Xavier Carter - 2004
From Westmont Alum John Legrande who now resides in Florida. Palm Bay sprinter enjoys record day at state track meet (05/09) GAINESVILLE Now, nobody in the history of Florida High School Track and Field has won more gold medals than the Palm Bay senior. Carter, who has been on the national track scene since he was a youngster, capped his high school career by winning the 100- (10.5 seconds), 200- (20.72) and 400 (45.44)-meter dashes at the 2004 Class 3A FHSAA Track and Field Finals. "It's a little more demanding when you come in here trying to break records than it is when you're just trying to win," said the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Louisiana State football signee who also will run track for the Tigers. With his three wins, Carter accomplished almost everything he came for. He joined Houston McTear (1973-76) and Earnest Newcome (1925-27) as the only males to win nine state gold medals. He became the first in FHSAA track meet history to win the three sprint events in consecutive years. It was only the 10th time since 1915 the triple sprint win has been accomplished, and Carter accounts for two of the 10. He became the first male athlete to win the 400 meters four years in a row. And he set a record in the 400 to give him ownership of two of the sprint records. He set the 200 mark last year at 20.69 and lowered the meet 400 mark from 45.94 to 45.44 Friday night. He had hoped to break records in all three events. "I was disappointed about the 100 (10.5), but I got a bad start," he said. "I popped straight up coming out of the blocks. I take it as a loss (for the record), but I leave with a win." He called the 400 his best race and it was, no doubt, the one he wanted most. He won it in the record time but not without a stiff challenge from Palm Beach Dwyer's Riccardo Chambers. "I ran the same race against him that I did last week, but he ran different," Carter said. "He ended up in front of me with 120 to go and made me push." Said Chambers: "Tonight, I ran my race and had the lead in the turn. Then he turned it on. That man is strong. He's got some guts, that's all I can say." Xavier Carter makes run for record (05/07) Palm Bay runner wants to finish high school track career in style GAINESVILLE -- Thirteen years ago, right before taking off for LSU, Zundra Feagin-Alexander capped one of the most storied track and field careers in Florida high school history with a sweep of the sprints at the state meet. Tonight in Gainesville, the former Cocoa High standout plans to be on hand when another future Tiger -- Palm Bay's Xavier Carter -- tries to do the same. "There's so much karma going on," said Feagin-Alexander, the only other Brevard County prep athlete to win the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in the same state meet. She did it in 1991, giving her eight career gold medals and state records in all three events. Her 23.47-second effort in the 200 still stands as the Florida record. Feagin-Alexander's eight state gold medals are also the most by any Brevard County track athlete -- for now, anyway. With six already, Carter can pass her tonight. And the similarities don't end there. After high school, Feagin-Alexander continued her track career at LSU, where Carter has signed to play football and run track. Feagin-Alexander has the state record in the 200. So does Carter. "I can't believe he's going to be a Tiger," said Feagin-Alexander, the mother of 10-year-old Nakaela and 3-year-old Zoe, who now coaches at Jacksonville Ribault Middle School. "I want to see him run and I want to meet him." If all goes as planned, she'll have plenty to watch tonight. There have been only two male track athletes who've bagged nine gold medals in their state careers. Carter, the reigning state champ in all three sprint events, hopes to join that exclusive club tonight, among other things. He wants to: Become the first male athlete to win the 100, 200 and 400 in back-to-back state meets. Tie the record for most career golds in the state meet (nine). Become the first male athlete to win the 400 four years in a row. Set records in all three events. He broke the 200 mark in 2003, finishing in 20.69 seconds. If Carter sweeps the three sprint events, he'll join former Olympian Houston McTear of Baker (1973-76) in the nine-gold medal club. "I haven't seen (the triple) done very many times, especially at the level where he is," LSU track coach Pat Henry said. "He has set himself out there." It's only been done nine times since the FHSAA started conducting state championships in 1915. One runner, Hernando Pearson of Brooksville, did it twice, but not in consecutive years (1915, '17). Feagin-Alexander, who ran track for Henry in Baton Rouge, knows just how difficult it is to do all three sprints, let alone win all three. "It's almost like strategic planning," said the former Track and Field News Athlete of the Year. "You want to qualify in the top in the preliminaries so you can get a choice lane for the finals. At the same time, you don't want to underestimate your opponents." Carter, who spent much of his senior season nursing a turf toe injury, still recorded easy triple wins at the Cape Coast Conference, district and regional meets. Now, he says, comes the hard part. "I feel a little bit of pressure because I'm running so many events, but I feel like I can do it," he said. "I would like to go easy in the preliminaries, but I've got to put out because there are so many good runners." Feagin-Alexander said running six races in a day -- three prelims followed by three finals -- can be exhausting, but that part has to be blocked out. "My goal was to win three gold medals, so I couldn't be tired," she said. "Although physically your body is starting to wear out, you have to stay mentally strong." Carter is coming on fast. His 45.54 time in the 400 last week ranks No. 1 nationally and was his best effort of the season. "I told him, 'Xavier, that was an impressive time for you being hurt, but I think you can run sub-45,' " said Gary Evans, who has coached Carter since he was a youth. Carter was challenged prior to the 400 race at Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer High by the host school's Riccardo Chambers, who had the fastest 400 time in the state and spoke publicly of wanting to be the one who knocked off Carter. Didn't happen. Carter beat him by a full two seconds, exhausting Chambers by going out extremely fast the first 200 meters. "He'll probably come at me at state," Carter said. "But I'm still at the point where I'm still mad, so I still want to blow his doors off because of the things he said." Carter's idea of a perfect day today: breaking the record by winning four straight 400s and winning all three sprints in record times before he heads off to LSU on June 1. "He told me he's gonna leave Florida with a bang," Evans said. Injury sidelines Carter (04/??) This wasn't at all what Xavier "Peewee" Carter had in mind for his senior season. The Palm Bay sprinter who three weeks ago in New York became the first high school athlete ever to run a sub-21 seconds indoors in the 200 dash has been sidelined with a left big toe injury. "It's a bone bruise," said Ken Carter, Xavier's father. "He can't push off at all." Carter injured the toe at the Florida Fastest Times indoor meet at the University of Florida in early March, but still ran in New York the following week. "It didn't heal and Xavier usually heals quick, so the doctor took him off the track," Ken Carter said. "They've also done a specialized x-ray to see if there's something wrong with the bone. Meanwhile, he's doing a workout in the pool at BCC similar to an outdoor workout and he's getting ultrasound and therapy in the evenings. He'll probably have to give up the quarter (400) because he won't be in shape to run that at the elite level. But, he'll definitely run it at state. He wants to be the first to win the 400 at state four times." Carter already has missed the Bob Hayes Invitational in Jacksonville and the LSU Tiger Relays in Baton Rouge and has been scratched from the Mobile (Ala.) Meet of Champions where he won the 200 and 400 meters last year. "It's kind of a setback because I really believe he was going to run some amazing times," said his coach Gary Evans. A seven-time state high school champion, the LSU football signee, had the fastest outdoor 200 (20.69) and 400 (45.88) times in the nation last year. "It's possible we'll still go to Arcadia (Calif.) April 9," Evans said. "He wants to do it." Last year Carter became the first athlete in the 30-year history of the Arcadia Invitational to win the 100, 200 and 400, a feat he repeated at the state high school meet three weeks later. Mar 9, 9:23 PM Carter still not happy with time BARBARA CAYWOOD FLORIDA TODAY Xavier Carter ran the second all-time fastest high school indoor 200 meters last weekend -- and he's still not satisfied. At Saturday's Florida Fastest Times Meet, where he ran unattached among collegians who were trying to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Palm Bay High senior smoked the field with a time of 21.04 seconds. What made Carter's time so amazing was: 1. Saturday was the first time he ever had run on an indoor track. 2. It came in only his second competitive race of the season. Carter, who had the nation's best prep times in the 200 and 400 (outdoors) last season, had his usual motivation. "I just struck out running because I didn't want to get beat," he said. "I surprised myself because it was my first real meet this year (he had a hand-timed 20.76 in a quad meet last Wednesday)." In the race at the University of Florida's O'Connell Center, Carter raced against collegian Chauncey Harris of Alabama, the 55-meter champion. "I think I was supposed to be the rabbit because he was behind me, but I wasn't going to let him get by me so I just kept running." Carter broke the senior class record of 21.05 set by Glenn McFadded of New Haven, Conn., in 2001 and when he competes in the Nike High School Indoor Championships this weekend at Landover, Md., he has an excellent chance to break the national indoor record of 21.02 set by Brendan Christian of Austin, Texas in 2001. According to IAAF.org, Carter's 21.04 currently ranks him 40th in the world in 2004 and 14th in the United States. These rankings include everyone from high school to the pros. "My goal for the 200 has been to run under 20 seconds, and I'm getting closer," Carter said. "I really feel stronger this year. Now I just want to break the national high school record. If I do that, I'll set another goal. Carter's ambitious schedule for the spring and summer includes: The Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans, March 26-27. The Mobile (Ala.) Meet of Champions, April 3. The Cape Coast Conference Championships, April 8. The Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational, April 10. The Class 3A district meet, April 22. The Class 3A regional, April 29. The Class 3A state meet, May 7. The Greater Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, N.M., June 5-6. The adidas Track and Field Classic (high school outdoor nationals) in Raleigh, N.C., June 19. More prep track.Astronaut High hopes to begin construction on its new eight-lane rubberized track at the end of this week or the beginning of next. According to War Eagles coach Tom Bundy, there were some paperwork snafus that put the project on hold for a while, but now everything has been resolved and things can get under way. "We hope to have it finished by conference meet time," Bundy said. Contact Caywood at 242-3684 or [email protected]