Locals earn gold for Florida Elite track team at AAU meet

Posted Jul 16, 2012 by TBO Staff

Updated Jul 16, 2012 at 05:02 PM

Gaither rising sophomore Samson Moore earned an individual gold medal and an all-star squad of Wharton’s Tyler Watson and Stevondria Hardy, Gaither’s Rachel Cazares and Alonso’s Quatasia Fantroy teamed up to capture relay gold at Sunday’s AAU National Club Championships at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista.

Representing the Florida Elite Track Club, Moore won the Intermediate Boys (ages 15-16) 400-meter hurdles in 53.88 seconds and took the silver in the 110 hurdles at 14.44. He also earned seventh place in the long jump at 21-0.

In the Young Women (17-18) 4x400 relay, Watson, Hardy, Cazares and Fantroy teamed up to earn their gold medal for Florida Elite in a time of 3:56.13.

The top eight finishers earned berths in the AAU Junior Olympic Games, Aug. 1-4 in Houston.

Moore crushed the field in the 400 hurdles finals, winning by more than 2.5 seconds. His 53.88 was a personal best and missed the meet record by .67. Moore still owns several other meet records in younger age divisions.

Fantroy also earned an individual qualification to the AAU Junior Olympics by taking eighth in the 200 (25.73), Watson advanced in the 400 hurdles with a sixth-place finish and Cezares advanced in the 800 and 1,500 by taking eighth and sixth, respectively.

Representing the Phase 1 Track Club, Jefferson’s Deiondre Porter finished second in the Intermediate Boys (15-16) decathlon with 4,894 points. Porter won the decathlon’s 100, 110 hurdles and long jump and finished in the top four of four other events. He also won the open long jump at 22-2.5 and was sixth in the triple jump at 41-4.75.

Representing the Corefit track club, Alonso’s William Taylor Haynes, Maya Cromuel and Zantavious Showers also qualified for the AAU Junior Olympics finals. Taylor-Haynes was third in the male ages 17-18 high jump, Cromuel was fourth in the discus and seventh in the shot for females ages 17-18 and Showers was fifth in the male 15-16 long jump.