The Boca Warriors Track Club just finished competing at the FLYRA Middle School State Track & Field Championship 2022.
There were some highlights & some disappointments.
Successes and effort are to celebrated !
Moving past and building on disappointments is part of being a top athlete and climbing to personal success. Just getting to States is an accomplishment in itself. Each athlete who gave their all should be proud to have gone to States !!
On the Podium
Congratulations to Alex Palekar who placed 3rd in the Girls' 3,000 meters event.
Alex had the highest finish of any of our athletes in any individual event.
She also had a 12 second PR from 11:01 to 10:49. Congrats Alex!
TEAM is also spelled "R-E-L-A-Y"
Our 4 x 800 Relay Teams
Congratulations to our 4 x 800 Relay Teams.
The Boys' & Girls' 4 x 800m Teams each only ran one race all season -- just to qualify for States.
Both 4 x 800m Teams made Florida All-State, to get on the podium.
Congrats Emily Pymm, Leah Forman, Ellie Morgan, Lilyann Sierra in their 4 x 800 meter 3rd place podium placement. These four athletes are 7th graders & a 6th grader. The prospects for them are great ! Keep up the great work ladies!
The Boys placed 8th. Way to go Scott Sanok, Sam Vergara, Giovanni Garcia and Will Moss !! With only one prior race to get in sync, they did what they had to, to get on the podium.
Our 4 x 400 Girls' Relay Team toughed it out !
Congrats Lily, Makaela, Leah & Emily. In the beginning of the year, the goal was to put a girls' 4 x 400 team together team that would make States, ... but the honest expectation wasn't high, as far as placement.
After all the team was comprised of a fifth grader, a sixth grader & 2 seventh graders. The 3 middle schoolers are really 800-3k (although a couple of these girls could qualify for States in the 400 with a sub 1:03), and the true 400 runner is only in the 5th grade.
Further Lily was throwing up on the track during her 1500 meter race a couple of hours earlier & Makaela was in severe pain after her 400. Coach was initially going to cancel at race time.
... But the parents & athletes got together & decided to do it.
Tough parents make tough kids !
So congrats to the girls for placing 12th out of 26 qualifying teams. A year from now this same team could be on the podium.
Some "Shout-Outs"
Scott, Sam and Gio are moving on to High School & we hope they continue to train & compete pre & post season with the Boca Warriors from time to time. We wish all you boys amazing happiness and success.
Scott & Sam have been with the team since it started 3 years ago, and both have grown to be exceptional runners and teammates.
Gio joined the team last year, and he has become an amazing runner. Gio got a new PR in the 3000 meters with a time of 10:23 (10:35 old). Gio also qualified for States in the Javelin throw.
Will Moss had a tremendous States as a 7th grader. He placed 11th out of 67 in the 3,000 meters, just missing the podium by 3 spots, and achieved a new PR in the 3,000 meters.
Kingston Pili, only a 7th grader, placed 14th in the highly competitive 200 meter dash. Kingston brought another element to our team - speed !
Isabella Kovacs had a really strong season and ran a really solid race in the 1500 meters. She will be back next year to provide leadership and experience to our team.
Gianna Gallego, only a 6th grader, ran in the 3000 meters. Against older girls, she ran a great race and will be a force to be reckoned with next year !
Victoria Zea, one of the hardest workers on our team, ran a really solid 3000 meters and will also be back next year to help anchor our girls' team.
Coach's Iron Heart Awards
5th grader Makaela Morilla
Makaela, who just started training maybe 6 weeks ago, ran in the Elementary 100, 400, 800 & the MS 4x4 relay.
Her 800 time was a PR going from 3:03 to 2:47. You are a tough young girl Makaela.
7th grader Leah Forman
Leah had probably the toughest of all meets. She ran the 3000m, placing 15th with a new 18 second PR of 11:34.16. She also ran on the 3rd place 4x8 team. She also ran in the 1500 26th/54, and finally she got us back into the race in the 4x4, helping the girls to finish first in their heat.
New Personal Records (PRs)
Here are the PR's achieved at States (in alphabetical order):
Mario Barreto
Turbo Javelin: 54'0" (old 36'0")
Kate Baugh
800 meters: 3:04:93 (3:18 old)
Leah Forman
3000 meters: 11:34 (11:52 old)
Gianna Gallego
3000 meters: 11.31.58 (11.44.22 old)
Gio Garcia
3000 meters: 10:23 (10:35 old)
Javelin: 31.34 meters (23.89 old)
Gabriela Jaramillo
1500 meters: 5:54 - (6:10 old)
800 meters: 2:57 - (3:10 old)
Makaela Morilla
800 meters: 2:47:36 (3:03 old)
12th place out of 62 - just 4 spots away from All-State.
Erik Moss
3000 meters: 10:23.41 (10:29.51 old)
Will Moss
3000 meters: 10:28 old / 10:09:81 new
11th place out of 57 - just 3 spots from All-State.
Kingston Pili
200 meters: 23.55 (24.15 old)
Elementary Squad
In addition to Mario, Kate, Gabi and Makaela PRs above, we had some other strong showing by our Elementary Team members. For many this was their first championship-level event, and they all did fantastic.
These are our elementary athletes who competed:
Mario Barreto - Turbo Javelin & 800 and 1500 meter run
Kate Baugh - 800m dash and 1500m run
Rebecca Baugh - Turbo Javelin, Long Jump & 100 meter dash
Valentina Giraldo - 800m and 1500m runs
Gabriela Jaramillo - 400m, 800m and 1500m runs
David Martin - Turbo Javelin
Makaela Morilla - 100m dash, 400m dash, 800m run (and MS relay)
Michael Morilla - 100m dash and 400m dash
Liam Sierra - 800m and 1500m runs
Way to go everyone !!