ORANGE PARK - With 25 teams returning to the Hoyt B. Cotney Stadium in honor of iconic track coach Don Hall at Orange Park High, the track action at the Don Hall Invitational was as good as ever on a hot and sunny Saturday with rarefied air above 10 feet the place where track fans could see the best action of the day.

Tops in boys pole vault went to Ponte Vedra's William Hankee with a 12.62-foot winning vault with contenders behind him including runner-up Theodore Jackson of Fleming Island also at 12.62 feet but with more misses making the final jumps dramatic. With the second-best jump, but in third place, was Middleburg's Sawyer Hampton at 11.64 feet with Bartram Trail's Ethan Barton fourth at 11.15 feet.

In the distance runs, another member of the strong Fleming Island boys distance crew, Ryder Muyres, put the gas pedal down after a moderate first lap of the 1600 to beat Keystone Heights' James Thomas with a 4:37.49 to Thomas' 4:45.41.
Thomas may have been a bit fatigued as he was part of the school record 4 x 800 relay boys champion team early in the day.

Speed was apparent in the sprints with Fernandina Beach's Devin Murray cranking out wins in the 100 in 10.94 to Fleming Island's Lennox Ivey's 10.99 and in the 200 with a 21.83 split just ahead of Ivey's 21.94 with Fleming Island's Chase Donaldson third in 22.14.

For the girls sprints, Ridgeview's Oja Riggs dominated with wins in the 100 and 200; 12.41 and 25.50 in the 100 with Fleming Island 400 specialist Halle Steeves on her shoulder second in 25.68. Steeves would return to take the 400 by nearly four seconds with a 57.13 split.

Middleburg's Lauren Rosset stepped up from her 400 at the Blue Devil Invite to get second in the 800 with a 2:28.43. Rosset returned to take second in the 3200 in 12:15.55 with Ridgeview's Emily Turner third at 12:23.43.

In the girls 1600, Keystone Heights seventh grader Ryleigh Thomas hung close to Fernandina Beach's Maya Kovalcik for three laps and finished in a quick second at 5:37.52 with Kovalcik in at 5:28.63. Keystone Heights also got a first time under six minutes from Melody Tyre who was fifth in 5:59.00.

In hurdles, Ridgeview High's Ben Smith and Fleming Island's Avery Savage waged a duel with Savage winning the 400 hurdles 56.94 to 59.42 and Smith taking third in the 100 in 15.56 to Savage's fourth at 15.67.

For the girls hurdles, Middleburg's Mikayla Burns returned to her specialty with a 15.06 win in the 100 hurdles with Bartram Trail ace Ava Schoenberg second in 15.08 and Fleming Island's Meadow Schubert third in 15.33.

In the 400 hurdles, Schubert won by more than a minute with a 1:05.51 split over Yulee's Deborah Hoffman's 1:06.46. Fleming Island got third from Liz Marie Guzman-Torres in 1:10.03.

In girls high jump, Middleburg freshman RyLee Smith won at 4.98 feet to win above four girls at 4.65 feet. In the field events, Clay High javelin thrower Markeetis Pierce ripped a second-place toss of 134.77 feet with Keystone Heights' Luke Lewis not far off in the distance with his own school record of 129.23 for fourth.

Clay High shot putter Jay'shawn McCloud finished third in 47.17 feet.
In long jump, Orange Park's Samir Bates was second in 22.08 feet with Fleming Island's Kameron Singleton third in 21.81 feet. The winner was Palatka's DeQuan Jackson with a 23.19-foot leap.