Senior Rayford James has been making a statement since Cross-Country Regional Championships. James missed qualifying for FHSAA State Championships by 9 seconds in the 5k cross-country race, leaving a bad taste in his mouth. James took those raw emotions and has filtered them into his Track and Field training. The results thus far have looked promising for this season.During the indoor track and field season James put on a display in Birmingham, Alabama winning both the 800m and 1600m in blazing times. Though indoor tracks generally run slower due to the number of turns a runner must make James was not pleased with his times a 2:01 finish in the 800m and 4:37 finish in the 1600m. James then competed in the Jimmy Carnes Invitational at the University of Florida, again sweeping the 800m and 1600m. James bested his previous 1600m time by 10 seconds, finishing in 4:27. His time was the fastest indoor time by a Lee High School student in the indoor 1600m. Unfortunately, the time does not count toward a school record because Lee High School does not compete in indoor meets and James was running unattached. James also posted the only time under 2-minutes in the 800m with a 1:59 at the Jimmy Carnes.
This past weekend James opened the Track season at the Sandalwood Saints Open with an exclamation! James shattered the previous Lee High School record in the 1200m with a 3:13, previously held by 1600m state-finalist Chris Haynes. Haynes previously held the 1200m record with a 3:37 set at the 2008 Sandalwood Saints Open.The records James is currently looking to take down are the 800m held by Dwayne Edwards and the 1600m held by Johnathan Esteban. Edwards set the 800m record last season at the FHSAA 3A Region 1 Championships with a 1:55.14. Esteban has held the 1600m since 2006 FHSAA 3A State Finals where finished with a 4:21.83. James has current personal records of 1:56.62 in the 800m and 4:24.27 in the 1600m.
Read more about our [February 2014 Athlete of the Month].
