Track and field alumni return to FPC for 20th anniversary event

Coach David Halliday was presented with a golden hurdle at the East Coast Classic and Colby Cronk broke the school shot put record.

By Brent Woronoff
| 7:02 p.m. February 26, 2024

Colby Cronk broke FPC's school record in the shot put with a distance of 16.54 meters (54 feet, 3.25 inches) at the East Coast Classic track and field meet. Courtesy photo

Matanzas senior Jordan Youngman won the girls 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.53. Photo by Brent Woronoff

FPC boys track and field coach David Halliday poses with his golden hurdle. Courtesy photo

FPC track and field alumni with Coach David Halliday at the East Coast Classic. Courtesy photo

David Halliday (center) with the golden hurdle presented to him by FPC administrators Nick Schell, Stacia Collier (assistant principals), Scott Drabczyk (athletic director) and Principal Bobby Bossardet. Courtesy photo

Runners are bunched up near the end of a fast girls 800-meter heat. Bolles' Charlotte Joseph (No. 846) won with a time of 2:19.82 — the fourth fastest time in the state. Spruce Creek's Mackenzie Roy (1588) was second overall. Matanzas' Sierra Howard (1156) placed eighth. Photo by Brent Woronoff

David Halliday's inscribed golden hurdle. Courtesy photo

FPC's Kamron Davis (No. 984) placed eighth in the boys 800-meter race. Photo by Brent Woronoff

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

Rain and wind affected some of the events at the East Coast Classic on Feb. 23, but the weather didn’t dampen the festivities at the 20th anniversary of Flagler Palm Coast’s season-opening track and field meet.

Halliday finalist for Coach of the Year

Flagler Palm Coast track and field coach David Halliday has been selected as one of eight finalists for the National Boys Track and Field Coach of the Year award, selected by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.

Halliday, who was also selected as a finalist in 2018, will attend the NHSACA national convention June 24-27 in Bismarck, North Dakota, where the winner will be announced.

Halliday led the the Bulldogs to boys track championships in 2007 and 2009 and a runner-up finish in 2019. Halliday, a graduate of Seabreeze High School, has been FPC's track and cross country coach since 2004. He was inducted into the Florida Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2017. He was also inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014.

About 30 FPC track and field alumni returned to the school to celebrate 20 years of the elite meet, which David Halliday launched in his first year as the Bulldogs’ coach.

With four events left at the meet, Halliday was surprised by his administrators and staff as they presented him with a golden hurdle inscribed in five places with, “The Halliday Way — Since 2004”.

“They flipped the script on me,” Halliday said. “It was very special and a big surprise.”

FPC jumps coach Alex Giorgianni, who is an FPC track and field alumnus, planned the golden gift for Halliday. Giorgianni, the school’s entrepreneurship facilitator, also had his DECA class produce East Coast Classic 20th anniversary T-shirts for the alumni. Kim Halliday, David Halliday's wife, presented track hip numbers to the alumni with the numbers corresponding to the years they graduated from FPC.

And while some events were contested in the rain, records were still broken. FPC junior Colby Cronk set a new school record in the shot put with a distance of 16.54 meters (54 feet, 3.25 inches), breaking the old record of 16.24 meters set in 2019 by Nelson Paul. Cronk won the event by more than four feet.

“The circle was wet and Colby is learning how to spin. That was just him doing the glide,” Halliday said.

Cronk also broke the meet record. Cronk, who also placed fifth in discus, currently has the second best shot put in the state.

Atlantic’s Preston Kuznof also broke a meet record in the javelin with a throw of 65.50 meters (214 feet, 11 inches). The throw is ranked No. 1 in the state. Defending Class 4A state champ Aidan Broussard finished second with the second best throw in the state so far, 62.18 meters (204 feet).

FPC’s Olivia Gaines won both the girls long jump (17 feet, 4 inches) and triple jump (36 feet, 2.25 inches) and helped the Bulldogs place second in the 4x100 relay with Jada Dotson, Aun’Yale Howard and Summer Barnes with a time of 49.45 seconds, the 16th best time in the state this season.

Barnes won the 100 meters with a personal-record time of 12.44 seconds. FPC’s Maya Tyson placed third in girls shot put (34 feet, 5 inches). Haley McLeer and Leilany Rosa placed third and fourth in the pole vault.

Matanzas’ Jordan Youngman won the girls 400 hurdles in 1:07.53, the eighth fastest time statewide. Youngman also finished second in the 100 hurdles (15.73 seconds) and was fourth in the high jump (4 feet, 9.75 inches).

The Pirates got another first-place finish from Evanne Miller, who won the 400-meter run with a time of 1:00.00. Matanzas’ 4x400 relay team of Sierra Howard, Youngman, Miller and Gabrielle Duncan placed second in 4:07.89.

Mainland athletes won a couple of events. Emmanuel Yisrael won the 110 hurdles in 15.07 seconds, which is the 12th-fastest time in the state this season.

Mainland’s boys 4x400 team of Ezaiah Shine, Dennis Murray, Khalil Wimore and Kajuan Curry place first with a time of 3:27.50, the ninth fastest time in the state. Murray placed third in the 400 meters in 52.37 seconds.

The FPC girls (Cassidy De Young, Arianna Slaughter, Madison Lagarde and Isabella Tarsitano) placed third in the 4x800 (10:16.47), while the FPC boys 4x800 team (Tyler Jones-Bock, Ayden Peterson, Evan Williams, Hayden Herndon) placed second in 8:28.71, just ahead of Mainland (Seth Rose, Wimore, Jack Mathis and Curry) in third place in 8:28.87.

FPC placed third in the girls team standings with 79 points. Niceville was first with 104 points. Ponte Vedra was the runner-up with 97 points. Matanzas was sixth (50 points) and Mainland was 14th (9 points).

Fleming Island won the boys title with 132 points, with reigning Class 4A state champ Niceville second with 126 points. Mainland was sixth (43 points), FPC was seventh (37 points) and Matanzas was 15th (8 points).