JACKSONVILLE — O'Maria Gordon captured the coveted girls' long jump state championship with an incredible third jump of 20 feet, 5 3/4 inches at UNF on Saturday. With that in mind, and considering she has three more events left on Saturday's busy schedule, the Olympia High School senior easily passed her fourth allowed attempt and moved on to the next. I could have moved on.
no way.
Gordon, the best long jumper in Central Florida history, was determined to achieve even greater heights, and he did just that by surging to a career-best 20-9 on his final try.
“I wanted to finish my senior year in PR.” [personal record]” Gordon said of the fruitful decision.
She did more than that. Gordon broke the Orlando area record and moved into second place on Florida's all-time wind legal list behind current Stanford standout Alyssa Jones from Miami Southridge. She jumped 21 wins, 2 minutes, and 4 seconds to win the New Balance Nationals title in her last best performance. 2022 School Tournament.
According to MileSplit.com, there are only three girls in the nation who have gone over 20-9 this year. First place went to Louisiana state champion Tristen Harris two weeks ago with a 20-10 3/4.
Gordon went over 20 feet in two games before Saturday, finishing undefeated in what she called her “year of redemption.” She was disappointed with her eighth-place finish as a junior.
Although she is not signed, she expects interest from colleges to increase now. So said Titans coach Patrecia Danilee Porter, who has coached Gordon since he was 7 years old.
“Her GPA is 3.9,” Danilee Porter said. “This should show the university how good she is.”
Gordon placed fourth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.28. She also competed in the triple jump and 400 hurdles.
Sidney Allen, a Sanford Seminole senior who signed with Southern Miss, finished fourth in the long jump with a record of 19-1.5. This was one of his first events of the day, and finished just before 2:30 p.m., before inclement weather caused competition to be suspended, with competition resuming an hour later.
DeLand junior Kylie Neira cleared 12-9 1/2 to become back-to-back girls pole vault champions. She is second on the list of all-time Orlando area winners behind Lake Mary graduate Erica Sargent, who won three state titles.
In another field event that ended before the rain set in, Okoye junior Diego De Pina, a 6-2, 240-pound football defensive end, placed second in the shot put, marking his first year on the Knights track and field team. I closed my eyes. His 55-3 record is tops in the Orlando area for the season. Another football player, Colby Cronk of Flagler-Palm Coast, won with a state-best 63-0 3/4 in 2024.
Hagerty's boys 4×800 relay team set a school record with a time of 7:53.67, placing second behind Miami-Dade's Braddock (7:51.61). Seniors Jonathan Leon and Julian Scanlon teamed up with the Huskies' sophomore Alexavia Davis-Medina and junior Jacob Leon.
state volleyball
Undefeated Winter Park held off neighboring Lake Howell to win in the FHSAA boys volleyball state tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon at Polk State University in Winter Haven.
The second-seeded Wildcats (29-0) defeated the Silver Hawks (30-2) by scores of 31-29, 25-22, 23-25, and 25-13, defeating defending champion Miami Southwest. He moved on to Saturday night's championship match. (24-7), the fourth-seeded team. Southwest defeated top-seeded Miami Senior in the morning game.
“We're expecting a really tough game,” said Winter Park junior setter Jacob Littlephillips. “We want to put an exclamation point on this season and are ready to finish 30-0.”
Mason Barbary led Winter Park with 20 kills and 11 digs, and Tristan Gitton finished with 19 kills and six digs.
After trailing 22-19, Winter Park rallied to take the first set. From then on, there were five lead changes before Winter Park put the set in the win column.
The Wildcats were tied 19-19 in the second set, but won five of the final eight points.
“We're definitely being tested after the last two days of games,” Winter Park coach Jesse Day said. “I like our resiliency, and we've been resilient all year. Hopefully we'll have another one in us.”
Lake Howell (30-2) rallied from an eight-point deficit to take the third set 25-23. The Silver Hawks were led by Tyler Wint with 21 kills and 14 digs. Aaron Martinez added 14 kills.
“We knew what we had to do,” Lake Howell coach Scott Lehman said. “Sadly, I did get a little high when we did it. The calls weren't great, but I don't blame them for that.”
Both of Lake Howell's losses this season came at the hands of 2022 state champion Winter Park.
Written by Bill Kemp
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Buddy Collings, Varsity Content Editor, can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
