Ritacco, Sager lead Niceville at state meet
From staff reports
Sherman Eller couldn't have envisioned a much better day for the Niceville track team at the Class 4A state meet at Winter Park.
Seven of the Eagles' nine athletes finished in the all-important top eight on Saturday to take home all-state honors, a performance Eller referred to as a rousing success. The boys tied for 17th place with 10 points and the girls tied for 20th with three.
"I'm just proud to not only have kids make it to state but perform at state," Eller said. "Those are two big things because to get here takes a lot out of you, but to come here and perform, that says a lot about the quality for us."
As expected, Christian Ritacco led the way, finishing a team-best second in the boys 3200-meter run with a 9:40.80 after winning a regional title a week ago.
"He gave it all he had," Eller said. "He was with him for the first mile but (winner Brian Atkinson) was just too strong."
Meanwhile, the boys 4x400 team made some more school history, breaking a school record for the second straight meet. The team of Donovan Woodberry, Jeremy Burke, Cody Skarupa and Michael Cooley tallied a seventh-place finish with the record-breaking time of 3:20.80. It bested their time of 3:21.12 from regionals.
The Niceville girls' team finished tied for 20th overall with three points thanks to top-eight finishes from both Emily Sager (triple jump) and Kaitlin Davis (shot put). Sager posted the highest finish for a Niceville girl, taking seventh in the triple jump with a 36-6.00. Davis, meanwhile, placed eighth in the discus throw with a toss of 117-09.
Rachael Klinger finished 11th in the high jump with a 5-02.00 and came in 12th in the prelims of the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.06.
