Dillard finally got over the hump. Now, ‘it’s just about building a dynasty’ in track
Davidson Gill did not hide his emotions after he finally led Dillard to its long-awaited first boys’ track and field Florida High School Athletic Association championship last year.
He was, after all, a three-time individual state champion when he was a Panther and he remembered how badly he wanted to win a team title back then. He remembered all his teammates who felt the same way, and everyone who came before and after him who spent time chasing the same goal. For more then 10 years as a coach, he had been working at it, too, first as an assistant to James Kirby — whom he ran for at Dillard — and then as the head of the program himself. There were, by 2021, too many close calls to count, including runner-up finishes in 1991 when he was a student and 2007 when he was a coach.
Gill could only think about the accomplishment for a little while, though. Before too long, he had to start thinking about 2022 and the rebuilding job he’d be tasked with pulling off after finally capturing.
“Going forward,” he said, “it’s just about building a dynasty.”
He knows the odds are stacked against a repeat. The Panthers graduated four state champions, including three-fourths of their gold medal-winning 1,600- and 3,200-meter relay teams, plus its first-team All-Broward County hurdler.
He also knows the expectations have changed in Fort Lauderdale.
“The only difference this year,” he said with a laugh, “is the fans expect us to win everything. Before, it was the hope, but now it’s the expectation.”
There’s a pretty good foundation still in place, though.
Senior Devaughn Mortimer and junior Chris Johnson, who won a state title in the 400 relay, are both back after earning all-county honors from the Miami Herald last year, as is sophomore Edward Louis, who was a first-team all-county selection in the long jump. Senior Jacari Shakes, who’s the lone returning member of the 1,600 and 3,200 teams, is also poised for a potential breakout season, Gill said.
If it’s a rebuilding year, it should still be a good one for Dillard, but Gill has higher standards than just settling for a rebuild.
“I want to build that to the point that the juniors and sophomores step up for the seniors where they graduate, and keep it rotating that way,” he said. “I’d like it to get to that point where we just retool instead of rebuild.”
This and that
▪ St. Thomas Aquinas is well positioned to defend its girls’ championship in Class 4A, and go for a fourth straight title and seventh in nine seasons with junior Cha’iel Johnson as the defending champion in the 800 run. The Raiders’ boys are also the defending champion in the 3,200 relay.
▪ Flanagan’s Jassani Carter staked her claim as the best all-around sprinter in the state when she swept the 4A championships in the 100 and 200. She’s back to try to repeat as a senior.
▪ In Class 2A, North Broward Prep senior Morgan King has a state title to defend in the high jump.
▪ In Miami-Dade County, Alyssa Jones is once again the athlete to watch. The Southridge senior won 4A titles in the long jump, high jump and 100 last year, after she posted the nation’s best marks in the long and high jumps in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season, and won a high jump championship in 2019.
▪ Northwestern’s girls will try to extend their record state-championship streak to 13 in a row this year. Senior Aaliyah Baker, who won an individual 3A title in the 400, leads the the Bulls, who also have half of their title-winning 1,600-relay team back.
▪ Palmer Trinity’s Brandon Pottinger is already making waves to start 2022. The senior, who won the Class 1A title in the high jump last year, was the first athlete in the nation to clear 7 feet in the high jump so far this season. He also won a silver medal for Jamaica at the NACAC U18 Championships in Athletics last year and a 1A title in 2019 for Florida Christian.
▪ In the distance categories, Coral Park’s Penelope Sosa is the top performer to watch. The senior was the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Runner of the Year for cross country in 2021 and is the defending 4A champion in the 3,200 run. Khamauri Crabbe is the Rams’ top boy, with eyes on qualifying for the 4A championship in the 200 and 400 dashes.
▪ Plantation could have some dangerous relay teams this year with Jamari Haynes, Maurice LaPierre, Jaquan Haynes and TyJuan Gordine-Moran all having a chance to crack 11 seconds in the 100 dash this year.
▪ In only its fifth year of existence, Riviera Prep track and field has several contenders to reach the state meet, with distance-runner Roman Giffure running the 3,200 run in as fast as 10:58 last year and Maya Riquezes finishing as the runner-up in Region 4-1A in the 200.
▪ Ransom Everglades’ boys are strong at the top with sprinter Daniel Daley getting college interest and high jumper Eli Goldman already committed to Division III Washington University in St. Louis, and its girls are deep with miler Madison Munroe leading the way.
▪ Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart has three returning individual District 16-2A champions: Bella Carroll in the 100, Carola Cobo in the long jump, and Paolina Salas in the 100 and 300 hurdles.
▪ As a senior, Calvary Christian Academy’s Ty Noble will try to improve on his fourth-place finish in the pole vault at the 2A championship. Kirsten Kloman, who runs the 800 and 1,600 run, is Calvary Christian’s best shot at getting a girl to state after she finished sixth in her region in the 800 last year.
▪ Jade Brown leads Taravella in the 100 and 200. She ran the 100 in as fast as 11.77 seconds last year.
This story was originally published February 21, 2022 at 9:41 AM.
