Florida Sends Eight To NYC For Dream 100, Dream Mile

The Sunshine State will be well reprsented this weekend in New York City. Florida sends eight runners for the Dream 100 and Dream Mile, as well as a relay team. Todd Grasley and Kyle Brazeil will be a part of our MileSplit Coverage team in the Big Apple and will have tons of photos, video interviews, as well as results from the event.

Of the 10 sprinters in the Dream 100, four are from Florida. Levonte Whitfield of Jones comes in as the reigning champion in this event. He was fourth in 2011. We recently caught up with "Kermit", and FSU signee at practice this week. He was focusing on technique as well as block starts. He has a target on his back and is one of the top runners to beat, but the question is how will a sore hamstring effect him? If he is 85% or better watch out. 

 
Trayvon Bromell of Gibbs, comes in as one of the favorites along with Cameron Burrell of Texas. Bromell ran a blistering 10.27 last week to win the Golden South Classic.  He has run 10.5 or under numerous times including a 10.45 showing to win the 3A State Championship. Bromell has one of the best starts in the field and is feeling very confident. Several runners have said "he is the one to beat".

Stanton Prep junior Kendal Williams was very successful this season. He ran a windy 10.18 going head to head with Whitfield at the Bob Hayes Classic and finishing second. He then came back to beat him in the 200. He has a wind legal best of 10.28, and US#2 set at the regional championship. At the 3A State Championships, Williams finished runner-up to Trayvon Bromell and then beat Bromell in the 200. Williams recently ran in the Golden South Classic where he won the 200 ahead of fellow dream 100 entrant Ceolamar Ways. Williams has beaten Ways in several head to head battles this year. His time of 20.64 is US#2 behind only Eli Hall Thompson of Texas who is also entered in the Dream 100.
 
Ceolamar Ways finished third at Golden South in the 100 meters and looked disappointed at the end of the race. After all he had worked the whole season to earn his ticket to New York for the Dream 100. He thought he just missed out on that opportunity. Ways didn't let that ruin the rest of his night though. He ran a new personal best and top ten U.S. time of 20.78 in the 200 to finish second behind Kendal Williams. That performance combined with a 10.42 personal best, a New Balance Indoor National Championship, and consistency throughout the season gave him an impressive resume to be considered for one of the final spots. A day after Golden South, he received a call that he was headed to New York. Ceolamar shifted to the shorter sprints this season, he definitely has the range, but will it be interesting to see how he fares with the best sprinters in the country at this distance.

 
Florida has one representative in the Dream Mile, but he is one of the best distance runners in the state's history, Colonial senior Andres Arroyo. He has run 1:47 for 800 meters, 4:04 for 1600 meters, and 8:51 for 3200 meters this season! When he first came to Colonial he told Coach Placensia that he was going to break four minutes and now is his chance. Running in one of the best fields ever assembled, Arroyo has the closing speed to break the four minute barrier. This week he did a long run of eight miles and then closed out his training with 3x1000's. He is focused and ready to make history.


Three Florida girls will competing in the Dream 100 at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island.  Boyd Anderson senior Kali Davis-White finished third at last year's Dream 100 and watched teammate Shayla Sanders bring home the title. It was hard being compared to Sanders last year and now Davis-White is showing why she is one of the best sprinters in the nation. She won the Brooks PR Invitational 60 meter dash, New Balance Indoor Nationals 200 meter dash, and recently won three state titles at the 4A State Championships. She ran her personal bset 11.45 at this meet last year. Combine that with a new Mondo track, she could better that this year. She comes in with the third fastest time behind Mary Beth Sant and Aaliyah Brown, but don't let that fool you.



The Dream Mile and Dream 100 are all about making history and that is exactly what Kaylin Whitney has done and she hasn't even stepped foot on the track. Whitney broke youth records set by Sanya Richards-Ross as a kid and now she will be running on the same track as the former South Florida star. Whitney, a freshman at East Ridge High School in Clermont, is the first freshman ever invited to the event. She won her first two state titles at the 3A State Championship and was scheduled to run at Golden South before coming down with the flu. She is fully recovered and ready to run. She says she is looking forward to the atmosphere and large crowd. When asked if she was intimidated at all by the age or experience of the other girls, she responded, "I'm going to have to run against these ladies one day. If anything I am excited." She has a personal best of 11.57, but hasn't really been tested with tough competition.


Much like Ceolamar Ways, Lake Highland Prep junior Deanna HIll's season hinged on the Golden South. She wanted to compete against the top sprinters in the state as well as entrants from the Bahamas at the Golden South to lower her times and punch her ticket to the Dream 100. A great block start and great drive phase led her to a time of 11.63 just shy of a personal best of 11.59. Hill was invited out to the Brooks PR Invitational in February and is no stranger to elite competition. Hill has never been to New York and says she is looking forward to the competition and being pushed as much as she can to see where she is at.
 
Also, making the trip will be the St. Thomas Aquinas girls 4x400 meter relay team. Kendall Ellis, Krystal Sparling, Alon Lewis, Toria Levy along with coach Alex Armenteros are entered in the relay which consists of teams from New York and Jamaica.  The Lady Raiders have traveled to several big meets this year including Texas Relays, but Ellis says the opportunity to run in New York in a professional atmosphere is very exciting.  Stay tuned because it is in the works that Dream 100 entrant Kali Davis-White, also from South Florida, could run in place of Sparling who suffered an injury after the prelims of the Golden South 100 meter dash.


More Coverage