Once Again, Zyaire Nurridin In The Spotlight After 45.78 At Florida Relays

By Todd Grasley of DyeStat

University of Florida photo 

One week after the FSU Relays in Tallahassee, Florida’s fastest athletes headed to Gainesville, for the Pepsi Florida Relays. The event included two nation-leading performances and 10 new state leaders on the track and in the field. 

Zyaire Nurridin, whom Montverde Academy coach Gerald Phiri calls “an amazing talent” continued to improve his time in the 400 meter dash. Nurridin set a new PR and a new US#1 time with 45.78. His time is fifth fastest in Florida history and 25th fastest in U.S. prep history. 

The winning time in a loaded boys 100-meter field didn’t come from the fast heat. IMG Academy’s Demari Howell dropped a US#7 10.49 to win the prestigious event. Howell is no stranger to success. He transferred from Whitney High in Texas where he won the UIL 3A state title in the 100 (10.38) in 2021. 

On the girls side, Nurridin’s teammate Micayah Holland picked up where she left off the previous weekend. Holland ran a wind-legal 11.39 in the 100 meters, US#2, and 15th all-time in high school history. 

Nease senior and Penn State commitment Cyrus Ways lowered his personal best in the 110-meter hurdles to US#3 13.66.

In the distance events, IMG Academy junior Layla Haynes crossed the halfway point of the 800 meters in third place, but she closed in 64 seconds to pick up a state leading and US#6 time of 2:09.23. 

While those individual events stole the show on the high school side, they don’t call it the Florida Relays for nothing. Miami Northwestern had trouble with its first exchange in the boys 4x100, so fans weren't able to see a true IMG vs. MNW showdown in that event. IMG won in a blistering 40.38.

The Bulls from South Florida came back to take the 4x400 in a US#2 time of 3:13.16 and a win over South Florida foe St. Thomas Aquinas. On the girls side, it was St. Thomas Aquinas that flexed in in the 4x400 relay with a US#1 mark of 3:43.32. Miami Northwestern was second in US#4 3:46.22 and Chaminade-Madonna College Prep was third in US#10 3:49.10.

Alyssa Jones, the state leader in the long jump, was victorious in the high jump with a state-leading  and US#2 5-11.25. Niceville’s Lilly Chouinard won the pole vault (12-3.50) and her teammate Megan Hague took the shot put 47-1 also recorded personal bests and Florida best marks.

Other notable high school girls performances included Sandalwood's Brittany Jennings running 14.00 in the 100-meter hurdles, Twaneise Johnson of St. Francis Catholic running US#8 in the 400 (54.59), Wharton's Brooke Reif winning the 1,600 in 4:55.56 and national leader Miami Southridge picking up the 4x100 relay victory with 46.10.

Hagerty's Miguel Pantojas ran 1:52.71, leaving him just outside the top 10 nationally. Matthew Stratton of St. Johns Country Day won the 3,200 in 9:06.93.

Patterson Wins Epic Collegiate Men's 200

Four of the top nine times in the NCAA men's 200 meters came from an elite final that incluced reigning national champion Joseph Fahnbulleh of Florida, 2021 indoor national champion Matthew Boling of Georgia and NCAA 400 meters champion Randolph Ross of North Carolina A&T. 

But Florida's Jacory Patterson (pictured), a Virginia Tech transfer, beat all three of them and matched the fastest time in the country with 20.20. 

Fahnbulleh met him at the finish line with 20.22. Boling was third in 20.31 and Ross was fourth in 20.42. 

Kentucky's Abby Steiner ran a lifetime-best 11.10 to win the 100 meters, moving to No. 5 in the NCAA list. Her time is the second-fastest wind-legal performance so far this season, trailing Julien Alfred of Texas, who ran 11.07 in a dual meet with Texas A&M. 

Florida's Imogen Barrett became the new national leader in the women's 800 meters, taking over from heptathlete teammate Anna Hall, by running 2:02.02 and beating a loaded field that produced the top five times so far in the country.

Teammate Talitha Diggs won the 200 in 22.78, while Grace Stark won the 100-meter hurdles (12.99). Hall ran 55.35 in the 400 hurdles, showing there's virtually nothing she can't do. 

Former Florida prep-turned-pro Briana Williams, who competes for Jamaica, won her 2022 outdoor opener. She ran 22.81 to win the Olympic Development 200.