Mike Ridaught
Alachua County took last week off for spring break.
Fortunately for the Eastside track & field team, Kennith Martin went to work.
Martin won two individual track events at the Wildwood Invitational and two individual events at the Columbia Invitational in Lake City.
The senior was also a part of the Rams’ 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams that won first place at both venues.
He has been recognized as the Pavlik Orthodontics Athlete of the Week for the week of March 11 for his performances.
On Tuesday at Wildwood, he won the 100-meter dash in 10.7 seconds, and he placed first in the 400 with a time of 48.6 seconds. He sat out of the 200 to compete in the 400.
He ran the first leg for the 4×100 relay team, which had a first-place finish with a time of 43.03. They also took first in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:34.
This year Martin has broken his personal best in all three of his Individual events.
The team captain has finished first in almost every event this season, and in the few that he did not finish first the finishes were very close for the second-place finish.
“Kennith’s performance this season is a continuation of the excellence and determination he has shown over the past three years,” said Eastside coach Byers Hickmon. “He is the student-athlete that all coaches desire to have in their program. He has a great gift and understands that hard work is required to enhance and increase his gift. He is teachable, humble, coachable, and a great student to teach.”
At the Columbia Invitational, Martin finished first in both the 100 (10.97) and the 200 (21.91).
He ran the first leg and had a pair of first-place finishes with the 4×100 relay team (season best 42.38) and the 4×400 (3:38).
“Kennith has matured into the senior track and field athletic leader that coaches desire and need to lead their team to success,” Hickmon said. “He leads by example. He embodies this quote, ‘hard work pays off. Work hard and do the right things and God will do the rest.’”
The Eastside 4×100 relay team is undefeated so far this season.
Martin is the 30th athlete to be selected for the weekly award during the 2023-24 school year.
Last week’s winner was Addison Allaire of the Trenton softball team.
The freshman had two home runs in one game against Wewahitchka and finished the week with 27 strikeouts in 10.1 innings pitched.
Recent winners include Jhalea Jackson of the Class 1A state champion Hawthorne girls’ basketball team and Evan Sterck of The Rock boys’ basketball national team.
For a complete list of winners, click here.
Coaches are encouraged to email their nominations each week, along with stats, no later than Sunday night to mike.ridaught@mainstreetdailynews.com.