Williams wins 2 golds, 4 medals; Jenkins girls finish state runners-up
GAINESVILLE — Freshman Chelsi Williams was seeded first in just one of her four events but finished with two gold medals and two silver medals to lead the George Jenkins girls track team on a historic night.
With its 4x400 team grabbing an eighth-place finish despite a hobbled runner, Jenkins finished as state runner-up for the first time in school history on Saturday at the 2022 FHSAA Girls Track and Field Championships at the University of Florida's James G. Pressly Stadium.
"I would say not a bad day, I'll take it," George Jenkins coach Dale Meskimen said.
Overall, Polk crowned two state champions as Winter Haven sophomore Jaden Lippett won the boys triple jump.
Williams, who won the 100-meter hurdles in the Class 2A meet as an eighth-grader last year while at McKeel, won the long jump and the triple jump then finished second in the long jump and the triple jump.
"I'm very pleased with my day," she said. "I pushed myself very hard in the triple jump and the hurdles trying to get to where I got. I just very proud of myself to making it this far."
Williams got Jenkins off to a strong start by finishing winning the long jump. Seeded second, she jumped 19 feet 3 1/4 niches on her second of four attempts to beat Leigh's Sanaa Teter by 3/4 of an inch.
"It wasn't my best jump, but I'm so happy I won it," Williams said.
Winter Haven's Dashanique Henry finished third in the event (18-10 3/4), and Haines City's Kiera Taylor, who got off to a slow start, jumped 17-11 3/4 on her fine attempt to jump from what would have been a 13th-place finish to sixth place.
Williams trailed Oakleaf's Arianna Eason after their first two attempts in the triple jump. On her third attempt, Williams jumped 39-10 3/4 to move into first place, and Eason couldn't catch her.
Overall, Williams now has three individual state titles as she takes aim at Lake Wales' Octavious Freeman, who finished with 10 state titles in track.
In the 100 hurdles, Williams ran 11.88 to finished .02 seconds off her personal record. She finished second behind Niceville junior Skye Tolbert, who finished in 13.72 seconds.
Williams save her best for last. Although she finished second to Niceville junior Jasmine Dereje, who ran 42.75, Williams ran a personal-best 42.94 to lower her personal record by nearly a second. She is now just .44 seconds off Tori Abnathy's county record.
"I'm so glad I got to 42," Williams said.
George Jenkins junior pole vaulter Maddie Dutz finished one spot higher than her seed mark. She went into the event seeded fourth but took third place with a vault of 11-9 3/4.
"I could have done better, but I'm happy," Dutz said.
In the 4x400, Sydney Spaulding, who withdrew from the high jump, ran the second left despite a groin injury. The Eagles were seeded ran more than a second faster than seed mark of 3:58.81 and finished in 3:57.75 to take eighth-place.
The finish gave the Eagles a point to tie Mandarin with 43 points. Jenkins had been in second place for most of the meet but Mandaring moved one point ahead after fourth-place finishes in the 200 and 3,200.
"I figured we would score 40 points, but I figured we would be 12 points out of second and finish third," Meskimen said. "So we had to make up some points, and Mandarin had to not do as well in some areas. Obviously both happens. It was a great day because we medaled in six of seven events."
In the boys competition, Lippett couldn't have been happier. After missing the state meet last year, Lippett, a sophomore, made up for it by winning the triple jump.
Lippett nearly won the long jump before finishing third. He was leading after three attempts with a jump of 22-8.5. The mark was tied with Lake Brantley's Michael Harris, but Harris faulted on his next two jumps, and Lippett had the tiebreaker over him at the moment.
However, in the final round, Columbus' Shaddai Carter jumped 23-4 1/4 to win the competition. His previous mark of 21-63/4 would have left him in 14th place. Harris' mark in the final round gave him the tiebreaker over Lippett.
Also for Jenkins, Rey Hernandez won two medals by finishing fifth in the 110 hurdles (14.86) and sixth in the 300 hurdles (38.79). Joshua Valentin ran 14.82 finish fourth in the 110 hurdles.
The Eagles also finished second in their heat of the 4x400 to finish eighth overall an earn a medal.
Highlights from 2A, 3A meets
Lake Region senior Connor Legendre, Tenoroc freshman Tajhana South and McKeel's Isaac Morrison were the only Polk County athletes to medal at the Class 2A meet on Thursday.
Legendre finished fifth in the discus (149-05) and sixth in the shot put (50-0 3/4).
South jumped 37-03 to finish fifth in the triple jump.
Morrison ran 1:55.94 to finish sixth in the 800.
In the 3A meet on Friday, Auburndale's Christopher Donaldson finished seventh in the 200 in 21.54.
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: Williams wins 2 golds, 4 medals; Jenkins girls finish state runners-up
