Moving up to Class 3A no sweat for the Bulldogs
Zephyrhills High School track and field coach Bryan Thomas was a star on the track at ZHS more than 15 years ago and he knows what it takes to be a district champion as an athlete.
Photo by Anna Poe
Now he knows what it takes to win the crown as a coach as his underdog Bulldogs dominated the Class 3A District 7 meet at Lake Region High School Saturday.
Individual district champions are: Maguire Neal won the 100 meters (10.90), Clayton Cornelius won the 400 meters (49.52), Maguire Neal won the 110 hurdles (14.86), Maguire Neal won 300 hurdles (40.13), 4×100 relay won (42.41), 4×400 relay won (3:36.35), Timothy Jackson won long jump (6.26m). On the girls’ side Madison Poe won the 1600 meters (5:55.84).
The Bulldogs will compete in the Class 3A Regional track meet next Saturday at Lake Region High School with winners qualifying for the Class 3A State Track Meet.
The Bulldogs competed in Class 2A last season before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. The FHSAA restructuring led to the Bulldogs moving up to Class 3A to stiff competition.
“I didn’t know how we would compete with some of the schools in our district, but they stood up,” Thomas said. “When you are looking at teams and team size, we have 30 kids and just three seniors, so a district title wasn’t a though at the beginning of the season.
“As the season progressed, the times kept getting better and better and more competitive with these bigger teams.”