The District 1-1A track meet was held at Baker on Wednesday and PCA swept the boys and girls championships. Baker was second in both boys and girls.

The Warriors ran away with the boys outscoring second-place Baker 273-113. Central finished in a distant fifth place with 44 points with the Jay boys finishing in seventh with 31 points.

The girls’ side of the meet was much more competitive with PCA edging out Baker 202.5 to 198 to win. Central finished in fourth with 99 points, two points behind third place Rocky Bayou Christian. Jay finished fifth in the field of eight teams with 42.5 points.

It could be theorized that the difference between the Baker girls taking the title was.29 seconds in the 100-meter dash Baker’s Amelia Knight won the event. PCA’s Ziyona Carter finished in second place, .29 seconds ahead of Baker’s fifth place finisher, Nevaeh Nava.

Carter earned eight points for finishing in second and Nava four points for finishing fifth.

Reverse the finishes and Baker wins the meet 202 to PCA’s 198.5 points.

The Lady Gators had nine individual champions and a relay team picking up a district title.

Amelia Knight won the 100 meters, Kadyn Eller the 100-meter hurdles, Chloe Allen the 400-meter hurdles and Kat Price the discus. Grace Martin was a double champion in the shot put and javelin. Kaitlyn Stevens picked up the trifecta in the jumping events, winning the high jump, long jump and triple jump.

The 4 x 100-meter team was Knight, Elder, Micayla Caine and Eiress Rockwell.

Conner Hammon was the only winner for the Baker boys, but he did double his pleasure winning both the 200 and 400 meters.

Gator coach Wilder Kersey said his teams was right where they needed to be at the district meet.

“We had some really good runners (jumpers and throwers) today and some kids that really turned in a good effort,” he said. “I told the team we wanted to leave everything on the track today and I think we were able to do that.”

In scoring 312.5 points the Lady Gators almost outscored the other teams combined as the five opponents totaled 337.5. Rocky Bayou was a distant second with 136. Crestview finished in third with 119 points.

The competition was stiffer on the boys side of the slate with Baker 194.5 points, 39 points better than second place Walton’s 155.5 points and 39.5 points better than third place Rocky Bayou’s 155 points. Crestview’s boys finished in fourth place with 96.5 points.

Both Baker coach Wilder Kersey and Crestview coach George Stakley expressed the same sentiments about the importance of Thursday’s meet.

“Today we’ve done pretty well,” Kersey said. “We had several of the athletes that had their PR today, which is personal record and personal best. We are starting to get in mid-season form.

“We are hitting peak form, which is great. Right around April is where you want to start getting that momentum and getting that shape so all and all we had a pretty great day.”

Stakley used the meet to get many of the younger Crestview athletes some live experience.

“We have a lot of kids so just the opportunity to get some meets in and some races is important,” he said. “I have a lot of young freshmen girls. It was good just to see them running and getting their times.

“One of my girls told me she got her PR. That’s what’s important, as it starts to get warmer, we need to start peaking.”

Kersey likes what he’s seen from the Gators and Lady Gators as the 2024 season gets started.

“This year’s team is shaping up to be pretty good,” he said. “We had some seniors from last year that we lost, so we know some of those are going to be tough to replace. But our girls team is very, very strong this year, especially in the sprints.

“We lost Allison Baggett, we lost Emma Mason, with Mason being state champion (in the shot put), Allison being a state competitor for four or five years. We’re a little bit rebuilding with our throwers,” Kersey added.

“But we have some great kids who came out to kind of fill the holes that we had and overall, the team’s looking good.”

Kersey has things he hopes to see from the team.

“Biggest concern for the girls would be filling those holes from the seniors last year,” he said. “I think will be OK, but that’s just going to be a little difficult to do.

“Other than that, we got a really, really strong team. We’ve got some speed (in the sprints), we have some distance runners. So, I’m very excited for what’s coming up. The girls team should be very, very solid.”

Kersey also is optimistic about the Baker boys.

“My guys, the ones that I have, they’re pretty strong,” he said. “So, we’ve got high hopes and big goals this year for sure. The strength of the boys will probably the 100 and 200 with Tyson McBride.

“We’ve got some really good guy throwers who coming out so javelin and shot put are definitely going to be something to look for,” Kersey added.

The biggest concern Kersey has with the boys is the depth of the team. The girls have about 60 on the team, but the boys are about half that number with 30 or 40 athletes competing.

“The only thing that concerns me with the boys is I just don’t have enough,” he said. “I lose some for baseball and it’s tough to get them both over here (and in baseball at the same time). The guys that I have, they’re awesome. But if we could get some more, it would be very helpful.”

Baker will have the rare opportunity to host the District 1-1A meet on April 24. “It’s the second time Baker has hosted it, so we’re very excited for that,” Kersey said. It should be a good opportunity for the school, good opportunity for the program.”

The Gator girls finished with 216.50 points, edging out Pensacola Christian. The Gator boys finished second to Pensacola Christian, which held a 253-122 edge in points.

Kayden Elder earned a win in the 100 with a time of 16.90 and Amelia Knight came away as a district champion in the 400 hurdles (1:11.33). She finished second in the 100 (13.42) and 200 (28.79).

Kaitlyn Stephens made it a clean sweep of the jumping events, winning district crowns in the high jump (4-feet-8-inches), long jump (16-3 3/4) and triple jump (33-4).

Emma Mason dominated the discus (106-8 1/4) and shot put (36-4 1/2) and Allison Baggett notched a victory in the javelin (111-1). The Gators took second in the 400 (52.38) and 3200 (10:18.08) relays.

Kayleb Wagner picked up a pair of first-place medals for the boys team, winnings the 100 (12.01) and shot put (43-4). The Gators’ mile relay team also too home first place, clocking in with a time of 3:39.80.

Brayshawn Baker was a runner-up in the 100 (12.18) and 400 (54.48) while Tyson McBride took second in the 200 (24.33).

Merritt is anything but laid back when he takes the track for the Gators as he competes in the 400 meters, 800 meters, the four by 400-meter relay and the four by 100-meter relay.

Merritt comes from a running family. In fact, his older sister, Katie Rispone, graduated with Baker track coach Wilder Kersey in 2014 and was a member of the Lady Gators track team. Merritt competes in the same events as his sister.

“It’s very cool and very surreal to have that small town closeness and stuff,” Merritt said. “My sister really inspired me to run and It’s like the coolest thing ever. Now I have three younger sisters doing it.

“(Running) means a lot to us,” he added. “We can go out and run together and talk to each other about how we can get better.”

Merritt’s family was in Navarre for a few years and returned to Baker his sophomore year. That’s when he took up track.

“I wasn’t very athletic (before the move to Baker), but there wasn’t much to do here so I figured I’d just pick up something I could just do,” he said.

Kersey has had a unique vantage point in watching the siblings run.

“It makes you realize you’re getting a little bit older (coaching the siblings of his classmate),” he said. “But it’s really cool because the whole clan are all athletes.

“To watch their whole family participating in track is pretty cool,” Kersey added.

Merritt said he enjoys the simplicity of competitive running.

“It’s really tough, I suppose,” he said. “But it’s really straightforward. You always know exactly what you need to do to get better.

“You just have to work harder,” Merritt said. “It’s very simple and reliable. A lot of (sports) can be very confusing.”

The hard work associated with being a top track athlete doesn’t faze Merritt. Maybe that’s part of the family genetics.

“It’s nice to have something to just kind of go to where you can relax even when you’re sweating and (feel like) dying,” he said.

Merritt would like to run at the college level if the opportunity arises. Right now, he just wants to finish his senior season strong the best way he knows how, by outworking the competition.

“Those guys love to work, but they don’t know I’ve been out here still working,” he said. “I know I’m probably the only one out here still working.”

He does believe the Baker girls will win their half of the competition.

“Our relay teams are really strong,” Kersey said about the boys. “The (400-meter relay) team has … placed first and second just about every meet that we competed.

“So, our relay teams are strong. Our 400 runners are strong, and our 200 runners are really strong as well,” he added.

Whenever talking about the Baker boys, it seems the conversation starts with Kayleb Wagner. Kersey expects Wagner to win the shot put and to place in several sprints while helping with the relay teams.

Brayshawn Baker is another multisport standout that uses his football speed on the track. Kersey said he’s hitting his stride at just the right time.

When it comes to hitting their stride, nobody does it better for the Gators in the middle distances than Clint Merritt. Kersey expects a big meet out of the senior leader.

Mario Ramos is expected to score in the sprints for the Baker boys as well.

Damion Martinez, Michael Richards and Caden Boyd should score in the distance events.

Phillip Martinez is a seventh grader and is expected to do well in the pole vault.

The Lady Gators will be strong in the sprints with Amelia Knight, Micayela Caine, Kaden Elder and Katie Stephens being among the best in the area.

Stephens is expected to make a strong showing in the high jump, triple jump and long jump.

Eliana Butler, Jayden Harvey and Danielle Davis will be some of the favorites in the distance events.

Davis, a seventh grader, was a triple winner in the 800 meters, the 1600 and the 3200 for the Lady Gators in the final meet of the regular season, posting her personal best in all three events.

In the throwing events, Baker has 2022 shot put state champion Emma Mason ready to make a run at defending her state title. Allison Baggett, a state champion weightlifter, is also a standout in the javelin, discus and shot.

Baggett usually wins the discus and javelin and places near the top in the shot put.

Kersey said Stephens could be the difference maker for the Lady Gators at the district meet.

“Keep an eye on Katie Stephens,” he said. “She brings in about 30 points every track meet.”

Individually for the girls, Katiya Casey placed fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.89 while Hailee Hardman finished sixth in the high jump with a leap of 4-feet-8-inches.

Unique Redmond came through with a fifth-place finish in the long jump, recording a distance of 15-10 1/2.

For the boys, Malaai Saul won the triple jump with a leap of 41-4 3/4. Dylan McArty was the runner-up in the 400 hurdles (1:00.94) and Tony DeLeon earned a fifth-place in the discus (116-2 1/2).  Mark Celinski placed sixth in the 3200 (10:59.83) and Keishawn Smith place sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 35-9 1/2.

The Bulldog girls 400 relay team clocked in with a time of 51.71 to take second overall while the boys 1600 relay took fourth (3:47.06). The boys two-mile relay team finished fifth in a time of 8:59.52.

That norm is true in track as well.

Perhaps the greatest athlete to grace the state of Florida, definitely the most gifted athlete from Okaloosa County, was Baker track great Houston McTear. And while there are no athletes that can match the world record speed of McTear, greatness is expected of the current Gator and Lady Gator track and field athletes.

Baker track coach Wilder Kersey is a part of the Gator tradition. He knows what’s expected of the team and he’s excited about what he has, especially with the Lady Gators.

“The girls seem really good,” he said. “We had some athletes come in that we haven’t had before. Last year we had a really good girls team, but we are even better this year.

“Our boys teams is looking good as well,” Kersey added.

Three meets into the season the Lady Gators have yet to lose. The Baker girls were impressive in their most recent meet, a home meet on March 16.

Baker won the meet with 262 points, easily pulling away from the field as Pensacola Christian Academy finished in second place with 195 points.

Kersey said one of the big reasons the girls are doing so well is they have had an influx of speed at the sprint events.

“We actually have some speed this year,” he said. “Micayela Caine, Amelia Knight are girls that can move. They’ve been pushing records for the school and getting on the scoreboard.”

Jayden Harvey, Eliana Butler and newcomer Danielle Davis consistently place in the distance events.

Allison Baggett, Emma Mason and Anna Price are standouts in the throwing events. Baggett is at her best throwing the javelin.

The Baker boys aren’t as deep as the girls and finished in fourth place at the recent home meet.

Kersey said the athletes Baker does have competing for the boys are in solid across the board.

“Our boys start with Kayleb Wagner, the all-star running back (on the football team),” Kersey said. “He comes out here and does the shot put and usually wins. He does a lot for us in the 100 (meter dash) as well.

 “Clint Merritt, he’s a good 800 (meter), miler and 400 (meter) runner. Tyson McBride has stepped up in the sprints for the boys as well. Brayshawn Baker is a good runner as well,” he added.

Ethan Eidson is strong in the javelin and discus for the Gators. Seventh grader Phillip Martinez has a bright future in the pole vault for Baker.

Kersey knows that the champion athletes from other sports competing on the track and field team raise the standard for success and push their teammates to heights they might not reach.

“Those boys and girls that are competitive in other sports know what it takes to push to that next level,” he said. “You’re talking about district, regional and state championship athletes and they know what the expectations are at Baker.

“They know the pride and what goes into the program and the heart that it takes to win,” Kersey added. “What I really like about that is they rub off on the other kids and set a great example of what it takes to win.”

Crestview track and field coach George Stakley is one of those wearing the hat of both boys and girls coach. He does have help from Barbbi Demara, who works with the girls and helps coach distance runners for both boys and girls. Vada Moore coaches the throwing events for the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs.

A month into the 2023 season, Stakley sees promise for both the Lady Bulldogs and the Bulldogs.

In the recent meet at Baker, both the Lady Bulldogs and the Bulldogs placed third.

“We did a good job today,” Stakley said. “We brought a lot of our young kids to get some times. Our older kids there did a good job.

“It’s still early in the season,” he added.

Stakley likes what he’s seen from the Lady Bulldogs. Basketball point guard Katiya Casey has been dynamic on track just as she was on the basketball court.

“Katiya Casey has come from basketball and is doing a really good job for us,” he said. “Illianna Rivera (winner of the 200 meters at Baker) also is doing a good job.”

Unique Redmond is a making her mark in the high jump and long jump. Destiny Baldwin is a standout in the triple jump for the Lady Bulldogs.

Meriel Adair is making a strong showing in the distance events for the Lady Bulldogs. The top throwers for the Crestview girls are Daniela Elliot in the discus, Maziah Davis in the shot put and Amelia Ortiz in the javelin.

The sprints are the strong suit for the boys.

“Simeon White and Tristen Wells are really doing good for me,” Stakley said. “They pretty well standout. They’re my seniors and they’ve been doing the 100, 200 and my 4-by-100 relay team.”

Marek Celinski and Anthony Bragg are freshmen distance runners for Crestview that have shown they can compete at a high level early in their careers.

William Fensler and Gabriel Gottlieb are scoring for Crestview in the javelin. Matthew Mitchell and Isaiah Brooks are doing well in the shot. Mitchell also excels in the discus.

Makakai Saul, Malachi Mathis and Keishawn Smith are the leading jumpers for the Crestview boys.

When the team returns from spring break next week, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will begin to focus on the stretch run to getting ready for the district meet and beyond.

“Right now, I think we are at a good point,” Stakley said. “It’s just going through spring and breaking out spring break and then really be thinking about going right into districts.”

“As facilities age, so does the track and we were overdue for a renovation of our track,” Baker principal Mike Martello. “To make this work, they actually had to take it all the way down to the foundation.

“Just over the years of wear and weather on it had taken a toll. The company had done other tracks in the county before so they came in and did it pretty quick taking it out and putting it on,” Martello said. “It’s going to be a little longer before the detail guy comes and puts down the lines, but it will be done by track season (after the first of the year).”

Martello is uncertain of the exact cost of the project as the bid was a part of several tracks in the school district that are being resurfaced this year. Crestview High and Destin Middle School are among the other schools in Okaloosa County getting their tracks resurfaced.

“The main issue was there were parts of the track that were becoming unsafe,” Martello said. “Getting that addressed was important this year. We have a very active track program. There are over 80 participants in our track program so that’s one of our largest sports.

The Baker track program took off under the direction of David Oglesby and has continued to thrive as one of Oglesby’s former athletes, Kersey Wilder, took charge of the team.

“They could run on clay and he (coach Kersey Wilder) is still going to have them out there doing a great job,” Martello said. “He works hard at it and the kids are enthusiastic about because he’s enthusiastic.

“I think it’s going to be a nice little amenity for them, but I don’t think it’s a necessity by any stretch. It is going to make it safer for the kids, and that’s always a big thing.”

The asphalt will not be the final surface of the track.

“It’s also going to have a different surface to it,” Martello said. “There’s another coating that comes over the top of the asphalt too to make it a little more sturdy and safer for kids to run.”