Cougar Track Team Heading to States

The Countryside Cougars boys track and field team has been unstoppable this year.

They were runners-up at the massive, 79-team USF Steinbrenner meet March 19. They claimed the district championship with 180 points April 21. And they repeated as regional champs, scoring 80 points on April 28.

And if the team continues its hot streak they have a legitimate chance at a state title at the final meet Saturday in Winter Park.

Last year’s boys team champions, St. Thomas Aquinas, won it with just 65 points. The higher the team competition is, more spread out the points are. If a team places four or five athletes in the top two of their respective events, they have a real shot at the team title.

The points scale is: 10 for first place, eight for second place, six for third place, five for fourth place, four for fifth place, three for sixth place, two for seventh place, and one point for eighth place.

Countryside has a legitimate chance to get those type of points.

Much of their hope rests on the shoulders of senior Ricy Brown. Not only is Brown entered in the maximum number of events, allowable(4), he has a real chance to win or at least place in the top two or three of each event. Brown will be competing in: 800m, 4x800m relay, 4x400m relay, and long jump.

Brown’s 800m times this year are incredible. Winning district champion in the event, he ran a 2:01.01 minute race. He came back at regionals and just smoked the field, running a 1:56.53 minute race, almost three seconds faster than second place. Last year’s 800m state champion, Cameron Davis ran it in 1:55.43 minutes in the event’s finals. Ricy ran 1:56.69 in that race and came in eighth. There’s every reason to believe he’ll crack the top three in that event.

Brown’s long jumps are nasty too. Brown is a smaller guy and it’s usually bigger guys that do long jump. As it is, Brown looks more like he’s flying in the long jump as opposed to jumping. This year, he claimed the district crown with a 21 foot 4 inch jump. He jumped 22 feet 7 inches at regionals but that was only good enough for third place. Still, he improved a foot and three inches from districts to regionals, which are only seven days apart.

Last year at states, Ricy only managed a 20 foot 11 inch jump. Not that that’s a mediocre jump. Not at all, it put him in the finals and thirteenth place. However, his jump at this year’s regionals would have moved him up to sixth place. If he can jump into the 23’s he could crack the top three. Last year’s champion, Marquis Noble, jumped 24 feet 6 inches and he should return for his senior finale.

Senior Wylan Bernitt will be able to get to the 300m hurlde finals, what happens from there could determine how the team places. Bernitt could win the whole thing or he could drop as low as fifth or sixth place. He blew away the field at districts with a time of 40.08 seconds. He cracked the 40-second mark, taking the regional championship and this year’s field should open up a bit.

Last year in 300m hurdles, Cody Riggs of St. Thomas Aquinas and Camilo Calderon of Cypress Creek ran it in less than 37 seconds and took first and second place. Roy Smith of Miami Northwestern’s third place run was 37.38 seconds. Fortunately for Bernitt, all three of those athletes have graduated. Bernitt’s toughest competition might come from within his own region from Gaither hurdler, Paul Barrett. Barret finished just seven-hundredths of a second behind Bernitt at regionals. Indeed, those two could finish first and second at states on Saturday.

Senior Derek Messmore will be needed to come up with some points. Messmore runs on the 4x400m relay team and specializes in the open 400m. He took second place at districts with a time of 49.75 seconds. Messmore ran even faster at regionals. Messmore finished in 49.02 seconds that would have got him fifth place at last year’s state finals. Messmore finished seventh last year in 50.50 seconds.

Senior Parker Polgar will vie for the state title in pole vault. He cleared 14 feet 6 inches to win districts but only got 14 feet at regionals. Polgar is improving. Last year at states he was only jumping 13 feet 6 inches. If he’s getting a foot higher this year, he could jump out of his mind at states and make the top three. Last year’s champion, David Shepherd of St. Thomas Aquinas, jumped 15 feet 6 inches but he’s graduated.

Jumper Denzel Thompson made states in high jump and triple jump. He took second at regionals in high jump at 6 feet 2 inches. He will need to set a personal record just to score some points for the Cougars in that event. His triple jump at regionals was 45 feet 9 inches. That got him third at regionals and would have got him sixth at last year’s state finals but there’s usually one or two athletes that will jump over 50 feet.

The boys relay teams will make or break Countryside’s chances for a team state title. The boys 4x400m team was district and regional champion with a scorching time of 3:20.32 minutes. This is after all four members of the team ran their other races. The 4x400m team is: Jordan Rossi, Bernitt, Brown, and Messmore. Their regional time would have put them in fifth place at last year’s states. If they can improve on their time they could crack the top three.

Their 4x800m team is no joke either. The team consists of: Brown, Connor Benhakuma, Kristof Williams, and Cory Sauerwine. They were district champs and regional runner-up with a time of 8:06.08 minutes. The top four teams at states last year, broke the eight-minute mark so the boys will have to pick up the pace to get on the medal stand but they should at least come away with some points.

On the girls side, Victoria Jackson in her sophomore season grabbed the fourth spot at regionals with a triple jump of 34 feet 1 inch. If she improves on that mark, she could make the finals but she will be outside of scoring points for the girls team this year. This year.

If you go:

What: Track and Field state meet

Where: Showalter Field, 2525 Cady Way, Winter Park, 32792.

Cost: $8.