Senior quarter-miler Weston Baptiste of Montverde Academy and Markevus Jackson of Kissimmee Osceola waged what might have been the high school track and field race of the year so far.
Baptiste, a Georgia Tech signee, clocked a time of 46.63 seconds for 400 meters to hold off Jackson, who covered the lap in a time of 46.84 Saturday at Tohopekaliga High School. They ran stride for stride through 300 meters before Baptiste surged to win.
Their times are No. 1 and No. 3 in the nation. Not all states have been able to compete this season due to COVID-19.
“When I heard he was running this meet too, I got excited because I’ve been wanting to run against him,” Baptiste said of Jackson during a MileSplit video interview that is posted on FLRunners.com. “That was probably my best race execution so far.”
They were the state leaders coming into the race and their matchup produced the first sub-47 times by area runners since former Dr. Phillips standout Reggie Glover ran a 46.46 at the 2013 Brian Jaeger Elite Classic at Showalter Field.
The fastest 400 meters in area history are Oak Ridge great James Rolle, who ran a 45.9 in 1982, and former UCF football player Quincy McDuffie, who ran 46.02 for Edgewater in 2009. Jamaal Torrance ran 46.56 for Evans in the 2002 Golden South Classic.
Baptiste, who has clocked times of 10.80 for 100 meters and 21.44 for the 200, was the Class 2A runner-up in the 400 as a sophomore. His chance to win that title last year was washed away when the COVID-19 outbreak shut down schools and spring sports.
Jackson was a Class 4A state finalist in the 200-meter dash as a sophomore in 2019 and that still looks like his best event. He moved to No. 6 on the all-time area list with a 20.99 time in his only 200 race to date on Feb. 27 at the St. Cloud Invitational. He is scheduled to run that distance on the same track at the Orange Belt Conference meet next Thursday.
Montverde wins big: Top seed Montverde Academy overpowered Oak Hill to win its Thursday quarterfinal game in the GEICO High School Nationals boys basketball tournament in Fort Myers.
The Eagles (22-1), shooting for their fifth GEICO title, dominated the boards while winning 85-64 at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Kaleb Houstan, a 6-foot-8 Michigan signee, had 20 points and seven rebounds in the win.
Jalen Duren, a 6-11 junior center ranked as the second best Class of 2022 prospect by ESPN, added 15 points and nine rebounds. Dariq Whitehead, ESPN’s No. 6 junior, delivered 13 points and nine boards.
Montverde plays a 4:30 p.m. semifinal (ESPN2) Friday vs. AZ Compass Prep (28-1) of Arizona, which won 59-54 over Wasatch Academy (18-7) of Utah. The Eagles dealt Compass Prep its only loss in a Jan. 28 overtime game.
Florida’s second entry, IMG Academy (21-2) of Bradenton, held on to win 73-68 against Milton, Ga. (28-3). The Ascenders will play at 2:30 p.m. against Sunrise Christian (20-3) of Kansas, which got dunks by Baylor signee Kendall Brown and Kansas signee Zachary Clemence in the closing minutes of a 56-55 win vs. Prolific Prep (31-4) of California.
The four-team girls tournament tips off Friday with Orlando’s Lake Highland Prep (19-0) making its first appearance to play a 10:30 a.m. semifinal against Paul VI (10-0) of Chantilly, Va. (ESPNU).
Apopka flag: The Apopka girls flag football team ran its record to 6-0 by thumping state-ranked DeLand 26-0 Tuesday. Quarterback Kiera Knight completed 18 of 21 pass attempts in that win. She’s a two-way player who also starts on defense.
The Blue Darters have outscored opponents 191-7 going into a Thursday game at New Smyrna Beach (8-2).
Lacrosse showdown: It could be a marquee matchup of unbeatens when Oviedo (8-0) plays at Winter Park (12-0) in boys lacrosse Tuesday night at 7 at Showalter Field.
Winter Park, led by outstanding seniors Garrett Moore and Ryan Roberts, took a 12-0 record into a Thursday night home game against Lake Brantley (9-3). Oviedo (8-0), with a senior corps that includes attackman Kevin Croteau and captains Cole Gehring and Julian VanDeventer, plays at West Orange (5-6) Friday night. The Lions edged Lake Mary (11-1) in double-overtime last week to wrap up their first Seminole Athletic Conference championship since 2003.
Lake Mary is second in the FHSAA Class 2A power rankings behind 2019 state champ Ponte Vedra (12-0). Oviedo is No. 4.
State track site: The Florida High School Athletic Association announced Thursday the state track and field championships will return to Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida next month.
The format will revert back from two days to a single-day schedule for each classification. Class 1A and 3A events will be run Friday, May 7, and 2A and 4A events will be contested May 8.
UNF hosted the meets in 2018 and 2019 before the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The plan was to switch to Percy Beard Track at the University of Florida but the FHSAA had to find a new home for this year’s championships after learning UF would not be available due to campus restrictions related to COVID-19.
Vault record: Montverde Academy ninth grader Alex Georgiev set what is believed to be a state record for ninth graders when he cleared 15-feet, 5-inches in the pole vault at the Tohopekaliga meet.
That is the best mark in Florida this season in that event. Lake Mary senior Dillon DeChristopher ranks second with a 15-41/4 clearance. Bishop Moore senior Justin Kern is No. 4 on that list at 15-01/4.
Extra points
Lake Brantley senior Daylin Hejtmanek is an impact player for the Patriots in two sports this spring. She’s one of the top players for a 12-0 lacrosse team and is batting .359 for a 10-2 softball team.
Bishop Moore’s 13-0 boys volleyball team bounced back from a Game 1 loss to beat Lake Mary 24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23 in a hard-fought Tuesday night match. Cayden Martin delivered 43 assists for the Hornets.
Freedom (8-0) and Winter Park (6-0) were also unbeaten in boys volleyball going into Thursday night matches.
Water polo champs: Dr. Phillips knocked previously-unbeaten Olympia out of the boys water polo state playoffs by scoring the deciding goal in the final seconds of a 15-14 victory in Thursday night’s District 5 championship game at the Rosen Aquatic Center.
The Panthers take a 14-2 record into region play next week.
Olympia finished 11-1, including a 17-12 regular-season win against rival DP.
The Olympia girls improved to 15-1 with a 17-2 rout of DP (8-5) in their final. The Titans will play undefeated District 6 girls champ Lake Nona (14-0) in a region semifinal match Wednesday at a site to be determined. The Lions topped Olympia 15-12 in their regular-season match.
Lake Nona is No. 2 and Olympia No. 3 behind Miami Gulliver Prep (14-0) in the FHSAA state rankings.
Boone (15-1), the boys District 6 winner, will host DP in a boys region semi Wednesday.
Boone senior goalkeeper Brandon Arquette tied a school record with 18 saves in his team’s 17-6 district win over Lake Nona Wednesday.
Here are district final scores:
GIRLS WATER POLO
District finals
Wednesday
District 1: Seminole 10, Lake Mary 7
D2: Lake Brantley 22, Apopka 3
D3: Oviedo 12, Hagerty 5
D4: Winter Park 19, Bishop Moore 2
D6: Lake Nona 13, Boone 5
Thursday
D5: Olympia 17, Dr. Phillips 2
BOYS WATER POLO
District finals
Wednesday
District 1: Lake Mary 10, Seminole 9
D2: Lake Brantley 22, Gainesville 10
D3: Oviedo 14, Hagerty 13
D4: Winter Park 20, Bishop Moore 0
D6: Boone 17, Lake Nona 6
Thursday
Dr. Phillips 15, Olympia 14
This story was first published at OrlandoSentinel.com. Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
