Choctaw, FWB track and field shine at 3A state tourney
Track and field on the Emerald Coast flexed at the recent FHSAA 3A state tournament in Jacksonville.
Choctaw had a pair of state championships with its 4x400m relay team of Kyler Collins, Kaleb Hollins, Cole Tabb and Justin Whidbee and long jumper Isaiah Johnson. Meanwhile Fort Walton Beach earned 11 medals from their 11 state qualifiers.
The gold-medal clinching time for the 4x400m Big Green team was 3 minutes and 16.02 seconds, far better than their seed time of 3:17.79. Johnson, meanwhile, cleared 7.35m across the sand pit to take gold in the long jump.
Hollins, the Daily News Cross Country Male Runner of the Year, also placed third in the 800m in 1:56.06, while Ryan Seaton reached the podium with a sixth-place triple jump of 13.63m.
For the Vikings, Makala Sims finished runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 34.95m and Brooke Hawkins was also runner-up state champion in the high jump after clearing 5’3 3/4. The men's 4x800m relay of Luke Endt, Connor Rising, Jackson Light and Grant Chastain placed sixth in 8:04.75, while Grace Hebson finished seventh in the 800m in 2:18.75 and was a part of women's 4x800m relay of Reece Knowlton, Martha Curtis and Belicia O'Grady that finished seventh in 9:38.21.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Choctaw's 4x400m relay, Johnson win state titles; FWB gets 11 medals
