Whiteheads and Hicks inspire Wide Awake runners at AAU championships

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

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

Each sibling won a silver medal, with Mason finishing second in the 200-meter dash in 25.75 seconds, 0.63 seconds behind winner Keyzelle Thomas of Team Blaze from Columbia, South Carolina.

Thomas defeated Ayden in the 400-meter sprint final, finishing in a time of 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 named Most Outstanding Performer in the Boys Ages 9-10 division at the Russell E. Blunt East Coast Invitational in Durham. But Mason has been on fire this summer, winning 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 second-place finishes in the 100 and 200, respectively.

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

Hicks finished fourth in the 400 meters with a PR time of 55.69, after running 55.72 and finishing second in the preliminary rounds.

Her sister, Mireici Hicks, finished 14th in the 15-16 year old girls’ 1,500 meters with a time of 5:48.03 and was 34th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:51.25.

Two more younger runners from Wide Awake managed to qualify for the semi-finals in each of their two events through the preliminary rounds.

Pay’Tyn Sommirs ran in the Girls Ages 8-Under division and placed eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 34.11. She improved on that in the semifinals with a time of 33.48, but did not reach the final. She also ran the 400 meters and placed ninth in 1:21.04 in the preliminary rounds.

Aiden Dye, who competed against the Whiteheads in the Boys 11-year-old 100 and 200, was ninth in the 100 prelims in 13.26. He also was ninth in the semifinals in 13.31, but did not advance to the finals. Dye also reached the semifinals in the 200 dash with a preliminary time of 28.03. He bettered that in the semifinals, placing ninth in 27.89.