Florida FHSAA 4A Region 1 (Region of Death) Distance Preview  

Nicknamed the Region of Death, 4A Region 1 is a tough Region with good reason.  A lot of the best teams, athletes, and distance runners are concentrated in Region 1.     

This year is no different.  The Meet will be held at Flagler Palm Coast's track facility which boasts a new Beynon BSS 200 surface.  Expect fast times and stiff competition.  The top 4 finishers in each event will compete in the State Meet at Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida campus on May 10th.
 

Dean Headley and Dr Bob contributed to this preview and will be covering the meet for DistancePreps.
 

Girls 4x800

What a great way to start off the day. The Winter Park girls are so deep, it's anyone's guess at this point who lines up for Coach Mac's Wildcats. They’ve got the top time coming in to this region (9:38.50) but rarely ran the 4x800 during the regular season. 

Olympia's 4x800, with a Season's Best of 9:38.61, is coming off of an unfortunate mishap.  Olivia Piatkowski, as she was stepping off the track after her final 200M interval the day before the Brian Jaeger meet two weeks ago, sprained her ankle and did not compete at Districts.  She is expected however to lace 'em up for Regionals.  We give this one a toss up.  Both teams know the value of advancing and I'm not sure it matters to either one who crosses the line first.  

Dr. Phillips and West Orange round out our top 4 with 9:41 SB's.    

Boys 4x800

It should come down to Dr. Phillips and Olympia.  Both teams have season bests around 7:55/56 so baton work will be critical.  Teams continue to experiment with their athlete order so it will be interesting to see if Emare Hogan of Dr. Phillips and and Kyren Hollis of Olympia face off.  There would be nothing better than a neck and neck race with both on the anchor leg to really get the Region of Death off to a good start.  

Emare, a Freshman at Dr. Phillips, is at 1:54.8 and Kyren, a Junior at Olympia, has already gone 1:53.3 this year.  Olympia is our pick in a real barn burner simply based off having Hollis and his 1:53.3 speed, most likely on the anchor.    

Winter Park (8:03 low) and Lyman (8:04 mid) round out our top four.  

Flagler Palm Coast is running on their home turf so watch out for them to spoil someone's party.  

Girls 1600  

Sticking with the distance races, one of our favorites will be the Girls 1600 where Charlotte Stephens (5:04.89 SB, Georgia Tech signee) of Winter Park could go sub 5.     

She’ll get some help from her teammate Katherine Kuhn (5:09.85 SB).  There’s Olympia Junior Emily Headley with a 5:09.00 SB and watch out for Kaley Schmick of Cypress Creek and Kaitlyn Soltis of University.  Schmick or Soltis will be fresh in the 1600 and they both have impressive kicks.    Schmick ran a 5:12.8 at District 4 in Winter Park and Soltis was right behind her at 5:14.19.  

Speaking of that District 4 race, the 5th place girl race an impressive 5:16.62.    

Boys 1600  

After missing the Brian Jaeger Elite Classic, Freedom Senior and Alabama signee Connor Ferrentino roared back in fine fashion winning his District's 1600 in 4:28.36.  Connor also boasted 4A's fastest time so far this year clocking 4:17.75 at the Kowboy Invitational earlier this year but he won't be running Regionals due to a shin injury that has bothered him the past few weeks of the season. 

We now fully expect a two-way battle between Deland senior/Embry-Riddle signee Keneth Pineiro (4:22.52 at UNF) and Lyman Junior Jordan Armstrong who has been steadily improving throughout his 2014 campaign (4:22.46 Pepsi Florida Relays).    What's up for grabs is the pivotal 3rd and 4th place finish with a trip to Hodges Stadium and the State Finals.

It could very well be Lake Howell Freshman Irvin Montero who clocked 4:30 for 2nd at the District meet behind Ferrentino or Lake Mary's Chris Aman or Lake Brantley's Max Robinson.  Look for Pineiro to either the gap the field early or sit back and control the pace.  Lyman's Armstrong can be counted on for running efficiently and only moving up when needed to safely qualify for States.

Girls 800  

Let's look at the Girls 800.  Have we mentioned depth yet?  9 girls under 2:22.  But there is one clear standout.  Sinclaire Johnson, the Sophomore from Lake Brantley has a season best (2:13.94) that is over 5 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor at Regional's.  The battle appears to be one for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.  

Winter Park's Charlotte Stephens and Tania White come in with exact SB's of 2:19.32.

4th fastest SB coming in is Evans Sophomore Shaquanda Hill at 2:19.61.

Another example of the strength of District 4, their 5th place finisher ran a 2:22.69 at Winter Park on Friday and is not at the Regional.  

Boys 800

One of the primary reasons 4A Region 1 has earned it's nickname the Region of Death is the Boys 800 and this year is no different. 

Year after year it seems there's a plethora of Central Florida talent duking it out in the Boys 800 which makes for really interesting strategy. 

Just making it out of District was a challenge this year seeing the 5th place finisher ran 1:57.83 and isn't in the Regional Championship.    

We'll get a chance to see Kyren Hollis presently with the State's 3rd fastest time (1:53.31) go head to head with super frosh Emare Hogan, presently 7th fastest (1:54.86) and five more boys that went sub 1:58 at Districts; Timber Creek Senior Traivon Smith, Boone Senior Tyler Chapman, Winter Park stand-out frosh Alex Boucher and Colonial's Zacha Riegelmayer, and Lake Brantley's Max Robinson's.  

Let's not forget there a handful of guys that could step up big if this race "doddles" in either section.  We see the 4 qualifiers coming from Section 2 and they'll know what they need to run to make it out of the Region of Death.  What a race this is going to be.