JACKSONVILLE – St. Johns Country Day School freshman distance runner Matthew Stratton was intent on not leaving any doubt as to his intention when racing Providence freshman Steven Cartwright in the region 1-1A 1600 and 3200 meter races on Saturday at Bishop Snyder High School.

“He likes to lead and I was not going to let him,” said Stratton, who has tangoed with Cartwright in cross country and in last week’s district track finals in the same two events. “I was going to make him chase me.”

In the 3200, Stratton, who finished second by 23 seconds to Cartwright in last week’s 3200 district championship race, bolted to a commanding 10-12 yard lead after lap one and held steady as track onlookers awaited a Cartwright counterattack. One missing element of the chase was St. Johns senior Benjamin Kailes, a constant shadow with his younger teammate in nearly all races that both lined up for.

“Benjamin and I talked before the race and he said he didn’t think he could push hard enough to stay with me this time,” said Stratton. “He’s been a great teammate, but he has had some nagging injuries.”

Stratton held his frontrunning solo pace to the finish with a 9:45.26 split to best Cartwright by 12 seconds; 9:57.27. Kailes gallantly finished fourth at 10:04.49 to make his state meet bid.

“I don’t think my best track racing is over,” said Kailes, who heads to University of South Florida next fall. “I’d like to heal up, train up and maybe be a walk-on at USF. My best running is not over.”

In the 1600, Stratton faced off against another well-known nemesis in Tallahassee Maclay junior Junior Brown, who went shoulder-to-shoulder with Kailes in the region 1-1A cross country championship race in November with Brown winning by 11 seconds over a Kailes. Cartwright was third in that race with Stratton fifth.

In the region 1600, Brown took his normal frontrunning position with Stratton staying 2-3 strides in his rear view mirror before Brown surged on the final lap to win in 4:30.60 with Stratton second at 4:34 and Cartwright third at 4:37.23.

Kailes would gallantly hang on to finish seventh in 4:46, a time just out of the state meet at-large selections.

St. Johns Country Day School’s second region champion, junior hurdler Courtney Sage, demolished the 300 hurdles field witha 46.00 best split of the day that ranked second in Class 1A.

Sage got a second state meet ticket with a third in the 100 hurdles with sister Kendall Sage getting fourth in the 100 meters to send both siblings to the state meet.

In the boys events, in one of the closest top four finishes of the day, St. Johns Country Day School seniors Jett Isley and Corey McDaniels took third and fourth, respectively, in the 400 metes; 51.52-51.57. McDaniels, who was fifth in the 200, but made the state at-large list, roared in the final 80 meters to secure his spot amongst four runners bunched in just under 52 seconds in the 400.