Columbus’ Daniel Areces, Palmer Trinity’s Tammy King are Dade Track Coaches of the Year
The Columbus boys’ track and field team finally made it back to the top, splitting the Class 4A team state title.
The Palmer Trinity girls team, meanwhile, was the state runner-up in Class 1A, finding success the school hasn’t had in more than three decades.
Their coaches — Daniel Areces from Columbus, Tammy King from Palmer Trinity — are the Miami Herald’s Dade Track and Field Coaches of the Year as a result.
For Areces and Columbus, it’s the team’s first team state title since winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. The Explorers tied with Niceville, both logging 70 points, to split the team crown this season.
Columbus had three individual state winners — Shaddai Carter in the long jump, Adrian Cardero in the 400, and the team’s 400 relay.
Beyond them, Durian Moss was runner-up in the 100 and sixth in the 200, Jancent Wallace was third in the 400, Remington Goins was fourth in the javelin, D’Andre Ward placed sixth in the 400 hurdles, Alejandro Romagosa came in sixth in the 3,200, and the 1,600 and 3,200 relays both finished third.
For Palmer Trinity, it was the first top-two finish in program history. Before that, the team’s best finish was third place in 1991, when King was competing for the Falcons.
Senior Noelani Sanders won a state title in the 100 hurdles and finished third in the 400 hurdles. Maria Camposano also came up big in multiple events, finishing second in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the high jump. Palmer Trinity also received points from Mariana Mendoza (fourth in pole vault), Cailyn Sullivan (sixth in 800) and Daniela Perez-Cartaya (sixth in 1,600).
This story was originally published June 7, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
.JPG)