Micheal Walker shines at 3A-8 district track meet and as leader of Lakeland's throwers

EAGLE LAKE — Lakeland senior Micheal Walker has two state championship medals in football, and he earned a medal in track and field last year with his sixth-place finish in the javelin at the Class 3A state track meet.

With just two meets remaining in his high school career before he heads off to Bethune-Cookman for football and track and field, Walker hopes to add to his state medal collection.

Walker got off to a strong start in that pursuit as he won the javelin and the discus and finished third in the shot put on Saturday at the Class 3A, District 8 track and field meet at Lake Region High School. His 26 points were the most earned in individual events for both the boys and the girls.

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Along with football teammate Malik Morris’ victory in the shot put, the duo accounted for 36 of Lakeland’s 114 points as the Dreadnaughts finished third behind Gateway ad Lake Wales.

Walker had mixed feelings about his day.

“I wouldn’t say happy, but I was blessed to win,” he said.

On a windy day that effected some throws, he didn’t set any personal records but he had no trouble winning his two best events. He threw 156.06 in the javelin and 145-11.25 in the discus. In finishing third in the shot put, he threw 43.01 as Morris won the shot put with a throw of 47-10.75.

“Honestly, just going out there and being the best I can is all that I can do,” Walker said. “I control what I can, and wind is uncontrollable, so go out there and get the best effort, wind or now wind.”

Walker has been a leader of the throwers on the Lakeland track team.

“You can’t get a better kid,” said assistant coach Chad Englund, who coaches the throwers. “He’s been our best thrower in the last two years, but he also takes care of all the kids underneath him. We had two freshman who have been improving all season, and he’s been a big part of that. He works with them. He’s just a good person and a good leader.”

Englund said Walker has a bright future as a thrower. Walker’s best chance at another state medal is in the javelin, where ranks No. 5 in Class 4A. Walker also is looking to medal in the discus. He’s ranked No. 3 in the region so he’s in good position to qualify but needs to have his best throws at state to earn a medal.

Walker was at Spoto his first two years of high school before transferring to Lakeland.

“We inherited him as a pretty good javelin thrower, and he just built on that,” Englund said. “He's been with us the last two years, and he had already had a base. He’s got a great throwing arm. He's got a lot of power. So all the throwing comes about kind of natural, but he does a lot of research on it, and he's a hard worker. So give him one direction, and he’s going to find the path. He's going to make it happen.”

A state title, obviously, would be a great way to end his high school career, but Walker is more focused on just being his best.

“The biggest thing for me is to go out there and perform,” Walker said. “Honestly, there’s a lot of great athletes at states. They all want to win, they all want to compete. The biggest thing, it’s me versus me, and through me an through what’s God is doing in my life, I think that’s going to help me compete.”

As for Morris, who is just a sophomore, he is ranked No. 3 in Class 4A in the shot put. He development has been slowed because of football recruiting, but Englund said Morris’ upside in both the shot put and the discus is tremendous. For now, the focus is on the shot put. Morris didn’t qualify for regionals in the discus.

“The only thing for Malik is that for football, he’s being recruited by everybody,” Englund said. “So he’s missed a lot of track practices because of it. But his ability, his attitude is great. He’s really good kid.”

Not being able to practice as much has slowed his development in the discus.

“The discus is probably more technical,” Englund said. “Physically, he can dominate the shot put.”

Morris won the shot put with a throw of 47-10.

Lakeland had two other district champions. Sytrevion Dyer won the long jump (21-11.75) and came in second in the 110 hurdles (15.82), and Kavon McKinney won the triple jump (42-09.75).

The Lake Wales boys won all three relays and had three individual champions. Todd Daniels won the 100 in 10.93 and placed in the 200. Fred Filsaime won the 200 and was fourth in the 100 (11.14). Daniels and Filsaime ran on the winning 4x100 team (4196) with Jery Alls and Rashad Orr.

Gabriel Harris won the 3,200 in 10:34.96.

Auburndale had two champions. Kamarion Cole won the 400 hurdles in 59.57, and Logan Mints won the 800 in 2:04.01.

Lake Wales girls run away with team title

The Lake Wales girls team had six athletes win seven events en route to a decisive win in the team competition. The Highlanders finished with 151 points, well ahead of second-place Gateway.

“I knew we had a good chance at winning because we have heavy hitters,” sophomore sprinter Nayelie St. Fleur said. “We have people who work hard at practice, and we give it our all. So we knew we had to come out and win because that’s what we train to do.”

Nayelie St. Fleur won the 100 in 12.68 and ran the opening leg of the 4x100 that Lake Wales won in 49.02. She also was third in the 200 (25.52).

Kansas Henry was the only two Highlander to win two events. She won the 400 in 58.20 and the 200 in 25.00.

Areeyanna Bonds ran 1:05.20 to edge Lakeland’s Tajhana South (1:06.17) in the 400 hurdles and took second in the 200 in 25.11.

Mikaila Walker won the 100 hurdles in 15.67 and was fourth in the 100 (12.96). Alee Gibson won the 800 in 2:33.95.

Jordan Alston won the shot put (33-05.50) and was second in the discus (95-01.25).

Lakeland had three district champions. Ella Feder won the 1,600, and Naomi Garner won the javelin (106-04.00).

In addition to being second in the 200, South won the long jump (17-00.75) and the triple jump (38-07.50).

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Micheal Walker shines at 3A-8 district track meet and as leader of Lakeland's throwers