For 20 years, the Jesse Forbes Invitational has captivated track and field athletes from across Florida and South Georgia.

What started out as a "crazy idea" has now turned into one of the premier track events in the state. It's also an event that represents the start of the regular season for many track and field programs.

Running the event for the 20th time, things looked just a bit different this year as it was the first event on Godby's new track, making Saturday afternoon extra special for Cougars track and field head coach Jesse Forbes.

"It means a lot to me anytime you can name a meet after you and each year we get more and more teams that want to come and participate in the meet because they know it is one of the best meets in the state of Florida," said Forbes.

"Plus having a million-dollar facility with a new track and turf field makes a big difference."

Drawing a record crowd and adding more teams to the competition, the 20th annual invitational raised the bar for the meet.

Forbes said he never expected the invitational to turn into the spectacle that it currently is, even questioning if teams would want to show up when it was initially created in 2004.

"When the coaches started it 20 years ago, I told them they were crazy. I told them that nobody was going to come to this meet," Forbes said. "It started off small but each year it kept growing and word got out into the community and up in Georgia, and teams started saying 'Wow, that's a great meet in Tallahassee, let's go to it."

The two-day event features the middle school race on Friday night and then the high school meet on Saturday.

Even with the quick turnaround, Forbes and his assistant coach Leander McKenzie say the 48-hour period of competition is worth every second.

McKenzie was a star runner at Godby under Forbes, graduating from the Cougars in 1981, and a seven-time All-American at Florida State University. Following a similar path to that of Forbes, McKenzie took up coaching and has been an assistant with the Cougars for eight seasons, and he said the growth of the meet is unbelievable.

"I think he [Forbes] started out with about four maybe five teams 20 years ago," McKenzie said. "Now to have almost 40 teams here, that's spectacular."

Vaulting up the state leaderboards

Attracting teams from as far as Atalanta and Orlando, the invitational has become a showcase event for athletes trying to impress in the early season and set the tone for their performances.

One athlete didn't have to travel far to place his name atop the state leaderboards, however, as Rickards junior pole vaulter Darius Jones II posted a state-best vault of 4.5 meters on Saturday afternoon.

"It's very important for me, I knew I could jump it because I had jumped in practice plenty of times," Jones said.

A decathlete, pole vault is one of 10 events that Jones competes in. Heading into the Jesse Forbes Invitational, Jones's dad Darius Jones Sr. wanted him to focus on the pole vault and get the best vault in the state on Saturday.

Landing the vault was tricky for Jones, who had to deal with gusty winds Saturday afternoon, but after a vault was washed away by rain during a meet last week, Jones was patient for his to top the leaderboard.

"I really hadn't prepped for it because my last week it was raining. I hadn't had any preparation for the wind either," Jones said. "One of my attempts I scratched because the wind was blowing really hard, so on the next one, I just waited until the wind stopped."

Flying through the air, Jones nailed his 4.5-meter vault and took home first place at the Jesse Forbes Invitational.

Boys individual results

100 meters: Micahi Danzy (Florida High) 10.91

200 meters: Micahi Danzy (Florida High) 21.90

400 meters: Cade Swart (Chiles) 50.11

800 meters: Patrick Koon (Leon) 2:00.26

1600 meters: Patrick Koon (Leon) 4:13.96

3200 meters: Jackson Rowe (Chiles) 9:35.44

110 hurdles: Rance Grace (Lincoln) 14.42

400 hurdles: Rance Grace (Lincoln) 56.31

4 X 100 relay: Lincoln (Jaiden Cunningham, Rance Grace, Kamren Ross, Tylor Howard) 42.30

4 X 400 relay: Lincoln (Jadon Buckles, Rance Grace, Tyzer Henry, Anthony Vail) 3:23.43

4X 800 relay: Lincoln (Enijah Thomas, Rayshwn Goodman, Chandler Grace, Dillon Brewer) 8:18.57

High jump: Tyler Howard (Lincoln) 6.1-5 feet

Pole vault: Darius Jones II (Rickards) 14-7.25 feet

Long jump: Micahi Danzy (Florida High) 21-6 feet

Triple jump: Zavion Jackson (Rickards) 41.10 feet

Shot put: Bryce Davis (Leon) 57.75 feet

Discus: Jason Atwood (Chiles) 178.3 feet

Javelin: Will Wainwright (Suwannee) 195 feet

Girls individual results

100 meters: Sacori Gardner (Rickards) 12.30

200 meters: Sacori Gardner (Rickards) 25.50

400 meters: Zykierra Hightower (Cairo) 1:00.55

800 meters: Savannah Stanley (Chiles) 2:24.11

1600 meters: Margaret Bartlow (North Bay Haven) 5:10.64

3200 meters: Margaret Bartlow (North Bay Haven) 10:58.91

100 hurdles: Kyra Swart (Chiles) 14.57

400 hurdles: Ay’keelah Green (Florida High) 1:08.03

4X100 relay: Rickards (Dayasisa Lilly, Sacori Gardner, Taylor Nance, Me’Yauney Peoples)  49.1

4X400 relay: Rickards ( Taylor Nance, Kylie Hall, Madison Fulton, Sacori Gardner) 4:14.66

4X800 relay: Florida High (Leah Boutwell, Miyuki Vos, Ryleigh Gunter, Elin Quisenberry) 11:05.20

High jump: Juournee Belcher (Rickards) 5-5.75 feet

Pole vault: Elizabeth Dowdy (Maclay) 11-11.75 feet

Long jump: Ay’keelah Green (Florida High) 18-7.75 feet

Triple jump: Shirin Djemgou (Rickards) 38-9.75 feet

Shot put: Jakarma Mitchell (Rickards) 36-6.25 feet

Discus: Jakarma Mitchell (Rickards)  106.5 feet

Javelin: Gabrielle Killets (North Bay Haven) 94.8 feet

Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Local track and field athletes star at 20th annual Jesse Forbes invite