“Obviously we’re disappointed with the NCAA’s vacation of wins and how it affects our Track & Field program,” FSU Head Coach Bob Braman said. “None of our athletes that were involved in the academic misconduct case needed the course in order to be NCAA eligible so it’s unfortunate that certain student-athletes made wrong choices when they clearly didn’t have to.  more...

We are getting lots of reports of college signings and posting them as soon as they come in.  Please keep sending your updates.  If you do a signing ceremony please send us the photos and I'll post them in this article.   Comment to this article to announce your signings or email it to jason@flrunners.com.  Here is a the complete list of our current Florida signings/commitments...

In the end, the XC Legacy editors could not decide between two Florida teams to crown the retroactive national boys cross country champions for 1979.  It is only fitting that two of the state's most legendary and honored figures, former Astronaut coach Nick Gailey and former Largo coach Brent Haley, have had their teams crowned as co-national champs that year.  Those two teams battled throughout the 1970s and early 80s, along with some of the other best teams Florida has ever seen.  Read this great article honoring these teams and coaches...

Great job to everyone!  Our first track meet of the year was held in Gainesville today... and our only indoor meet in the Sunshine State this year!  Thanks to Ricky Quintana, Scott Peters of Half Mile Timing and all of the others who pulled this one off.  Great to give Floridians at least one shot at an indoor meet!  And this year's meet had a lot of talent including many stars from around the country.

After coming through with a big track season last spring that culminated in a 9:35 3200 at region, Steven Fernandez had even bigger plans for cross country. The Colonial High senior was one of the top cross runners in Central Florida and the 4A. He ran a PR of 15:35 at flrunners 10, had impressive runner-up finishes at Orlando Metros and the Disney Classic and took the tape at Edgewater and District before finishing 8th in the state with a 15:58 at Little Everglades. In this interview I talked with Steven about the past season, his training, and what's next for this up-and-coming distance star.  

Kayla Parker, a senior at Pt. St. Joe High School, has had an absolutley stunning high school career.  She has earned a whopping 8 state championships with her senior season yet to go and is also part of what has become a strong track & field tradition at Pt. St. Joe.  With her final season with the Tiger Sharks fast approaching, we talked with Ms. Parker about it.

Here are top entries in the Jimmy Carnes Track and Field Meet scheduled for January 30 and 31 at the O'Connell Center on the University of Florida Campus as of Wednesday, January 20.

Wilamena had a fantastic throwing career at Buchholz High School, graduating in 2009.  She closed her high school career with PRs of 142-9 and 46-9 in the disc and shot, respectively.  After having to deal with fellow All-Decade Team member Zakeya Stinson at state for thee years, her senior year it was all Wilamena.  She went home with two golds in the throws.  Hopkins stands as one of the greatest shot putters in Florida history, throwing over 45 feet in her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons.

Garrett Johnson had a most distinguished career at Tampa Baptist and later at Florida State University.  He was dominant in high school, winning the shot put state title his junior year and then swept the throwing events at state his senior year before capping his career off with a 65-11.75 throw at adidas Outdoor Nationals (also threw the discus over 192 feet earlier that season).  Four years later, he ended his fine career at Florida State by winning the NCAA title in the shot put both indoor and outdoor! However, perhaps more impressive than his on-the field performances is his academic prowess.  Among many other accolades, he was named a Rhodes Scholar and Academic All-American before going on to study at Oxford University.  He is a fine example for our young athletes on and off the field.   Congrats to Garrett!  The latest athlete featured from our flrunners.com All-Decade Team.  

  As a little girl, Shelby Hayes dreamed about playing soccer for the Lady Gators, but in 2010 she will don a different jersey for the University of Florida.  Winter Park Senior Shelby Hayes has committed to the University of Florida Cross Country and Track and Field programs.  Shelby will return to Gainesville where she was a standout runner for Buchholtz High School and Oak Hall before she transferred to Winter Park her junior year.  Shelby captured the 2009 4A 1600m State Championship and 2009 4A Cross Country Championship and led her team to the 4A CC title.  She had a stellar 5th place performance at Footlocker South, which earned her a bid to 2009 Footlocker Cross Country Nationals.  Shelby is the top returner among all classifications in the 1600m this spring and looks to capitalize on her first full year of healthy training.  She has personal bests of 2:14, 4:55, 11:00 and 17:12 (5k CC). 

We will once again be hosting a state track & field championship for middle school athletes. The championship meet will be held on May 8, 2010 in the Orlando area—the exact venue is TBD.  Though the same concepts will still be in place and most athletes and meet directors mostly unaffected, there are some significant changes to qualifying and entry.