's top track athletes to try to win a state title at state this week. Here are Polk's top athletes at the four state meets:
Chelsi Wilson, George Jenkins (4A): Wilson is seeded No. 1 in the girls triple jump and No. 2 in the 100 hurdles, the 300 hurdles and long jump.
Jaden Lippett, Winter Haven (4A): Lippett is seeded No. 1 in the triple jump and No. 2 in the long jump.
Maddie Dutz, George Jenkins (4A): Dutz is seeded No. 5 in the girls pole vault and is ranked No. 3 for the season. She had been ranked No. 1 for most of the season.
Connor Legendre, Lake Region (2A): Legendre is seeded No. 3 in discus and No. 8 in the shot put.
Arianna Lewin, Kathleen (3A): Lewin is seeded No. 4 in the girls 100 hurdles.
Tajhana South, Tenoroc (2A): South is only seeded No. 11 in the girls triple jump but is ranked No. 3 for the season.
C.J. Smith, Lakeland Christian (1A): Smith is seeded third in the boys high jump. Also qualified sixth in the triple jump and 10th in the high jump.
Ben Oxendine, Lakeland Christian (1A): Although he is seeded No. 15 in the javelin and barely qualified after a poor region meet, Oxendine is ranked No. 4 for the season and was state runner-up last year.
Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theledger.com or at 863-802-7526. Follow him on Twitter: @RoyFuoco.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade's Whitehurst looking to add 2 more gold medals at state meet
