The Evans High School girls track team was the area’s best all season, but the Trojans saved their best for the big stage.
The Trojans scored two national level relay victories and finished third in the team standings at Saturday night’s Class 4A state track and field championships at the University of North Florida.
Evans kicked off the Florida High School Athletic Association’s large-school meet by winning the 4×800-meter relay in a time of 9 minutes, 14.24 seconds that ranks third best in the country this season.
That triggered what turned into a trifecta of impressive relay performances by the Trojans. Evans followed up with a fourth-place finish in the 4×100 in an area-leading time of 47.46 seconds and then put the cherry on top by finishing the meet with a victory in the 4×400. The Trojans’ time in that event, 3:46.15, gave them a second school record for the day and the eighth fastest time in the U.S. It also lifted Evans to a third-place finish in the team standings.
Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas edged Niceville 98 points to 95 for the team championship, followed by Evans at 47.
“It was just hard work all season,” Trojans coach Patrecia Daniley-Porter said of Saturday’s success. “Selflessness and a whole bunch of trust. They exceeded our expectations for sure.”
The Trojans were seeded only ninth in the 4×800 based on their region meet qualifying time of 9:42.74 but were a different monster with senior Jahnile Registre and sophomore Kemaj Moore added to the mix on Saturday. That pair joined senior Amenda Saint-Louis and sophomore Alisha Boyer to outrun the competition in a race where Aquinas and Bradenton Lakewood Ranch took turns leading before the Trojans tracked them down.
“We already knew we were going to win it,” Saint-Louis said with a smile afterward.
“We had the mindset that nothing is impossible,” added Registre, a South Carolina signee who had rarely run races longer than 400 meters.
The winning time is the third fastest in area history for the event. Winter Springs set the record with a 9:11.10 effort to win a 2000 state title and Winter Park ran 9:13.69 in its 2016 state championship performance.
Saint-Louis, Registre and Moore were joined by sophomore standout Arbriel Scott in the 4×400 victory, where the Trojans churned out a 3:46.15 time that is the eighth-best 2021 time in the country.
Registre also placed second in the individual 400 with a sizzling time of 54.77. Saint-Louis was fourth at 55.85.
Scott took third in the girls 300 hurdles with a time of 43.97.
Seven area boys won individual event titles. That included a pole vault victory by Lake Mary senior Dillon Dechristopher, who cleared 15 feet, 3 inches.
DeLand junior Kevar Williams was second across the line in the boys 200-meter dash at 21.40 seconds but was awarded the championship after Zac Sedaros of Viera was disqualified.
The other boys champions were by seniors Ethan Exilhomme of Timber Creek in the 110 hurdles, Jimmy Horn Jr. of Seminole in the long jump, Oviedo’s Sam Austin in the 800, Kissimmee Osceola’s Markevus Jackson in the 400, and Orlando University’s Justin Campbell in the triple jump.
In the boys team standings Seminole and Timber Creek finished third and fourth, respectively, behind first-place Niceville and runner-up Ponte Vedra Beach Nease.
This story was first published at OrlandoSentinel.com. Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
