On Friday, 24 April 2015, Tallahassee’s Florida High (aka Florida State University School) hosts the FHSAA 1A Region 1 track & field championships. This will be the second year in row that Florida State University School (aka Florida High) has held the meet, which is a bit odd because FSUS is class 2A. The Seminoles themselves compete at the 2A Region 1 meet 170 miles away at Bolles School in Jacksonville. For the 1A schools, though, Tallahassee is a central location in Region 1, and FSUS has a track, so why not have the meet there?

Competition is scheduled to open at 1:00 PM with the 4 x 800. The Maclay boys won the state title in this event last year. 2015 is a different year, of course, but the Marauders come into the meet having run 8:21.41 earlier in the season, faster than any other team in 1A Region 1. The Marauders only went 9:13.96 at the 1A District 3 meet, though, not quite as fast as the 9:08.00 that the Pensacola Christian Academy boys posted when they won the relay in 1A District 1 competition. Milton Central, Baker, Wewahitchka, and Lafayette may not be potential Region 1 champions, but they each have a realistic chance at grabbing one of the top four spots and advancing to the State Finals at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville on Friday, 1 May 2015. And getting to State is the ultimate goal of Regional competition.

Back in March the Maclay girls went 10:04.87 in the 4 x 800. At the State level that won't be fast enough to compete with Oak Hall and Holy Trinity, but it might be fast enough to earn the Marauders a Region 1 win. The Jay girls put up their season best of 10:37.00 to win in 1A District 1 and Providence went 10:35.64 for the 1A District 4 title. No other school in the Region has a girls’ team that has run under 11:00, so all three of those teams should advance to State.

Providence eighth-grader Audrey Woods won the 1A District 4 girls' 1600 in 5:21.42, giving her the fastest time in 1A Region 1 going into Friday. Behind her in District 4, Providence sophomore Katherine Messer went 5:34.55 for second, well off her 2014 best of 5:20.97. Messer may have to watch out for the 1A District 1 girls’ 1600 champ, Maya Espinosa. Espinosa went Espinosa went 5:37.00 at the District meet, has a season best of 5:31.08, and finished ahead of Messer in last year's 1A Region 1 1600.

Only three boys in 1A Region 1 went under 4:40 in the 1600 at their district meet, and all three were from Maclay--sophomore Jake Mazziotta (4:38.02), eighth-grader Clayburn Milford (4:39.44), and junior George Gwynn (4:38.43). First Coast Christian senior Drew Hart went 4:44.23 for the 1A District 4 title, but he also ran 4:37.96 back in March at the UNF Spring Break Invitational. Don’t make a trip to the concession stand during this one; it’s going to be close.

During the 2015 season Maclay sophomore Caroline Willis hasn't quite matched her 2014 800 performance of 2:19.63, but she has gone 2:20.49, which is quite a bit faster than any other girl in 1A Region 1 has run. Coming out of 1A District 4, Providence eighth-grader Sloan Sylvan and sophomore Katherine Messer may not be able to challenge Willis, but they look like they’ll be following her to State. Several runners seem capable of grabbing the fourth qualifying spot, though. As in so many events at a Region meet, the race for fourth may be one to watch.

Maclay junior George Escobar is oh-so-close to going sub-2:00 in the 800, having run 2:00.41 back on 19 March 2015 at the Loretta Smith Invitational. That personal best makes Escobar the top seed in the 1A Region 1 boys 800, a race in which he placed third in 2014. First Coast Christian’s Drew Hart is the closest to Escobar with a 2:03.61 from the 27 March 2015 UNF Spring Break Invitational. Neither of those marks is going to be in the running for a State title, but this is the right time of the season for a breakthrough.

Providence eighth-grader Audrey Woods is the top-ranked girl in 1A Region 1 in the 3200 and the only sub-12:00 girl in the regional field. Woods went 11:53.48 in last year's State Final and ran 11:58.82 this season at the UNF Spring Break Invitational. Maya Espinosa will be among the runners chasing Woods at FSUS. In the 2014 1A Region 1 girls’ 3200, Espinosa finished second to Woods, but came back at State to run 11:51.56 in the State Final, placing 11th to Woods's 12th. Pensacola frosh Kaytlyn Buschman also has a chance to qualify for State, as do sophomore Molly McCann and sixth-grader Lindsay James of Maclay.

The Maclay School boys were the regional champions in cross country this past fall, so you'd expect them to be strong in the 1A Region 1 3200. You wouldn't be disappointed in those expectations. Maclay brings three of the top seeds to the race--Jake Mazziotta, Clayburn Milford, and George Gwynn. First Coast Christian's Drew Hart qualified for State in the 3200 last year when none of the Maclay boys did. In 2015, though, his best eight-lap race is the 11:33.47 he ran to place fourth in 1A District 4. Still, that's Hart's only 3200 this season. Out of 1A District 2, Wewahitchka sophomore Elijah Sarmiento is looking for his first trip to the State Final. He just might earn it. Sarmiento went 10:35.98 at the FSU Relays on 27 March 2015, fast enough to keep the Maclay boys and Hart honest.

Not much is certain in athletics. Unknowns have breakthrough performances, favorites come down with the flu on the day of competition. The one sure bet is that for the class 1A athletes of North Florida the Florida High the last obstacle on the road to the State Final will be at Florida High on Friday, 24 April 2015.