JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Conquerors in the fall. Conquerors in the spring.
Trinity Christian is a champion across the seasons.
As for Parker sprinter Aaron Bell, his moment to shine came and went in a hurry.
Bell pulled off a sprinting double on Friday night, blazing his way to wins in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and giving the Braves their first individual state track champ since Paul Diefenbruch in the shot put in 1988.
Bell is the first area sprinter to sweep those events since Stanton grad Kendal Williams in 2014.
Bell turned in a 10.34 in the 100 to beat Jacari Kennedy of Orlando Jones (10.42). A little over an hour later, he was at it again. Bell’s showing in the 200 was elite. He hit 20.71, well in front of Kennedy’s 21.15. Bell’s teammate Desmyn McCall had a third in the 300 hurdles and a fourth in the 110 hurdles. Columbia’s James Williamson was third in the 100.
Earlier Friday, it was the Trinity show in 1A.
The 400-relay team of Christian Ellis, Terrell Jackson, Kensley Johnson and Jahron Williams nailed down the area’s only state championship in 1A, blazing their way to another medal.
That quartet, all defensive players from Trinity’s state championship football team last December, started strong and finished strong on a windy morning at UNF’s Hodges Stadium. They entered the meet as the No. 1 seed and solidified it by clocking a 42.9 to beat Wildwood (43.06).
That gives seniors Jackson, Johnson and Williams one more medal to cap their high school careers with. Ellis, a junior, will have a shot to return and go for a gold double next year.
“That same hunger that we have in football season we wanted to come out, with that same hunger as football season because we’re trying to repeat, two state championships in one year,” Ellis said. “Get out there and run our race not let anything affect us, no pressure.”
Johnson opened the relay, Ellis and Jackson handled things in the middle and Williams ran the anchor leg and held off a fast-charging Oscene Mikell of Wildwood to deliver the Conquerors the title.
“We just kept working everyday, handoffs, handoffs, handoffs, stay in your lane,” Jackson said. “We implemented that in the field, and we won.”
While Trinity was the lone gold medalist in the 1A meet, local finishers dotted the podium.
Bishop Snyder’s Alicia Horton was state runner-up in the discus and Providence’s Jonah Casey was runner-up in the pole vault.
Providence’s Jocelyn Pringle (shot put) and Skyy Dixon (400) each finished third.
On the boys side, St. Johns Country Day’s Matthew Stratton (3200) and Bishop Snyder’s Khalil McLaughlin (400) also took third in their events. The 1A and 4A meets are Saturday.
Class 3A
Boys (athletes finishing in the top 8 are listed)
Long jump: 8. Markez Sermons (Orange Park), 22-4.5.
Javelin: 6. Chance Zimmerman (Ponte Vedra), 145-2.
High jump: 6. Dequan Stanley (St. Augustine), 6-1.5.
Pole vault: 6. Edward Lancaster (Ponte Vedra), 13-3.5; 8. Landen Scott (Ponte Vedra), 12-9.5.
110 hurdles: 4. Desmyn McCall (Parker), 14.37.
100: 1. Aaron Bell (Parker), 10.34; 3. James Williamson (Columbia), 10.57.
300 hurdles: 3. Desmyn McCall (Parker), 37.99.
200: 1. Aaron Bell (Parker), 20.71.
3200: 4. Lucas Bouquot (Ponte Vedra), 9:16.19.
Girls
High jump: 5. Zoe Whaley (Ridgeview), 5-3.75.
Javelin: 6. Averie Kammerdiener (Ponte Vedra), 101-9.
200: 7. Kayla Cleveland (Parker), 24.66.
3200: 7. Lauren Bing (Ponte Vedra), 11:27.70.
1600 relay: 7. Ponte Vedra, 3:59.54.
Class 1A
Girls (athletes finishing in the top 8 are listed)
Long jump: 7. Lariel Green (University Christian), 16-4.25.
Pole vault: 6. Lilly Simonsen (Providence), 9-10.
Shot put: 3. Jocelyn Pringle (Providence), 34-11-3.75; 5. Anayah Brunson (Providence), 34-9; 8. Alicia Horton (Snyder), 33-7.5.
Discus: 2. Alicia Horton (Snyder), 117-6; 5. Jocelyn Pringle (Providence), 101-7.
100 hurdles: 7. Ashley Ramos (Snyder), 16.73.
1600: 8. Laci Watford (University Christian), 5:19.49.
400 relay: 7. Providence, 51.83.
400: 3. Skyy Dixon (Providence), 57.69.
200: 7. Skyy Dixon (Providence), 25.99.
3200: 6. Laci Watford (University Christian), 11:37.42.
Boys
Discus: 5. Evan Novak (Providence), 140-0.
Shot put: 8. Tywuan Lee (Hilliard), 46-4.
Pole vault: 2. Jonah Casey (Providence), 13-3.5.
100: 8. Jahron Williams (Trinity), 11.02.
400 relay: 1. Trinity Christian, 42.90; 7. Providence, 43.94.
400: 3. Khalil McLaughlin (Snyder), 50.09; 4. Stanley Cowherd (St. Johns CD), 50.40.
3200: 3. Matthew Stratton (St. Johns CD), 9:42.56.