Lost In The Mix At A Powerhouse
Krystal Sparling and Khalifa St. Fort finished second and third, respectively, for St. Thomas Aquinas in the 2014 Florida Class 4A State 100m finals with Diamond Spaulding taking fifth. The trio also took second, third and fourth in the 200m finals.
A year ago, St. Fort was just one of many talented sprinters on the St. Thomas Aquinas roster.
She was nowhere near the star on a team that featured Kendall Ellis, a 52.95 400m/24.18 200m talent; Krystal Sparling, a 11.34 100m/23.34 200m runner as a junior; and Diamond Spaulding, an all-star pick-up after transferring from American Heritage with 11.51 100m/23.00 200m credentials.
With a total of about 30 highly competitive student-athletes on the roster for a team that swept the boys and girls state titles, St. Fort was the one who got lost in the mix.
"Unfortunately, St. Thomas had too many kids on it so it was hard for Coach Alex to coach us on individual aspects when he has such a big team," she said.
As a middle schooler, she was a 12-second 100m sprinter. But two years later at STA, she was still awaiting improvement.
Bewildered, her parents reached out to Boldon for guidance. Luckily for the St. Fort family, one of the most well-regarded personalities in the sport of track and field resides in Miramar, Florida and was willing to evaluate their daughter.
"I said to [Mr. St. Fort], 'she could be as good as she wants to be, she's definitely exceptional.' He looked at me, like 'you must say that to everyone.'
"I am extremely busy so I am not in the habit of going out and seeking athletes to coach," Boldon said. "...I said, 'I think she's exceptional and I would be willing to work with her.'"
This evaluation took place in March of 2014. Two months later, St. Fort had improved from a consistent 12-second sprinter to an 11.7 girl. She contributed a solid 22 points to the 2014 Florida Class 4A state title, including two third-place finishes in the 100m and 200m, as well as a leg on the winning 4x100m relay. By the end of the championship season, she improved her PR to 11.51.
Post-race interview with St. Thomas Aquinas after winning the 4x100m relay at the Florida Class 4A State Championship in 2014.
This all while attending her regular after school practices at St. Thomas Aquinas, then training with Coach Boldon on weekends and a few days during the week, as schedules allowed.
"She ran 11.51 last year and... she was really bad out of the blocks because no one had ever showed her how to start properly," Boldon said. "That was No. 8 in the country last year."
The St. Forts told Armenteros that they were consulting Boldon before they approached the analyst.
"Because he had such little regard for her, he said, 'no problem,'" Boldon said. "She went from 12.5 to 11.5 in a matter of months. Then it became a problem for him."
St. Fort started training full-time with Boldon in October, doing conditioning to prepare for this spring.
Khalifa St. Fort was the surprise victor in the 2015 Golden South Classic 100m.
"By the time she went back to practice, she was looking different, blowing everybody away in practice," Boldon said. "And I think it just became, you can't serve two masters. And buying into my philosophy, she couldn't buy into the philosophy at her high school. It became a problem for St. Thomas Aquinas for her to be working with me."
St. Fort suited up one final time in the Raiders' gold and blue for the Texas Relays during the weekend of March 25 to 28, where she ran her then-PR of 11.46.
"After Texas Relays, we had a little bit of issues, but I'd rather not get into specifics," St. Fort said. After that, I decided to train with Coach Ato full-time... I have nothing bad to say about the St. Thomas Aquinas program, it just wasn't working with me physically and personally."
