BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School, which had a new track installed around its football field in 2022, hosted its first track and field meet in almost three decades, welcoming Baker County, Eastside, Interlachen, Newberry, St. Francis and Union County to the April 4 KHHS Relays.
The Telegraph-Times-Monitor has been unable to determine when the school last hosted a track-and-field event, but the last mention of a KHHS home meet in the paper appeared in its April 10, 1997, issue, which reported that the school was to host a meet on April 15 of that same year.
Keystone won two events on the boys side and placed third with 105 points. Eastside (198.5) and Newberry (132.5) were first and second, respectively.
Ryder Thomas ran a first-place time of 10:27 in the 3200m. The Indians also got a win from the 440m shuttle hurdles team of De’Shawn Williams, Jamari Turner, Baylor Ford and Mason Clark, which had a time of 1:20.
The boys 400m distance medley relay team of Thomas, Judah Moses, Ryeland Wahl and Hunter Sheppard placed second with a time of 11:54, while the following individuals also earned runner-up finishes: Turner in the high jump (5-5.75), Ford in the triple jump (40-0.5) and Luke Lewis in the javelin (107-5).
Tyler Kerner and Ford took fourth and sixth, respectively, in the javelin with distances of 101-10 and 97-10, while Aaron Wiley placed fourth in the 100m with a time of 11.43.
The Indians also earned a fourth-place finish from the 4x200m relay team of Wiley, Turner, Clark and Ford, which had a time of 1:37.
Earning fifth-place finishes were Clark in the long jump (17-4) and the 4x100m relay team of Clark, Turner, Ford and Wiley (46.26).
Keystone got sixth-place finishes from Jason Parales in the 3200m (13:07) and Ricardo Rosario in the shot put (33-6).
Sheppard and Wahl finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 800m with times of 2:12.19 and 2:12.37, while Eli Rabe was seventh in the 3200m (13:27) and Carter Andrews seventh in the high jump (4-7.75).
The Indians had two additional teams in the 400m distance medley relay that placed seventh and eighth with times of 14:02 and 15:21, while the 1600m sprint medley relay team of Moses, Logan Wilson, Clark and Mason Gray placed eighth with a time of 4:38.
On the girls side, Keystone had 75 points to place fourth behind Eastside (196), Interlachen (119) and Newberry (90).
Olivia Griffin ran a second-place time of 2:29 in the 800m, while Cali Chamberlain was third in the high jump after clearing 4-2.
Keystone had two teams in the 4x200m relay, with Kaylee Park, Ashly McCarthy, Alexis VanNordstrand and Christine Djavaheri teaming up to run a third-place time of 1:53 and Laura Herndon, Laila Briseno, Sophie Moses and Kenslee Phillips teaming up to run a fifth-place time of 1:59.
Xana Briley earned two fourth-place finishes with distances of 24-1.5 in the shot put and 72-1 in the javelin.
Also earning fourth-place finishes were Melody Tyre in the 3200m (14:02), the 4x100m team of Park, McCarthy, Djavaheri, VanNordstrand (54.20) and the 1600m sprint medley team of Jayla Jamison, Briseno, Jasmine Walls and Chamberlain (5:39).
Chamberlain ran a fifth-place time of 1:20 in the 400m hurdles, while two individuals placed sixth: Park in the long jump (13-7.75) and Tatum Hall in the javelin (45-11).
Seventh-place finishes were earned by Djavaheri in the 100m (13.43), Raven Bastin in the 800m (2:55) and Herndon in the long jump (13-5).
Keystone also earned third- and fourth-place finishes in the mixed 4x400m relay. The team of Ford, Djavaheri, Wahl and Griffin ran a time of 3:59, while the team of Wiley, Phillips, Sheppard and McCarthy ran a time of 4:14.
Though not earning points, the boys team also had these following results: 100m — Ford 11.71, Moses 12.59, Williams 13.08, Lewis 13.63, Andrews 14.74, James Carsey 18.16; 4x100m — 57.76; 800m — Oliver Miller 2:44, Hunter Gray 2:46, Alex Mahaffey 2:56.75, Gavin Morford 2:56.92; long jump — Williams 16-0.5, Wilson 15-8.75, Andrews 13-11.75; triple jump — Williams 32-6.5, Andrews 30-6.25; shot put — Moses 28-2.25, Kerner 27-11.5; and javelin — Carsey 39-10.
Keystone also had the following girls results: 100m — Park 13.58, Mcarthy 13.61, Briseno 14.31, Phillips 14.91, Jamison 15.0, Madylinn Michaud 15.69, Walls 16.02; long jump — Bastin 12-4.5, Walls 11-3.5; and shot put — Hall 18-7.75.
