Lakewood Ranch boys win 4x800 relay at Florida Relays
A quartet from Lakewood Ranch High School won the boys 4x800-meter relay at the Pepsi Florida Relays on Saturday at the University of Florida’s Percy Beard Track in Gainesville.
Andrew Dean, Brice Easton, Jon Reid and John Rivera turned in a time of 7 minutes, 45.58 seconds, more than two seconds ahead of runner-up Miami Northwestern (7:47.84).
The Mustangs were the only local champions on Saturday.
IMG Academy runners were busy in the relays, finishing fourth in the girls 4x100 relay, sixth in the girls 4x400 and seventh in the 4x800. Beatrice Juskeviciute (4x400 and 4x100) and Sara Nicol (4x400 and 4x800) were the only ones to do double duty. The Ascenders’ boys 4x100 team finished sixth.
In Friday’s headline high school events, the 1,600 Invitational races for boy and girls, two local runners were in the fields. IMG Academy’s Chandler Bergeron finished 10th in the girls race in 5:09.95. Lakewood Ranch senior John Rivera finished 13th in the boys race in 4:24.95.
In earlier events on Friday, Lakewood Ranch senior Sophia Falco finished third in 11.65. Two Mustangs competed in the discus: senior Sam Jackson was fifth (156 feet, 5 inches) and junior Noah Oxley was 15th (138-3). Manatee junior Garrett Ware finished 18th (136-9). IMG Academy’s girls 4x200 relay finished sixth.
Boys weightlifting
State qualifying: Cardinal Mooney senior Dillon O’Neill is the No. 1 seed and prohibitive favorite in the 238-pound weight class for the boys state weighlifting championships, which are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at DeLand High School. The qualifying list for the Class 2A and 1A competitions were released this past week.
O’Neill’s qualifying weight of 695 pounds is more than 50 ahead of the closest qualifier: Zefrino Vega of Mount Dora.
O’Neill is the only area qualifier for Saturday’s Class 1A competition.
The area is better represented in Friday’s Class 2A competition, although it lacks a championship contender.
Manatee has three lifters eligible to compete: Jernard Porter, who is the seventh seed at 154 pounds; Josh Booker, who is the third seed at 219 pounds; and Seth Walter, who is the ninth seed at 238 pounds.
Palmetto’s lone qualifier is Ricky Ochoa, who is seeded 19th in the 139-pound weight class.
Lakewood Ranch’s lone qualifier is Devonte Grooms, who is the 13th seed in the unlimited weight class.
This story was originally published April 1, 2017 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch boys win 4x800 relay at Florida Relays."