Saint Stephen’s boys, ODA’s Walkes dominate district track

The Saint Stephen’s boys team and an Out-of-Door Academy eighth-grader posted big days at the Class 1A-District 7 track and field championship on Thursday at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton.

The Falcons boys won eight events and thrice had three individuals advance to regionals in a single event en route to the team title, far outdistancing Admiral Farragut, 192 points to 118. Cardinal Mooney was fifth and Out-of-Door Academy was seventh. In the girls competition, Northside Christian dominated. Saint Stephen’s finished fourth; Cardinal Mooney was fifth and Out-of-Door Academy was sixth.

Saraiah Walkes’ star shined the brightest in the girls competition: She swept the girls sprint races. She won the 100 meters in 12.18 seconds, the 200 in 25.12 seconds and the 400 in 57.94 seconds. She was the only girls district champion from an area school although five Saint Stephen’s, five Cardinal Mooney and two other Out-of-Door girls also advanced in individual events to the Class 1A-Region 2 championships at Indian Rocks Christian next Thursday.

The top four in each event qualify for regionals.

In the boys competition, Andrew Csubak was the only multiple district champion in individual events for Saint Stephen’s. He won the 800 in 2:04.15 and the 1,600 in 4:52.07. Saint Stephen’s also won the 4x800 and 4x100 relays. Letherio Jones won the 400 and Jordon Murrell won the 200 after being nipped in the 100 and settling for second. Josh Stevens won the discus and Chase Brown won the triple jump.

In the Class 3A-District 10 meet in Clearwater, the Braden River boys 4x800 relay team broke its school record with an 8:45.33 effort, which was good enough for second place and a berth in next Friday’s regionals, also at Clearwater High School. Jameire Hayes punched his ticket with a fourth-place finish in the 400.

In the girls competition, Breonna Graham won the 100 and 200. Emani Smalls advanced with a fourth-place effort in the shot put and Emma King qualified with a third-place finish in the high jump. The Pirates 4x100 relay team (Aaliyah Henry, Alyssa Gagnon, Serenity McNair and Graham) also advanced by finishing third.

Gagnon broke her school record in the 800 with a time of 2:20.84 to finish second and advance.

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Saint Stephen’s boys, ODA’s Walkes dominate district track."