Miami Northwestern Girls & Flowers Boys Get Off To Fast Starts on Saturday Morning
For most of the members of the Miami Northwestern 4x200-meter relay squad, the last time they were on a track competing prior to the New Balance Nationals was at their state meet in early May.
The long layoff didn’t appear to affect their performance on Saturday.
Bolstered by a strong leadoff from nationally-ranked sprinter Twanisha Terry, Northwestern dominated the field with a meet-record time of 1:34.87. Finishing a very-distant second was Oak Park (MI) at 1:38.68.
Florida’s state meet was on May 5. Staying focused during the time leading up to NBN was the most difficult part for this speedy foursome.
“It was pretty bad because the state meet was six of seven weeks ago,” said second leg Lakayia Harris. “It was pretty bad but we had to maintain. We had to push through the time off. But we pulled through and now we got the win.”
Terry, who gave her teammates a sizable lead after a blazing opening leg, was a week removed from the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational where she won the 200m and was second in the 100m.
“When Twanisha was running, she gave us a great lead,” Harris said. “I had to maintain it and keep the gap. What she did was really good for the first leg.”
In the boys’ race, it was a bit of redemption for Flowers (MD), a sixth-place finisher at the indoor nationals, a meet they were hoping to finish among the top three and possibly win.
“We knew we could win (today),” said third leg Cameron Burgess. “We had a chip on our shoulders.”
Win is exactly what this school did on a humid morning, besting Newburgh Free Academy (NY) with a time of 1:25.80. Newburgh took runner-up honors at 1:26.22.
Flowers took control from the beginning with senior leadoff Jamal Higgs getting his teammates in good position right away.
“For me,” he said, “it was just to break the stagger and see what I could do.”
“I saw where he was and knew we had a chance to go out in front,” said second leg Jamal Wilson. “I just got the baton and ran my hardest.”
- Results: Girls 4x200 - Boys 4x200
- Photos: Girls 4x200 - Boys 4x200