The 2016 FSU Relays didn't fail to impress, just like its predecessors.

One of the most anticipated regular-season track meets of the year, this is one of the meets where high school and college athletes alike decide, "I'm going to run fast here."

Consistently known for seeing some crazy distance performances, the boys’ 1600 and 3200 Invitational races were some of the ones to watch. Noah Perkins (Seffner Christian senior), Justin Pacifico (Flagler Palm Coast senior), and Jordan Armstrong (Lyman senior) all had some impressive races, and the clocks do not lie.

Perkins, who was vying for a state title during cross country last fall, had suffered an injury that took him out of contention. The University of North Florida signee was off of the radar after the state meet, but he recently began to resurface.

Running an impressive 1600 down at the IMG Academy last week (4:20.42), Perkins drew a significant confidence boost and an indicator that he was on his way to being back. He says his injury was a real obstacle, especially since it happened right before the state meet.

“It was God's blessing that I even was able to run at states," he said Sunday. "He has helped me through the struggles of getting back into training.”

Perkins had no idea what kind of racing shape he was in before FSU because he hadn't had much competition beforehand.

“The strategy coming into the race was to let others lead the race until around 600-800 to go, then kick,” Perkins said. “During the race, I felt that the pace was a bit slow near the middle, so that played to my advantage.”

Indeed, it did, as Perkins took charge and pulled away to get the win, running a state leading and US #10 performance of 9:08.54.

“Now we are going to focus on staying in shape for the state series, where I hope to go for a state championship,” he said.  “For the postseason, we haven’t decided on what races I will run.”

Both Armstrong and Pacifico were both in that 3200 race, with Armstrong coming home with a strong second place finish in a new personal-best time of 9:13.55. Pacifico was 3rd in 9:27.55.

Armstrong finished third in the 1600 and fifth in the 3200 at last year’s state meet. He hopes to improve upon that after this weekend's performance. The Air Force Academy signee wasn't even scheduled to run the 3200 coming into the competition. The focus had been on fast 1600 times at FSU and UF to get ready for the end of the season. He ran the 3200 at the Royal Invitational as a strength and confidence builder and ran 9:29 by himself. After that, he decided to gamble and wanted to do the 1600 and 3200 double at FSU.

“My goals for the 3200 was to get into a good spot at the back of the lead pack and sit and ride them for as long as I could,” he said. “Personally, I wanted to get under 9:20, 9:15 would've been an ideal race.”

A very stacked race, Armstrong hadn't been in a 3200 field like that before, but he wanted just to get out there, let the group do the work, and see what he had left at the end.  The 1600, however, has been his focus for awhile now. FSU was supposed to be a fast tune-up for the Florida Relays at the University of Florida, and he wanted to execute well again using that talented lead group.

“After the 3200, I was a bit surprised at my time,” he said. “I left it all out there on the last lap as I expected the other guys, being the best in the state, to be right on my tail. I was more impressed with finishing 2nd in such a deep field I think than I was with my time, that was a deep Florida field.”

In the 1600, Armstrong was happy with the time, which was a new personal-best of 4:18.28. He made a decisive move with about 500 to go and tried to hold on as long as possible. However, it wasn’t before long that Pacifico was on the move and had a bit more in the tank to win the race.

“Congrats to Justin on an awesome kick,” he said. “Given my tired legs, I was very pleased with racing smart again and being confident in myself in that move I made.”

Armstrong looks forward to running a fresh, fast 1600 at UF. His performances at FSU were tremendous confidence boosters for the rest of the season to come.

Armstrong wants to defend his titles at Conference and in the state series though the most important goal is the team. Lyman finished as runners-up last year and he wants to score as many points as possible at the state meet to give his team the chance of winning.

“I'll be ready to rock and roll at IMG, and we'll see how it goes.”

Justin Pacifico has transformed into a formidable force.  The University of Florida signee was the 4A 800 meter and cross country runner-up in 2015.  Justin is always willing to make his presence known. Spectators were left scratching their heads as they scoured the track for Justin as the heats of the 800 rolled on. A contradiction to what most would think, Justin saddled up in the distance double and ran impressively, especially the 1600, where he ran a Florida #1 4:17.46.

“I felt pretty good throughout the race other than my legs being a little tired,” he said. “But I knew going in everyone else felt the same way and I was ready.”

Pacifico says that running 4:17 felt pretty good, but winning was even better. He says that he knew if he went out and won the race the time would come.

And it certainly did.

It’s become a common thing to know that if it’s the end of a race, and Pacifico is beside you, you better hold on and get ready for that kick because once it comes, there’s no stopping it until he’s crossed the finish line.

Pacifico was seen taking a victory lap cool down, despite the rain, after congratulating Armstrong on such a great race.  Justin and Armstrong with face each other a few more times, including at UF this week, and at the region meet.

Justin is vying for a state title in the 800, as Humberto Freire of Columbus nipped him out of it last year. However, this year, he’s looking at a possible 1600 and 800 double, as well as his efforts on his team’s 4x800 relay.  Flagler has gone 7:57.78, and is currently Florida #2 behind Corral Reef. In short, the future Gator looks to walk away with not one, not two, not even three ─ but maybe even four titles, as he aspires to help win Flagler Palm Coast another state title.