by Ka'Deem Wynn

The 2016 track season is truly heating up, as the boys of Coral Reef Senior High School, consisting of Johnathan McKenzie, Derwin Moultrie, Cameron Berryhill, and Carlin Berryhill, made their way to the top after running a new state-leading time of 7:57.29 (DyeStat TFX FL #1) in the 4x800 meter relay to win at the 2016 GMAC Championships, at Tropical Park Track, in Miami, FL.

Previously, the boys had run 7:59.54, which was just about two seconds behind then state leaders, Flagler Palm Coast, who ran 7:57.78 (then US #2) at the Bolles Bulldog Classic in Jacksonville. With their new season personal-best, that allows them to, for the time being, swap with FPC as the Florida #1, and US #2.

Coming into the race, the boys had one goal in mind: run under 7:59. The boys ran smart, and all of their times were within close proximity of each other’s. Coral Reef led off with McKenzie, who split 2:02. He said the he felt coming in that it was going to be a tight first leg, but it turned out alright.

“I could of came out faster but I stayed in good position then ended will a good kick,” McKenzie recalls. “But I'm not satisfied. I wanted to at least get a 2:00.”

The 2:02 split was followed by Moultrie, who really layed on the throttle, finishing with a 1:55 split, followed by the Berryhill brothers with 1:58 and 1:59 splits respectively to get the job done.

When asked about his leg and the race after that, Moultrie said that he was still confident in the team’s ability to go under 7:59.

He recalls thinking, “As long as we did what we needed to do we would get under 7:59. We just needed our first leg to run his PR.”

Which he did, and better, as McKenzie’s current personal-best, according to athletic.net, is 2:04.37, though he aspires to reach 1:56 by the end of the season.

The boys are ecstatic with their performance today, and look to only improve on it as the season progresses. When asked what’s the goal by the end of the season, they said that sub-7:50 was in their sights. Going under would allow them to break their school record of 7:50.14, set just last season at the state meet, where they finished second.

With the boys of Coral Reef and FPC currently battling for the top spot as the only two teams in the state to have broken eight minutes, and St. Thomas Aquinas (8:03.78, Dyestat TFX FL #3), Dr. Phillips (8:04.03, Dyestat TFX FL #4), and Christopher Columbus (8:04.16, Dyestat TFX #5) all within a few seconds of each other, it can be assured that this year’s race at the state meet in 4A is definitely going to be a close one, as well as one to remember.