At Palm Beach Gardens, it was a tough night for Hillsborough County teams at the Class 4A, Region 2 meet as Gaither's girls finished a distant fourth with 41 points and Wharton's boys struggled to sixth place with 43.
"It was a disappointing night for Wharton, I know that for sure," Wildcats coach Dave Watson said. "We just didn't get anything going all night. There were a few bright spots, but mostly it was a lot of frustration."
The bright spot included Wharton's Natalie Moser, who won the pole vault by clearing 12 feet. Riverview's Megan Malone and Katie Fowke were second and third with vaults of 11-6 and 10-6, respectively.
The Cowboys' Amanda Quick placed second in the 1,600 meters, finishing in 5 minutes, 11 seconds.
Gaither's Doc Marshall and Leto's Coe Foderenko were the lone boys winners. Marshall won the 100 in 10.63, and Foderenko won the 3,200 in 9:23. The Wildcats' Glenroy Braithwaite finished third in the 400 (49.8).
Both Wharton's boys and girls 4x100 teams, expected to score at the state meet May 17, fell and failed to qualify by finishing fifth.
The Palm Beach Lakes girls dominated with 120 points, 51 ahead of second-place Vero Beach. Spanish River was third with 45.
On the boys' side Vero Beach won with 74 points, followed by John I. Leonard at 54.
