With the school year winding down, Broward County put its best foot forward during the 3A and 4A state Track and Field Championships at Showalter Field in Winter Park last weekend.

On Friday, led by a strong performance of football star Cody Riggs, St. Thomas Aquinas captured the 3A state title. Riggs spearheaded the team title with wins in the long jump (23-5.50) and 300 hurdles (personal-best 36.60) and finishing second in the 110 high hurdles (14.27).

Riggs, who won the 300 hurdles last year, gave the Raiders a second consecutive state title, joining South Broward (1949-50) as the only Broward boys' track team to win back-to-back crowns.

The Raiders padded their lead with a  a third-place finish by David Shepherd in the pole vault. Shepherd cleared a personal-best 14-6 on his second try and then watched Merritt Island's Mike Vani break the state record set by Aquinas' Riley Egan last year.

Northeast did well in the 1,600-meter relay event as Pascal Orelus, Travis Laurent, Isaac Geffard, and Jason Cameron finished in 3:14.73 to finish ahead of Orlando Oak Ridge and Tampa Wharton.

Orelus, who was undefeated in the 400 this year, lost out in the finals.

On the girls' side, Fort Lauderdale finished in second place. Sophomore Sasha Lebert marked her state debut with a second-place finish in the shot put for the Flying L's. Lebert threw a career-best 39-6 and Jahneel Tyrell finished third in the long jump and led the 400-meter relay team to third.

Hallandale freshman Kyri Tabor took third in the 100 (11.95) and fourth in the 200 (24.60).

On Saturday, the crowds were large as the 4A meet was something that everyone waited to see. From Deerfield's 4x100 to Cypress Bay's Austin Gamble to Santrell Atkins, Broward County was directly in the spotlight.

Deerfield Beach's 4x100-meter relay team nearly broke the state record, which was set last week by Miami Monsignor Pace. Dauntia Dotson, Adrian Witty, Cassius McDowell and Denard Robinson tallied a 40.64, just behind Pace's time of 40.54. It became a 1-2-3 Broward sweep when Coral Springs (41.32) and Blanche Ely (41.82) followed Deerfield over the finish line.

Robinson also finished third in the 100 behind Tampa Chamberlain's Dentarius Locke, who clocked 10.32 to set a new state record in the 100 and 20.58 in the 200 prelims to break former Coral Springs' star Walter Dix's 20.62 in the 2004 Class 4A Finals.

In the 110 high hurdles, Everglades' Courtney Thompson capped his break-through senior season by finishing second in 14.19. Dillard's Tremaine Grant finished fourth in 14.27.

Gamble, making his third appearance at the state meet, was finally able to bring home the gold by capturing the title in the discus throw (184 feet, 6 inches). Gamble, who is on his way to Duke University to play football, also finished third in the shot put.

Atkins, a senior from Everglades, captured first place in the 100-meter hurdles. Atkins, who finished sixth last year, ran a 14.47 to edge Miami Central's Jatavia Wright, who ran a 14.55.

While Boyd Anderson's team finished in second place to Miami Northwestern, the girls' 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams each won first place.

Coconut Creek senior Maya Pressley, who was the No. 1 high jumper in the state, finished second in that event, but stunned everyone with a first place finish in the long jump (18 feet, 6 inches).

Joining Gamble from Cypress Bay was Mariana Lucena, who ran a 10:59.66 in the 3,200 to claim first place.

FLAG FOOTBALL
When the season began, teams such as Douglas, Western, Plantation and Cooper City were viewed as the programs to watch in flag football. When the year came to an end last weekend in Boca Raton, Pompano Beach and Stranahan were still standing.

The Tornadoes and Dragons held the flag for Broward County right down to the final day when Stranahan dropped a tough 13-6 decision to the eventual state champions, Jupiter.

Coach Bennett Wyche led his team to an impressive 10-5 record this season. The Dragons had their chances in the game against Jupiter, holding a halftime advantage, but then saw the lead slip away.

You can reach Larry Blustein via e-mail at FloridaKids1@hotmail.com. He can also be heard every Thursday night (9-10) on the Miami Dolphins High School Gridiron Report on WQAM (560 AM).