Thunderstorm delays and a rolling schedule that left little rest time between events did not deter area athletes from performing well on Saturday at the FHSAA Track and Field State Championships at Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida campus.

Last year, Gainesville High’s Tayeshawn Rochelle was one of the best 400-meter hurdles in the 3A division. However, a hamstring strain suffered at the regional meet kept him from competing in the state meet.

This year, the senior made the finals and made up a five-meter deficit over the final 100 meters to defeat Miami Northwestern senior Makhi Fleming and win with a personal best of 52.44 seconds.

“Other than feeling hurt, tired and strained, I feel really good,” said Rochelle, who helped GHS finish tied for 13^th in the team scores. “I surprised even myself out there today. It was really cool getting to see that time up there today. A lot went into this. The mental and physical struggles and I am so glad God worked it out for everything to go exactly as planned.”

Rochelle became the first athlete from an Alachua County school to win the 400 hurdle event since 1973. The time was also the seventh fastest run in the nation this year.

A flurry of second-place finishes was the norm on Saturday, with athletes just missing out by the narrowest of margins.

Oak Hall senior Dakota Brower’s late race rush fell 0.002 seconds short of a state title as he crashed to the track with a personal best of 48.38. The Penn-bound Brower was a short sprinter in his first few years of track and took up the 400 only last year.

“I knew the kid outside of me had run a 48.3, so my goal was to just run off of him and try to outkick him at the end,” said Brower, who helped the Eagles finish 10^th place in Class 1A. “It worked pretty well. The last 110 meters, we were neck-and-neck, and he just happened to beat me by two thousandths of a second. There wasn’t much I could do about that. I would say I feel pretty proud of myself. I set a personal best by about one second and despite the tough loss, I can’t really complain about it.”

Oak Hall junior Estella Collante had four races during the compressed time schedule and was able to come away with two podium finishes. After running a leg on the seventh-place 4×800 relay team and an 18th-place finish in the 1600 meter in 5 minutes, 42.07 seconds, she finished second in the 800 in a time of 2:14.91, nearly setting a personal best and just missing first place by 0.44 seconds.

“I really didn’t want to go out really hard in the 1600 to save myself for the 800 meter,” said Collante. “In the 800 meter, I wanted to make sure that I was in contact with that front pack so I wasn’t cut off by anyone in the second pack. By the 200-meter and the 100-meter, I just tried to close that gap as much as I could. I’m pretty happy considering all the chaos of today.” 

The Buchholz girls 4×400 meter relay capped off their season with a hard-fought second-place finish in a time of 3:49.28. The time was just 0.79 seconds out of first and lowered their school record by 0.08 seconds.

In his first appearance at the state meet, St. Francis junior Dominic Diaz finished second in the boys’ pole vault with a mark of 13 feet, 3.5 inches. The mark equaled his school record.

Columbia senior Omarion Udell came in seeded eighth in the 110 hurdle final. All week he was nursing a leg he had banged on a hurdle. After a rain delay Friday evening, he went home, only to wake up late and nearly miss making it to Jacksonville. He missed winning the event by 0.02 seconds with a personal best of 14.47.

“It was a hard struggle. At regionals, I really busted myself up,” said Udell. “I was just saying to myself that I’m living proof that God is real. I’ve been working hard all week, been praying and striving, going to sleep every night wondering what’s the next thing I’m going to do to pursue my dreams. As you can see it worked.”

Controversy ruled the day in the boys 1A 4×800 relay. Oak Hall finished second behind Holy Trinity in a time of 8:01.42. However, Holy Trinity was disqualified for a lane violation and first-place medals were awarded to the Eagles. However, a protest was filed after the official results were posted and Holy Trinity was reinstated as the winner.

“After the awards were presented, the meet officials reviewed the video of the races to determine if there was a violation,” said Oak Hall Edwin McTureous. ” They decided there was no evidence of a violation, though the meet referee had raised the flag indicating the violation.”

Typically, once the official results are posted and awards given, there may not be a protest. In addition, NFHS rule 3.2.7 states also states the following:  “Video replay or television monitoring equipment, other than the official finish line equipment approved by the games committee prior to the start of competition, shall not be used to make decisions related to the meet. Use of wireless communication devices by officials is allowed.”

The FHSAA meet referees did not follow this rule. The infraction occurred on the backstretch away from the finish line. The cameras that were used were from live streaming and were video replays.

On Friday, a disqualification was made in the 2A 4×400 relay. In that case, the decision was made to disqualify Cardinal Newman for obstruction, though the rule cited in the official results was NFHS Rule 5.9.1, which is a rule used for baton exchange violations.

Other top area performers included:

• The Buchholz trio of senior Gino Palazzolo (9:21.71), and juniors Samuel Freas (9:24.18) and Demterie Meyers (9:25.39) placed second, third and fourth in the 3200, helping the Bobcats to a seventh-place team finish in Class 4A with 25 points.
• Buchholz junior Davis Garrett finished third in the 1600 in a time of 4:17.61.
• GHS senior Donovan Ferguson finished fourth in the 400 with a time of 48.29.
• Oak Hall senior Peter Peloso finished fifth in the 800 with a time of 1:56.72 and seventh in the 1600 meter in 4:26.15.
• Oak Hall girls finished seventh in the 4×800 relay with a time of 9:55.40 seconds.
• Chiefland senior Osten Jones finished eighth in the long jump with a mark of 21-11.
• GHS senior Aaliyha McCellon earned an eighth-place podium finish by 0.002 seconds in the 100 hurdles with her 12.31 time.
• Buchholz senior Gianna Rizzo finished eighth in the 200 in 24.49.
• GHS girls finished 10th in the 4×100 relay in 48.29 seconds.
• Chiefland sophomore Earl Bess finished 11th in the 400 hurdles in 59.59.
• Buchholz senior Eleanor Whisler finished 11th in the 3200 in 11:10.12.
• GHS junior Keira Forbes finished 11th in the 800 with a time of 2:18.24.
• Buchholz junior Demetrie Meyers finished 12th in the 1600 in a time of 4:24.75. 
• Oak Hall sophomore Lola Murfee finished 14th in the 3,200 in 11:56.24 and 16th in the 1600 in 5:39.09.
• Buchholz senior Tonie Harmon finished 15th in the 400 in 57.18.
• Buchholz girls finished 17th in the 4×800 relay in a time of 10:02.99.
• GHS junior Izaiah Lewis-Thompson did not make a clearance in the boys high jump.