Story, Williams each earn two medals

The Nature Coast Technical travel party that made the excursion to Saturday's Class 2A state meet came back with some hard-earned souvenirs.

Two Sharks, junior Antwan Story and senior Howie Williams, left Showalter Field in Winter Park with two medals around their necks, recognizing a top eight finish at the state's premiere event.

"I think it definitely means a lot for us," Nature Coast Head Coach Ryan Wilson said. "The kids worked so hard over the year. Today was the perfect end to their season.

"It's overwhelming for me. I'm real happy for the guys."

This matched the total number of state medals in the team's six-year history, another sign of progress for the growing program.

Kyle Keane garnered a medal in the high jump in 2004, and 2006 high jump state champ Mike Kursteiner won three, including a pair in the high jump and triple jump in 2005.

Getting a look

Story became the program's first sprinter to bring home a medal, doing so in the 200 and 100.

He finished 11th in the 200 at the 2008 state meet, failing to make it out of prelims. This time he advanced to the finals in both that race and the 100 to ensure a medal.

His 100 time of 11.03, though slower than his 10.70 at regionals and 10.89 in prelims, was still good enough to put him in fourth.

He only placed eighth in the 200 final (23.96), coming up lame at the end with a cramp in his right hamstring.

"There's always room for progress, but I'm happy just to be here, to have this opportunity," Story said. "A bunch of people don't know about me, so this gets me a look.

"I needed better preparation. Other than that, placing in the 100; that was good. It's nice to compete. The weather changed real quick, too."

"He won't be satisfied, but I think he did an excellent job," Wilson said.

"...The sky's the limit. It's going to come down to how hard he wants to work and continue to get better. I really don't think he's satisfied."

For his part, Story made it clear that he not only wants another chance to make it back to this meet, but to accomplish even more.

"Gold," Story said. "I'll be getting gold next year."

Williams: redemption

In 2008, Williams reached states in his first year of competing in track and came in ninth in the high jump, one agonizing place short of earning a medal.

This time around, ironically high jump was the one jumping event in which he did not advance out of regionals. Yet he still found a measure of redemption.

Williams placed seventh in the triple jump at 44'6 3/4", and eighth in the long jump with a 22'1". Both heights were below what he jumped at regionals and he actually came away somewhat disappointed.

"I think I could have done extremely better," Williams said. "I wasn't really focused. I should have got my mindset right. I came here lying around and I didn't have my timing right."

An honest assessment considering he came in seeded third in the triple jump at 46'8 1/2". Still, Williams said he was "extremely happy" to earn his medals after just missing out last season.

"It was a hard break for me last year," Williams said. "I came in not knowing what to do, but I wanted to place. I didn't think I pushed myself enough.

"...Last year taught me how to perform at higher levels and really peak at what I'm trying to do. From last year I learned I had to come in here with my head focused and really try to win."

Williams was also left to wonder what might have been had he gotten into track sooner.

"I was thinking about that as the weeks goes by," Williams said. "If I had done it from my first year, I think I'd be way better than I am now.

"I got two medals at the end of my two-year career. If I started my freshman year, I could have a lot more medals."

Like Williams the previous season, the 4x800 relay team suffered some heartbreak.

Matt Lambert, Bruce Federico, Tyler Harrison and Michael Muoio finished in ninth with a time of 8:08, two-tenths of a second behind the eighth-place quartet from Jacksonville-Raines.

Federico, a junior and first-time state qualifier, also ran the 1,600, but did not officially finish.

Class 2A State Meet Boys Team Results
1. Monsignor Pace 82, 22. Nature Coast 9.
Class 2A State Meet Boys Individual Results: Top 8 scored points (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1), earned medals
LJ - 1. D. Williams (COC) 24'5 3/4", 8. H. Williams (NCT) 22'1".
4x800 - 1. McEnany, Trimble, Schilit, Revord (JES) 7:47.87, 9. Lambert, Federico, Harrison, Muoio (NCT) 8:08.00.
100m - 1. Hopkins (MP) 10.64, 4. Story (NCT) 11.03.
TJ - 1. Smith (GOD) 49'1 3/4", 7. H. Williams (NCT) 44'6 3/4".
1600m - 1. Revord (JES) 4:21.51, Federico (NCT) DNF.
200 - 1. Hopkins (MP) 21.39. 8. Story (NCT) 23.96.
Key: Cocoa (COC), Tallahassee-Godby (GOD), Tampa-Jesuit (JES), Monsignor Pace (MP), Nature Coast (NCT).