Palm Beach County runners posted several firsts at the FHSAA Class 2A State Track & Field Championships at the University of North Florida on May 9 – and Cardinal Newman captured the boys championship.
The Crusaders won the title – the first in school track & field history – with 53 points, easily topping runner-up West Florida (41) and Andrew Jackson (39).
Cardinal Newman’s Zamarii Sanders posted firsts in the two boys sprints. Sanders, also a star on the football team, ran away with the 100 meters in 10.40 seconds. Montverde Academy’s Miles Outerbridge was second in 10.68. Sanders also won the 200 in 20.97, well ahead of Outerbridge (21.12) again.
The Cardinal Newman boys team had two other individual gold medal winners: Jackson Miller won the 400 in 47.27, and Joe Licata won the 800 in 1:52.54.
In the 4×800 relay, Cardinal Newman posted a winning time of 7:47.73 with Joshua Flynn, Joe Licata, Lucas Hernandez Trujillo and Kenneth Wagner turning on the engines.
The sterling freshman year of Glades Central’s E’tesia Forbes continued as she became a state champion on her first try. Forbes blazed to an 11.51 to win the 100 meters. She edged Montverde Academy’s Dasia Reed (11.52).
“I feel very good,” Forbes said. “My time went down but I kept pushing. I was nervous but it worked out good.”
Forbes, 15, has enjoyed a stunning postseason. In the District 8 2A last month at King’s Academy on April 25, Forbes won the championship in three events – the 100 meters, 200 meters and long jump. On May 1, at the regionals in Titusville, Forbes made a national name for herself in sweeping to the 100 meters in a stunning time of 11.48. She didn’t better that time Friday but still is a state titlist.
“She was well-prepared and ready to run,” Glades Central coach Cathy Seider said.
Forbes, however, did not do as well in her other event. She finished eighth in the long jump (17 feet, 0 inches) – slightly more than 2 feet shorter than gold medalist Victoria Hill of Trinity Prep. She did not run in the 200.
Another winner was Somerset-Canyons’ sophomore high jumper Jeremiah Lysius with a 6-foot, 7½-inch effort.
American Heritage-Delray’s Julia De Gruttola Aere finished second in the girls 400 hurdles in 1:01.70. Carrollton’s Arianna Garcia came in first in 58.97.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Cardinal Newman’s Zamarii Sanders wins 100, 200; Glades Central’s E’tesia Forbes wins 100
Reporting by Marc Berman / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
