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Quitman High School Athletics

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FORT MYERS HURDLERS SHINE AT EAGLE INVITATION

Fort Myers hurdlers Jeff St. Louis and Josias Jean needed to hit their strides perfectly in the 51st Eagle Invitational track meet at Naples High School on Saturday. St. Louis gave the Green Wave a remarkable start in the first leg of the shuttle hurdle relay, putting Fort Myers on pace to finish with the quickest time in the event. “My start was good, but I hit my knee on the first hurdle — it started bleeding,” said St. Louis, a junior. “After that, everything was smooth. I just fought through. I knew (Jean) was there, so I gave him a good lead so he could win this thing.” However, Ida Baker runner Luis Colon trailed St. Louis by only two feet at the exchange, and a new challenge presented itself. Jean, Fort Myers’ second hurdler, needed to outcompete Daniel Olson, one of the fastest hurdlers in the area, in the final stretch to secure a victory for Fort Myers. “One thing going through my head was that (St. Louis) would kill me if I get caught because he had a lead out front,” Jean said. “It gave me motivation, and I kept going.” The Fort Myers sophomore crossed the finish line seven-tenths of a second ahead of Olson, who dropped to his knees and put his hands on his head in disbelief. Jean turned around and extended his hand out to Olson to help him off the ground. In an act of mutual respect, they congratulated each other and shared a short embrace. “We are all friends until the competition starts,” Olson said. “After the competition — as soon as we get across the finish line — we are buddies again.” The Green Wave victory in the shuttle hurdle relay proved to be crucial with the team needing every point they could get. The Fort Myers boys team stood atop all other area teams in the final team standings with a second-place finish. The Naples boys finished seven points ahead of Fort Myers to win the invite, and Lely took first in the girls standings. The South Fort Myers boys and Estero girls also placed in the top five, taking fourth and fifth, respectively. “The day has gone pretty well,” Fort Myers boys coach Richie Rode said. “This is always a big, competitive meet with 24 teams here. Just being able to top some of those teams is big. We have a young team, and they seemed to show up well. I’m happy with today.”

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