Whiteheads, Hicks spark Wide Awake runners at AAU nationals

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In the perpetual competition between twin brothers Ayden and Mason Whithead of Wilson Wide Awake Elite Track Club, Mason is currently enjoying his moment on top after emerging as a national champion this weekend at the AAU Track and Field Primary Nationals and Club Championship.

In their only head-to-head competition at Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida campus, Mason won the Boys 11-year-old 100-meter dash in 12.55 seconds while Ayden was third in 12.82.

Each sibling took home a silver medal as well with Mason taking second in the 200 dash in 25.75 seconds, .63 seconds behind winner Keyzelle Thomas of Team Blaze of Columbia, South Carolina.

Thomas beat Ayden in the 400 dash final, finishing in 56,05 to Whitehead’s time of 57.34.

A year ago, Ayden won two gold medals at the North Carolina Junior Olympics championships and was proclaimed Most Outstanding Performer in the Boys Ages 9-10 division at the Russell E. Blunt East Coast Invitational in Durham. However, Mason has been on fire this summer with a state championship in the 400 at the USA Track and Field North Carolina Association Junior Olympic Championships in June and now the national championship and runner-up in the 100 and 200, respectively.

Also bringing home medals for Wide Awake was Aaron Hicks, who set personal records in the finals of both his events in the Boys 13-year-old division. Hicks was second in the 800 run with a PR time of 2:09.62 after running a 2:14.69 in finishing third in prelims.

Hicks placed fourth in the 400 with a PR time of 55.69 after running a 55.72 and taking second in prelims.

His sister, Mireici Hicks, produced a 14th-place finish in the Girls Ages 15-16 1,500-meter run with a time of 5:48.03 while taking 34th in the 800 in 2:51.25.

Two more younger runners from Wide Awake were able to qualify for the semifinals out of prelims in one of their two events each.

Running in the Girls Ages 8-Under division, Pay’Tyn Sommirs took eighth in the 200 dash with a time of 34.11. She bettered that in the semifinals with a time of 33.48 but failed to make finals. She also ran in the 400, placing ninth in 1;21.04 in prelims.

Aiden Dye, running against the Whiteheads in the Boys 11-year-old 100 and 200, took ninth in the 100 prelims in 13.26. He also finished ninth in the semis in 13.31 but didn’t move into the final. Dye also reached the semis in the 200 dash with a prelim time of 28.03. He topped that in the semis, taking ninth in 27.89.

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