Dillard girls cross-country doubles up as team, top runner Coleman win first state titles
For cross-country runners, the home stretch can sometimes be the easiest part.
For Dillard senior Christiana Coleman, the grind was the past six years of grinding and training to become one of the state’s best.
Coleman made the final few hundred meters of Friday’s girls’ Class 3A state championship race look simple as she cruised to her first individual championship with a time of 17:53.4.
“I was just thinking this is all downhill so you really just have no choice but to get faster,” Coleman said when interviewed after the race on the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) broadcast. “I just had to push and maintain my form, and this is my last cross-country race in high school so I had to win it.”
The victory wasn’t just gratifying for Coleman, who has run for six years for Dillard, but for the Panthers as a whole.
Dillard secured its first girls’ state cross-country championship after placing four runners among the top 11 to finish with a winning score of 46, which was 20 points ahead of runner-up Ponte Vedra.
Two seventh-graders - Shynah Collins and Miley Gill - placed in the top five. Collins finished third with a time of 18:26.5 and Gill finished fifth with a time of 18:29.2. The duo is able to compete on the varsity squad since Dillard is a 6th-12th grade school.
“This has just been in the making for so long,” said Gill’s father and Dillard head coach Davidson Gill. “We’ve been building this for eight years and it started with Brittany. I built it up then specifically for her to get that accomplished. But then it became a program for the kids, to show them they could do other things than sprinting.”
For Collins, whom Gill called his ‘track and field sensation,’ it was about her developing confidence she could run cross-country as effectively as she runs the 800 meters on the track.
Coleman continued a legacy that began with Gill’s daughter, Brittany, who won Dillard’s only other girls’ individual championship in 2015.
“It’s been fun seeing myself make progress and get better as the years have gone on,” said on the NFHS broadcast. “We’ve been motivating each other more and we had a stronger team this year. We knew we had it.”
Coleman was made more impressive since she bested one of Broward County’s top runners in recent years. Plantation American Heritage’s Ashley Fitzgerald finished the individual runner-up with a time of 18:05.0 and was unable to win that elusive state title after Coleman outraced her to the finish line.
“We started working with Christiana six years ago, and she’s been the leader of this team,” Gill said. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs but it was great to see her really progress this year and lock in for the team and herself to make this a special year.”
OTHER NOTABLES
▪ Miami Braddock’s girls had high hopes coming off last season’s state runner-up finish in Class 4A, but placed 10th overall on Friday. Annabella Cardona led the Bulldogs and was Dade’s top finisher in the 4A girls’ race with a time of 18:57.1.
▪ In Class 2A, Carrollton had the highest finish of any South Florida team, placing fifth with 290 points. Grace Aldrich led the Cyclones with a fifth-place finish after posting a time of 18:27.4.
▪ Westminster Academy finished eighth to lead all South Florida teams in the Class 1A girls’ meet.
RESULTS
Winners and top 10 Dade/Broward teams and Top 25 Dade/Broward individual finishers listed
Class 4A - Team: 1. Gainesville Buchholz 143; 10. Braddock 319; 13. Southridge 375; Individuals: 1. Alyson Johnson (Creekside) 18:21.9: 9. Annabella Cardona (BR) 18:57.1; 16. Nicole Dragoni (SR) 19:14.1.
Class 3A - Team: 1. Dillard 46; 2. Ponte Vedra 66; 3. Lourdes 142; 9. American Heritage 344; Individuals: 1. Christiana Coleman (Dil) 17:53.4; 2. Ashley Fitzgerald (AH) 18:05.0; 3. Shynah Collins (Dil) 18:26.5; 5. Miley Gill (Dil) 18:29.2; 10. Alessandra Perez (Lou) 18:52.8; 11. Raquel Edwards (Dil) 18:55.5; .
Class 2A - Team: 1. Jacksonville Bishop Kenny 69; 5. Carrollton 290; 6. Ransom Everglades 299; Individuals: 1. Annabella Tomasic (LHP) 17:32.9; 5. Grace Aldrich (Car) 18:27.4; 17. Daniela Hernandez (Car) 19:24.7; 18. Kayce Aquilino (StB) 19:25.2; 19. Sophia Linfield (RE) 19:27.1.
Class 1A - Team: 1. Pensacola Christian 68; 8. Westminster Academy 293; 9. Palmer Trinity 312; Individuals: 1. Sienna Audrey (Community School) 18:08.8; Top 25 (Dade/Broward): 14. Daniela Perez-Cartaya (PT) 19:21.5; 17. Eloise Miles (PT) 19:33.8; 18. Sabrina Martinez (Riviera) 19:34.7; 22. Mia Fernandez (MCD) 19:54.4; 23. Claire Chanon (WA) 19:55.0.
This story was originally published November 17, 2023 at 12:52 PM.
