LIVE OAK — Will Wainwright warned them.
At the SFHS Raiders Invitational at Santa Fe in early March, the Suwannee senior thrower alerted meet officials that the school buses parked behind the discus throwing area were too close.
Despite Wainwright’s suggestions that the buses get moved, they remained. They became a target.
“I was like, ‘They might want to back up a few feet,’ but that was my goal that meet, to hit the bus,” said Wainwright, the Lake City Reporter’s Boys Track Athlete of the Year. “After I got a mark to pretty much secure first, my goal was to hit the bus whether I scratched or not.
“I just wanted to hit it.”
And like he did all year for the Bulldogs, Wainwright delivered, literally leaving his mark. After hitting a meet-winning throw of 47.68m, Wainwright hit a Columbia County School District bus, twice.
It’s a moment neither he nor Suwannee coach Brian Bullock will forget any time soon.
“I’ll probably remember that for a while,” Wainwright said, mentioning the meet as his top memory from a memorable campaign in which he set school records in all three throwing events and medaled in all of them at the Class 2A state meet in May.
Bullock, too, said that meet and that throw will stay with him for a long time.
“He told them to move it and they still didn’t believe he could throw the distance and I was like, ‘OK, here we go,’” Bullock said. “He threw that thing with all his might and it hit the bus, not once but twice.
“You just can’t ever doubt the kid.”
It was one of four meets that Wainwright won in the discus, also topping the fields at the District 2-2A meet, the Bob Hayes Invitational and the Oak Hall Mini Meet #2. He also had a 51.46m throw at the Jesse Forbes Invitational to finish runner-up.
The versatile thrower also won four events in the shot put (District 2-2A, SFHS Raiders Open Classic, the Santa Fe invitational where he made that impression in the discus, and the Oak Hall Mini Meet #2) and five in the javelin (Region 1-2A, District 2-2A, SFHS Raiders Open Classic, Jesse Forbes Invitational and the Santa Fe invitational).
That success is part of what drew Wainwright into the sport and kept him working and pushing forward.
“I just had fun throwing, had fun competing, I like the winning,” he said. “So I did my best to get to the point where I’d get to the point where all I’d do is win.”
That included Wainwright qualifying for state in both the javelin and the discus as a sophomore and a runner-up finish in the javelin at state as a junior as well as qualifying for regionals in both the discus and the shot put.
A standout in all three events, Wainwright, though, prefers the javelin, where he set the school mark at the FSU Relays where he finished second with a throw of 61.7m.
He also feels like it’s his best event, finishing second at the state meet with a 59.12m throw behind a state meet-record performance from Atlantic’s Preston Kuznof, who also topped him for the title a year ago when he battled through a groin injury suffered just days before in practice.
Another injury impacted Wainwright’s chase for a state title in the event again this year. On his first throw, that runner-up mark, Wainwright injured his right elbow.
Pleased with the medal and runner-up finish, Wainwright believes he could have done even better and pushed Kuznof.
“I couldn’t really continue that, I think I could have definitely done a lot better than I did,” he said.
That followed a third-place finish in the shot put where he set the school record with a 16.29m throw on his final attempt to move up one spot on the medal stand.
It was the start of what he thought was going to be a huge day as he had been enjoying great discus throws in practice.
However in that final event of his day at the state meet, Wainwright was mad at his performance, as he placed sixth with a throw of 47.39m. He said the elbow wasn’t an issue, as it doesn’t impact his discus or shot. Rather, he just didn’t have a good day.
“I did not throw like I did in practice,” he said. “I was not pleased with my position in that.”
He was so mad with the performance, he didn’t even go accept that sixth-place medal, leaving instead.
The feelings haven’t changed as Bullock found out at the team’s end of the year banquet.
As the coach started rattling off all of his star pupil’s accomplishments, he mentioned the state results, including that discus throw.
“He walks up there to get his award and the first thing he said was, ‘Man, I wish you hadn’t said anything about that discus,’” Bullock said. “He’s just super hard on himself.”
But that intensity and drive is what helped Wainwright get to this point.
After he qualified for state in the javelin and discus as a sophomore, Bullock, who also coaches cross country, remembers seeing Wainwright out that next fall on the track all by himself, throwing and working on his craft.
“He’s very self-driven,” Bullock said. “I’m of the belief that’s what separates you from other good athletes out there. You have to be self-driven, you have to be willing to go out there when nobody else is watching. A lot of kids just aren’t willing to do that, but not everybody wants to be great. He was great because he did those things.”
It also is leading him past Suwannee. The four-time state medalist in track, along with six individual medals in weightlifting, will be competing in both collegiately at Mars Hill University in North Carolina. He also qualified to compete at national competitions in both this summer, although he may not attend the track meet due to ongoing issues with that elbow.
Still, Wainwright feels he has just scratched the surface of what he can become.
“I feel like I didn’t have any huge throws this year,” he said. “There were throws that I wanted that I never really got, so I’m ready to go to college and prove myself.
“There’s things I know I’m capable of.”
Bullock agrees, while also appreciating the work Wainwright did at Suwannee High.
“Who knows whenever someone like this will come along? I don’t think there ever will be to be honest,” he said. “That’s a once in a generation athlete for track and field. You just don’t see many of them.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
100m: Ezekiel Powell
Lafayette, 8th grade
Ran 11.58 seconds twice in postseason to place third in District 3-1A and 11th in Region 1-1A; won Branford Meet #1 as well as Lafayette Home Meet #1, #2 and #3, placed third at Chiefland Home Meet #2.
200m: Ezekiel Powell
Lafayette, 8th grade
Placed fourth in District 3-1A at 23.67 seconds to qualify for regionals, where he finished 12th at 23.64 seconds; won Branford Meet #1, Chiefland home Meet #1 and #2, Lafayette Home Meet #1, #2 and #3.
400m: Blake Pilkington
Lafayette, sophomore
Followed a runner-up finish in District 3-1A (51.52) by setting a new school record of 50.40 seconds for a third-place in Region 1-1A to qualify for state, where he placed 17th in Class 1A (52.47); won Chiefland Home Meet #1 and #2, Lafayette Home Meet #1, #2 and #3.
800m: Nathan Matsubara
Columbia, junior
Ran a season-best 1:59.79 to place second in District 2-3A before placing 10th in Region 1-3A (2:00.22); won CHS Jungle Open and SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet and posted four other top-3 finishes.
1600m: Morgan Mobley
Suwannee, senior
Ran a season-best 4:38.43 at the Bolles Mile Showcase, placed fourth in District 2-2A (4:41.54) and 15th in Region 1-2A (4:46.66); won Oak Hall Mini Meet #2 and SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet.
3200m: Paul Gunter
Suwannee, senior
Ran a season-best 10:49.16 to place 19th in Region 1-2A after finishing eighth in District 2-2A (11:06.50); placed fourth at the CHS Jungle Open.
110 hurdles: Joseph Smith
Lafayette, junior
Won District 3-1A and Region 1-1A titles with times of 16.19 and 15.94 seconds (school record), respectively, before placing 13th at state (16.27); won Branford Meet #1 and Lafayette Home Meet #1, #2 and #3 while placing third at Chiefland Home Meet #1.
400 hurdles: Clay Starling
Suwannee, junior
Placed fourth in District 2-2A (58.70) before setting a new school record of 57.85 seconds for a fifth-place finish in Region 1-2A to qualify for state, where he placed 17th in Class 2A (59.13); won the CHS Jungle Open and was runner-up at the SFHS Raiders Invitational and Oak Hall Mini Meet #2.
4x100 relay: Suwannee (Marquavious Owens, Michael Rossin, Cyler Akins, Lou Jack Smith, Jhy’Terrian Smith)
Ran a season-best 43.85 seconds to place seventh in Region 1-2A after a third-place finish in District 2-2A (44.57); won Oak Hall Mini Meet #2.
4x400 relay: Columbia (Kaden McKire, Jasper White, Nathan Matsubara, LaWarren Newton, Marlin Haywood)
Set a new school record of 3:27.40 to place fourth in District 2-3A before finishing seventh in Region 1-2A (3:31.03).
4x800 relay: Suwannee (Paul Gunter, Issac Starling, Brig Scott, Morgan Mobley, Andres Gomez)
Won the District 2-2A title (8:45.42) before running a season-best 8:32.33 to place seventh in Region 1-2A.
High jump: Jordan Murphy
Lafayette, junior
Leapt a season-best 1.82m three times, including twice in the postseason to win the District 3-1A title and place fifth in Region 1-1A for a berth at state, where he finished 17th (1.72m); won Branford Meet #1 and Lafayette Home Meet #1 and #3.
Pole vault: Zander Hegenauer
Branford, junior
Threw a season-best 3.00m three times, including twice in the postseason to place third in District 5-1A and eighth in Region 2-1A; had four top-5 finishes.
Long jump: Kaden McKire
Columbia, senior
Set a new school record with a jump of 6.88m to place third in District 2-3A before placing seventh in Region 1-3A (6.51m); won CHS Jungle Open and had five other top-5 finishes including four runner-up finishes.
Triple jump: Jordan Murphy
Lafayette, junior
Set a new school record of 13.05m to win the District 3-1A before placing fourth in Region 1-1A to qualify for state, where he reached the medal stand with an eighth-place finish in Class 1A (12.90m).
Shot put: Will Wainwright
Suwannee, senior
The LCR’s Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year set a new school record with a throw of 16.29m to place third at the Class 2A state meet following a District 2 title (15.76m) and a fourth-place finish in Region 1 (14.85m); won SFHS Raiders Open Classic, SFHS Raiders Invitational and Oak Hall Mini Meet #2 and was third at the Jesse Forbes Invitational.
Discus: Will Wainwright
Suwannee, senior
The LCR’s Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year placed sixth at the Class 2A state meet (47.39m) after winning the District 2 title (48.11m) and finishing third in Region 1 (44.22m); set a school record with a throw of 51.46m for a runner-up finish at the Jesse Forbes Invitational and won SFHS Raiders Invitational, Bob Hayes Invitational and Oak Hall Mini Meet #2.
Javelin: Will Wainwright
Suwannee, senior
The LCR’s Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year was runner-up at the Class 2A state meet (59.12m) after sweeping District 2 and Region 1 titles with throws of 58.60m and 58.94m, respectively; set a school record with a throw of 61.70m for a runner-up finish at the FSU Relays and won SFHS Raiders Open Classic, Jesse Forbes Invitational and SFHS Raiders Invitational while posting another runner-up finish at the Bob Hayes Invitational.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Marcus Edwards, Lafayette
Led the Lafayette boys to the District 3-1A title, which they won by edging Maclay 153-145. In addition to all three relay teams qualifying for regionals, 12 athletes qualified in 23 individual events. From there, three boys qualified for state in four events, with Jordan Murphy reaching the medal stand with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump.