- April 30, 2025
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Derek Robinson and Jonathan Leatt are nearing the finish line of their track careers at Lakewood Ranch High, and it’s still too close to call which one will come out on top.
The top two distance runners on the Mustangs boys track and field team will begin a final push for high school glory beginning April 17 in the 4A-District 11 meet at Riverview Sumner.
Often, Robinson and Leatt are separated by mere fractions of a second on the track, but that’s largely where the similarities end.
Leatt likes to pace himself behind the leaders when he runs.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior saves his energy for one final burst toward the finish line.
Robinson, on the other hand, comes out hot.
The 6-foot, 167-pound senior enjoys leading races and doesn’t want to wait to take control of a race.
Both respect their teammate's strategy.
“He’s a consistent runner, and he doesn’t get scared if the competition goes out too fast,” Robinson said of Leatt. “That’s the main difference between me and Johnny’s running. I like to come out aggressive and lead the race.”
Their running styles couldn’t be more reflective of their personalities.
Leatt is someone who Lakewood Ranch boys track and field coach Bill Zarella said "gets along with everyone, regardless of skill."
That wasn’t something that came naturally to Robinson, who didn’t have much experience being on a team as a freshman at Sarasota Military Academy competing in cross country and JROTC raider events.
“He would always make fun of the lesser runners,” Zarrella said of Robinson. “They’d finish a workout and he’d say, ‘Oh, it took you long enough,’ and stuff like that. I had to pull him aside and tell him I don’t want to hear that.”
That aggressive mentality from Robinson led to what Zarrella called ‘a tense rivalry’ early on with Leatt, who had been Lakewood Ranch’s top distance runner as a freshman until Robinson transferred in the following year.
“He was a new guy, but I was excited because it was good competition,” Leatt said. “We push each other. We’re rivals on the track, but we’re good friends on and off of it, too.”
It didn’t take long for Robinson to challenge Leatt’s claim as the top distance runner at Lakewood Ranch as sophomores in 2023.
The two would flip-flop top positioning on a weekly basis in the 1,600-meters run.
By season’s end, Robinson took over as the team’s top runner in the 800 meters — besting Leatt by 1.63 seconds — and the top runner in the 3,200 meters — besting Leatt by 2.12 seconds.
Leatt retained his status as the top runner in the 1,600 meters — besting Robinson by one second.
That led to countless weeks of light-hearted trash talk and fierce competition.
The next year, however, Leatt made a peace offering in the form of an invitation to his church’s youth group.
Nowadays, Robinson and Leatt are nearly inseparable.
They said they enjoy training on their own together, fishing, having fun at local skate parks and they still attend church together.
Their times on the track remain as close as they’ve ever been.
Entering the postseason, Leatt holds the lead in the 800 meters (1:58.89) by 2.42 seconds and the 1,600 meters (4:31.63) by 1.29 seconds while Robinson has established himself as the top runner in the 3,200 meters (9:48.87), an event in which Leatt doesn’t compete.
Though Leatt holds a slim lead in the 1,600, Robinson gave him a subtle reminder that he’s on his heels at the Manatee County Championships April 10, beating him out in that race .02 seconds.
However, whoever runs a race faster doesn’t mean as much as it once did. After three years of neck-and-neck competitions, the two friends are simply hoping to make some memories in their last few weeks of high school track.
“I just want us to not have any injuries, make good times and make it to states,” Robinson said. “That would be great.”
