2016 Flo Golden South

Top 10 Moments in Flo Golden South History

Top 10 Moments in Flo Golden South History

By: Johanna Gretschel for MileSplitThe inaugural Flo Golden South in Clermont, Florida, is fast-approaching. Going on 40 years, this illustrious southeaster

May 27, 2016 by Gordon Mack
Top 10 Moments in Flo Golden South History
By: Johanna Gretschel for MileSplit

The inaugural Flo Golden South in Clermont, Florida, is fast-approaching. Going on 40 years, this illustrious southeastern event has showcased future NCAA champions, Olympians and IAAF World Championships medalists, and FloSports is eager to help continue the tradition. WATCH LIVE ALL DAY SATURDAY!

Moment #10: Michael Timpson Sets Long Jump Meet Record (1985)

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Some might recognize Michael Timpson from his days with the New England Patriots, the Chicago Bears, or his 1997 stint with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The eight-year NFL veteran played wide receiver, but he was also a standout track and field athlete. As a senior at Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School, Timpson won four state titles and set three state records at the outdoor state meet.

Timpson still holds the Penn State school record in the outdoor 200m (20.23), indoor 55m (6.31), indoor 300m (33.01) and 55m hurdles (7.31).

He's included on this list for his performance at the 1985 Golden South Invitational, where he set the still-standing long jump meet record at 25-10. That mark would rank No. 1 in the nation today; five and one quarter inches ahead of current U.S. No. 1, Ja'Mari Ward; and nearly an entire foot ahead of the current wind-legal U.S. No. 1, Jalen Seals.

Moment #9: Charlene Lipsey Shatters 23-Year-Old Meet Record (2008)


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One of the top stars at the 1985 Golden South Invitational was a 14-year-old freshman named Shownda Martin.

The young athlete from Sanford Seminole entered the postseason championship as the Florida state champion and Central Florida record holder in the 880-yard run, thanks to a 2:10.2 showing at her debut state meet on May 12. The workhorse actually led Seminole to the 4A state title at those championships, thanks to a stellar anchor leg on the mile relay.

But the precocious freshman saved her best for last. 

Martin ran a stunning 2:09.9 to win the Golden South Invitational. The time would stand as the meet record for 23 years -- until 2008. 

In 2008, Hempstead High School junior Charlene Lipsey traveled from her home state of New York down to sunny Florida to race Golden South as a tune-up before her state championship. Lipsey was coming off a three-second, runner-up finish at the New York Relays to the Chanelle Price, but she dominated the Golden South in stunning fashion to set a new personal best of 2:08.25 and win by six seconds. 

Lipsey defended her title at Golden South in her senior year and went on to a decorated career at LSU, where she earned five All-American honors. Currently a professional runner for adidas, Lipsey has a personal best of 2:00.6 for 800m.

Her 2008 winning mark still stands as the Golden South meet record.

Moment #8: 100m Stars Kaylin Whitney & Teahna Daniels Battle (2014)



Two of the nation's most promising young Olympic hopefuls in Nike pro Kaylin Whitney and Texas Longhorn Teahna Daniels met in a white-hot 100m final at the 2014 edition of the Golden South Invitational.

Whitney clocked the field's quickest time in the preliminary round of 11.60 (+0.3), with Diamond Spaulding of Florida and Daniels at 2-3 in 11.62 (+0.6) and 11.62 (-1.3), respectively.

But Daniels prevailed in the final over Whitney, 11.38 to 11.57 (+0.2), to earn an automatic bid for the adidas Dream 100 in New York.

Moment #7: Future Olympic Gold Medalist Derrick Adkins Sets 400m Hurdles Standard (1987)



When Derrick Adkins of Malverne, New York, ran 51.12 to win the 1987 Golden South Invitational, he became the new meet record holder.

But no one knew what would happen next.

Adkins matriculated at Georgia Tech, where he became a six-time All-American in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay. His junior year, he won the 1995 IAAF World Championships title in the 400m hurdles.

The Yellowjacket spent his days training in Atlanta, where he said the sight of the Olympic stadium inspired him every day. He didn't have to wait long to channel that inspiration--he won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

But back to his prep days -- Adkins' 51.12 standard still stands as the Golden South meet record as the event approaches its 40th anniversary.

Moment #6: All-Time-Great Aldrich Bailey Runs 45-Second 400m (2012)




In the last Olympic year, a senior from Mansfield Timberview High School in Texas stole headlines as the hottest quarter-miler in town: Aldrich Bailey.

That year was a dream season for the future Texas A&M Aggie and now Texas Longhorn, who clocked his personal best of 45.19 to rank No. 6 all-time in prep history, competed at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and earned a bronze medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships.

Aldrich ran under 46 seconds eight times that season, including a stunning 45.58 to set the meet record at the Golden South Invitational while rocking a blue Team USA kit.

Moment #5: Stephanie Smith vs. Shana Cox 400m Showdown (2003)

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Two senior superstars from opposite ends of the country at the top of the national 400m rankings met in a quarter-mile showdown at the 2003 Golden South Invitational: Stephanie Smith of Northeast Macon Magnet School in Georgia and Shana Cox of Holy Trinity in New York.

Georgia state champion Smith clocked the fastest time in prelims, 55.27, to Cox's 55.96, as Lauren Austin of Oviedo High also ran under 56 seconds and three more competitors broke 57 seconds.

But the finals were a different story as Smith and Cox blasted by the rest of the field to set nation-leading marks of 52.14 and 52.43. Smith's winning time still stands as the Golden South meet record.

Both closed the year with top accolades: Smith, the USATF Junior Outdoor National champion with a U.S. No. 1 time of 52.04, and Cox, the adidas Outdoor National champion with the U.S. No. 4-ranked time of 52.94.

Smith became a star at South Carolina and picked up eight All-American honors for the Gamecocks, including a gold medal in the 4x400m relay.

Cox, whose parents are of British descent, earned 11 All-American honors for Penn State, including the 2008 NCAA titles in the 400m and 4x400m relay. She ran a leg on the gold medal-winning 4x400m relay for Great Britain at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Moment #4: Terrence Trammell Sets Hurdle Standard (1997)


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Georgia's Southwest DeKalb High School has produced several high-profile track talents over the years-- including 2016's No. 5-ranked 4x100m (40.49!)--but perhaps no star has shined brighter than Terrence Trammell.

As a high school junior, Trammell ran his prep best of 13.34 in the 110m hurdles--a mark that was, at the time, the No. 3 time in prep history, and today, still stands as No. 5 all-time. 

As a senior in 1997, he left his mark on the Flo Golden South Invitational by running 13.42, which set the still-standing meet record.

He was named the 1997 Track & Field News Male High School Athlete of the Year and went on to star at the University of South Carolina, where he won six NCAA titles. In his pro career, he won two Olympic silver medals in 2000 and 2004, plus three IAAF World Championships silver medals in 2003, 2007 and 2009.

There is a chance that Trammell's record will not last to see age 20. Entered in this year's field is defending Brooks PR hurdles champion Damion Thomas of Northeast, Florida, who owns a wind-aided U.S. No. 1 time of 13.32 (+3.7) and wind-legal U.S. No. 2 time of 13.42 (-0.2).

Moment #3: Octavious Freeman Sets Nation-Leading 100m, 200m Records (2011)



Octavious Freeman was ahead of her time.

Upon graduating from Lake Wales High School in 2011, she was the third woman in history to sweep the 100m and 200m at the Florida State Championship during all four years of high school.

She concluded her final prep season with a winning streak through the Golden South Invitational, the adidas Dream 100 and New Balance Nationals Outdoor.

When the phenom graced the track for the 2011 Golden South Invitational, she blazed meet records of 11.21 for 100m and 22.96 for 200m. Both still stand.

She ended the 2011 season as the nation's undisputed top-ranked sprinter thanks to those marks: her 11.21 was the NWI U.S. No. 1 time and her 11.29 (-0.6) from the Florida Relays was the nation's wind-legal U.S. No. 1 time. Her 22.96 was the NWI U.S. No. 1, and she was the only girl to break 23 seconds in 2011.

Freeman went on to spend two years at Central Florida, where she earned six All-American honors, before signing a pro contract with adidas. She won a silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia.

Moment #2: Tyreek Hill Runs No. 2 All-Time 200m (2012)



The fastest years in Flo Golden South history for boys sprints were 2012 and 2013, when gridiron stars Tyreek Hill (now of the Kansas City Chiefs) and Levonte "Kermit" Whitfield (currently a wide receiver for Florida State) dominated the track alongside Trayvon Bromell (now a pro sprinter for New Balance). 

At meet time, Whitfield of Jones High School (FL) was ranked all-conditions No. 3 in the 100m with a 10.21 (+2.3) clocking from the Pepsi Florida Relays. Fun Fact: the top-ranked, all-conditions 100m sprinter in 2012 was his cousin, Marvin Bracy, at 10.06 (+2.4)!

Hill, of Coffee, Georgia, blazed to 10.19 (+1.7) in the 100m prelims--the sixth-fastest mark in U.S. history at the time! Could he surprise sprint royalty?

The answer would be no. Whitfield, a junior, cruised to win the 100m final in 10.38 (+1.8) over Hill (10.41) and Gibbs High School (FL) junior Bromell (10.40). Whitfield and Bromell's times stood as the nation's No. 5 and No. 8 wind-legal performances of the year.

This drama set the stage for the 200m, and one of the greatest performances in prep history.

Already a sub-21 second 200m performer heading into Golden South, Hill lowered his best to 20.49 (+1.0) in the prelims--the fastest time in the nation that year. But he wasn't done yet.

After the disappointment of losing the 100m--an automatic adidas Dream 100 qualifier--Hill stepped things up in the 200m final with a wind-legal time of 20.14 (+1.8), the second-fastest time in U.S. prep history.

Where do these historic marks rank today, four years later? Hill's 100m prelims time of 10.19 and 200m finals time of 20.14 stand as Flo Golden South meet records. His 100m time ranks No. 11 all-time and his 200m time still ranks No. 2 all-time, just behind the national record of 20.13, set by Roy Martin of Texas in 1985.

Just one year later, all-conditions national high school record holder Bromell (9.99/+4.0) PR) defeated wind-legal national record holder Trentavis Friday (10.06) in the 100m, 10.27 to 10.37--the No. 2 and No. 6 times in meet history.

Moment #1: Wyatt High School Breaks National Record! (1998)

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Before the internet allowed the sharing of race videos with the click of the button, sports rivalries relied on good, old-fashioned, head-to-head racing to show who was best.

When the Fort Worth, Texas, squad from Wyatt High School landed in Orlando for the 1998 Flo Golden South, they were already history-makers. The foursome of Monte Clopton, DeMario Wesley, Milton Wesley and Michael Franklin were the first group of schoolboys to break 40 seconds in the 4x100m, and did it twice: at the Texas regional and state meets with a new national high school record of 39.76.

"People didn't believe we ran 39," DeMario Wesley said to Buddy Collings of The Orlando Sentinel. "We wanted to show that it was no joke."

The quartet again broke 40 seconds at Golden South, with what still stands as the No. 3 all-time clocking of 39.82.

But their greatest moment came in the 4x200m relay, where they shattered the national record with a new mark of 1:23.31, thanks to splits of 21.4 (Clopton), 20.0 (D. Wesley), 21.2 (M. Wesley) and 20.7 (Franklin).

Wyatt High School still holds the national high school records in the 4x100m and 4x200m relays.