Track and Field Roundup: Gaither High School

Gaither High School's boys and girls track and field teams will head into the biggest meet of the season this weekend. The Steinbrenner Invitational at University of South Florida hosts over 70 high schools this Saturday at 9 a.m.

Here’s a look at both squads:

The Girls:

The Gaither girls team is poised for success. They are in their second year of recovery from losing their coach and half their athletes to Steinbrenner High School. Ladd Baldwin coached Gaither track for twelve years, and his exodus left the Cowboys team in flux.

Thankfully, Caitlyn Clay took over. In just her second year, she has the ship turned around. Caitlyn was a varsity swimmer at Gateway High School in Osceola County. She came to Gaither by way of Spoto High School. She is trying to piece a team together that is just now starting to fill its ranks.

“It was hard losing half our kids to Steinbrenner,” she admitted.

Coach Clay survived last year’s re-build, but it was not a lost season.

Meagan Malley returns for her senior year. She came in sixth at districts last year in discus, and will look to climb that ladder this year.

Nikki Perrini finished fourth in districts at 100-meter hurdles, and returns for her senior season. She is also the best chance for The Cowboys to make states in pole vault.

Rachel Yoder is a promising freshman sprinter that will be on the 4x100-meter relay team and run the open 100-meter.

The most promising athlete on the girls squad this year is sophomore Kiana Bryant. As a freshman last year, Kiana won the girls 100-meter with a 12:61 second time. Kiana placed fifth at regionals with a 12:73 time. She has been clocked this year at 12:55 seconds. She also came in third in the 200-meter. She runs the anchor leg of the 4x100-meter relay team.

“Being the anchor leg means I should run hard and set an example,” she said.

Both boys and girls teams came in second to last at districts, but Coach Caitlyn believes, “certain kids will do well at districts and move on to regionals."

The Boys:

The boys team is still turning the corner in their rebuilding phase. They have some quality athletes, but the Steinbrenner purge left them short-handed. They will try to make their mark this year with new Head Coach Jeff Ditman.

Ditman was an assistant coach for boys track two years prior to taking the reins. He is also an assistant coach on the football team, and teaches social studies at the school. He competed in discus and shot at the high school level, and mainly works with those athletes.

“We are young, but very high on potential," Ditman said. “Right now, we are just trying to fit kids where they can best succeed.”

The Cowboys as a team finished fifth out of six district teams the last two years, but they have some promising athletes that could make some waves this year.

Junior Paul Barret returns to run the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles, 4x400-meter relay and high jump. He made regionals last year in high jump and finished eighth at districts in the 800-meter.

According to Coach Ditman, Barret is “athletically gifted." Barret was also a member of the team.

Senior Vasilio Nenos is also the starting right guard on The Cowboys football team. He  returns to make a run at throws for The Cowboys. This is Nenos’ fourth year with Gaither. He was MVP of the team last year.

According to Coach Ditman, he has “a good chance to get out of districts if he continues to improve." Last year at districts, he placed fifth, with a 41-foot one-inch throw in shot.

Sophomore Shug Oyegunle is also the quarterback of the football team. Oyegunle did not compete as a freshman, but is a natural sprinter. He will compete at 100-meters and anchor the relay team.

“Shug has worked hard to hone his natural ability, to compete at 100-meters and help in the relays,” said Coach Ditman.

The Assistant Coaches:

Ed Moore worked with The Cowboys track team off and on for the last seven years. He came over from Steinbrenner three years ago and has been with the team ever since. Coach Moore has coached track most of his life, even back to coaching track at AAU.

Tyrone Thomas is a Gaither alumni who ran the 400-meter and long jump. He has coached Gaither track for many years under former head coach Ladd Baldwin. Thomas works mainly with the jumpers and the relay teams.

Will Brim has been with the team for fifteen years and has captained the vaulters from the beginning. Brim is purported to be the first Floridian to jump fourteen feet and he has created a pole-vault legacy at Gaither. Under Brim, Gaither earned three state championships in vault. Dara Altman won in 2001 and in 2002, and Morgan Scherscher won it in 2009.

The Cowboys head into the USF George Steinbrenner Invitational on Saturday hoping to make their mark. Almost seventy teams from all over the state will compete. Events begin at 9am. Click here for more information on the event.