Ka’Deem Wynn | Writer

It doesn’t get any better than this. The third and final day of the meet brought out the true meaning behind the name. You can’t have the Florida Relays, without the relays! Otherwise, it’d just be something like the 71st Annual Florida Track & Field Meet.

Let’s see what the concluding day of the 2015 Pepsi Florida Relays brought to us.

4x100/110 Meters Shuttle Hurdle Relay

The women of Elite Athletes International took the win by a slight margin over the women of Jamaica, edging them 52.62 to 52.97 in heat one. Purdue, who was in the second heat, took third with 55.42. Maryland, in heat four, was fourth with 55.85, and Kennesaw State, also in the fourth heat made up the top five finishes with 56.20.

Maybe some of the guys should race the women of EAI and Jamaica. It might be a good race.

The men of World Express AC took the win, as well as the track and relays record, in 53.65. The previous was 54.10, set back in 2008. The team registered as Train Gang and Train Gang ‘B’ took second and third, running 55.06 and 55.36 respectively. South Carolina’s relay took fourth, running 56.98, and FIU took fifth with 1:04.29.

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4x100 Meters Relay (High School)

As expected, the girls of Miami Northwestern literally ran away from the competition. The girls came close to the relays record set back in 2009 (45.38), running 45.77, the second of 4 DyeStat TFX US#1's for Coach Jackson's Lady Bulls. A bit of a surprise to see the absence of St. Thomas Aquinas who would have been in the mix but according to Coach Armenteros, they are in cruise mode gearing up for the State series.

Lincoln (46.49), Hallandale(47.57), Atlantic Coast(47.67), and Oakleaf(47.72) made up the top five placers.

Another unexpected absence was the Dr. Phillips boys who withdrew the morning of the competition. The boys of Lincoln took the win in 41.33. A very close battle ensued for second, third, fourth, and fifth place, as South Fort Myers crossed the line in 41.36, Manatee in 41.64, St. Thomas Aquinas in 41.64, and Auburndale in 41.67.

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4x100 Meters Relay (Collegiate)

Coach Smith Gilbert's Lady Trojans of USC came out of heat two to get the win in 43.85. Featuring two freshman and two juniors, good things can be expected from these women in the future. Kentucky took second, running 44.01.

UCF(44.49), Clemson(44.70), and USC’s ‘B’ team(44.85) made up the rest of the top five performances.

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4x800 Meters Relay (High School)

Another victory, and another DyeStat TFX #1 for the girls of Miami Northwestern as the girls crossed the line in 9:12.90, which wasn’t too far ahead of second place Winter Park (9:15.33), who was anchored by freshman  sensation Rafaella Gibbons. The Estero girls, (9:18.27), and the girls of Oak Hall(9:24.53) and Dr. Phillips (9:31.29) filled the top five spots. The top 3 teams are currently US#1, US#2, and US#3 ! What a race especially given the heat of the day on the Percy Beard track.

It looked like the boys of Olympia were going to get the win...oh! Here comes Javon Patterson. The boys of Boyd Anderson saved the best for last as Javon Patterson, who won the boys 800 meters Thursday night (1:52.49), had an impressive anchor leg, leading them to victory in 7:53.87. Olympia high school put Kyren Hollis, the 2014 4A state champion in the 800 meters, as their first leg. Their plan worked, as they led untouched for almost four complete legs. Olympia finished second in 7:56.37. Flagler Palm Coast, who featured a run by Justin Pacifico, had very strong second, third, and fourth legs, keeping them within the top three most of the race. At the end, Freedom High School got third (7:57.45), Colonial in fourth,(7:57.86), and Flagler Palm Coast in fifth (7:57.93).

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4x800 Meters Relay (Collegiate)

The women’s side featured UCF taking the victory. The relay finished with a time of 8:38.75. From there, the race was a bit spread out, as Connecticut took second in 8:41.80. Georgia Tech (8:41.80), Penn State (8:51.46), and Clemson (8:57.81) placed in the top five.

Georgia Tech’s Men made it a trifecta winning for the Pepsi Florida Relays 4x8 for the third consecutive year in 7:21.87 to Penn State’s 7:22.22. Georgia (7:26.23), Clemson (7:34.21), and North Carolina A&T (7:34.36) placed in the top five.

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4x200 Meters Relay

USC’s women took the win in 1:31.41. It came down to the wire as former East Ridge superstar-turned pro Kaylin Whitney of Star Athletics anchored their relay, but didn’t have enough to hold off USC’s anchor, and finished in 1:33.08. South Carolina (1:34.52), Clemson (1:36.61), and Connecticut (1:35.76) placed in the top five.

A very close race, Star Athletics pulled it off, winning with 1:21.00. Zenith Velocity AC finished second with 1:21.91. Elite Athletics International (1:22.26), South Carolina (1:22.80), and Star Athletic’s ‘B’ team (1:23.07), placed in the top five.

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1600 Meters Sprint Medley Relay

The women of UFC All-Stars proved why that’s their name by getting the win in 3:45.47. Hampton had a strong finish to get second, in 3:46.54. USC, who featured former St. Thomas Aquinas speedster, Kendall Ellis, finished third in 3:47.89. Purdue finished fourth (3:52.43), and Penn State finished fifth (3:52.68)

The men of Florida, who featured Antwan Wright, Dedric Dukes, Najee Glass, and Andres Arroyo, took down the Pepsi Florida Relays meet record at home getting the win in 3:13.96. The previous meet record was previously set by the Florida Gators back in 1992, when they ran 3:16.53.

Mississippi State went under the record time as well, running 3:16.46. Hampton finished third in 3:19.78, Tennessee was fourth in 3:20.43, and South Carolina was fifth in 3:22.66.

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Distance Medley Relay

Alabama’s women took first in the race, running 11:25.40. Mississippi took second, in 11:27.65. Louisville was third (11:50.03), Jacksonville was fourth (11:59.48), and Iowa was fifth (12:01.69).

Kentucky stole the race at the end over Florida who took the lead after an impressive and smooth leg from Ryan Schnulle. Kentucky finished in 9:43.44, and Florida finished in 9:47.69. Samford(9:56.50), Harvard (9:59.35), and Penn State (9:59.79) placed in the top five.

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4x400 Meters Relay (High School)

Anchored by senior La’Kayla Harris, Miami Northwestern posted the top time for the girls, running 3:44.38, their 4th and final DyeStatTFX #1 of the Relays. The constant battle between Miami Southridge and Northeast (OP) ended with Miami Southridge pulling away with 3:45.69. Northeast finished third in 3:46.14. Boyd Anderson and Wakefield took fourth and fifth, running 3:50.69 and 5:51.31.

The concluding race of the high school competition was the moment that everyone was waiting for especially after the Texas Relays just a short week ago. Despite Dr. Phillips taking no part in it, the race was a dogfight from start to finish. American High School led the majority of the race and only briefly did they ever fall back to second. They crossing the line in 3:12.86 for another DyeStat TFX US #1, lowering their previous US#1 from earlier in the season. Miami Northwestern was second in 3:13.92. St. Thomas Aquinas (3:15.61), American Heritage (3:15.71), and Olympia (3:17.99) were the top five finishers.

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4x400 Meters Relay (Collegiate/Open)

Since there were so many 4x400s that were ran, we decided to choose the top time from any race, and put it in the top five fastest times.

The women of Adidas took the win with a bit of a comfortable margin of victory, running 3:29.76. Florida came behind them in 3:31.00. Clemson finished third in 3:31.89, Kentucky in fourth in 3:32.62, and Elite Speed Connection in 3:33.10.

The men of Florida took the top spot in the results, running an impressive 3:01.78. Elite Athletics International took second with 3:03.57, with the Dutch Athletics Association close behind them with 3:30.99. Zenith Velocity AC took fourth in 3:04.62, just slightly better than the Brazilian Olympic Committee, who finished fifth with 3:04.88.                    

Thanks for viewing our coverage of the 2015 Pepsi Florida Relays! We look forward to being your host for updates, videos, and more, at the 2016 Pepsi Florida Relays!