Cross country season is now upon us all. The first weekend is in the books. For the Orange Belt conference schools, we now have an idea of what our season will look like.
Harmony High School hosted its annual invitational, drawing 11 schools from three counties. Six of the seven OBC schools participated in this local race. George Jenkins (Polk) swept the varsity team titles, but Harmony (3rd boys) and St. Cloud (2nd girls) had decent opening weekends as well.
Liberty High school junior Rogelio Araiza was the winner of the boy’s race, coming in at 17:14. He was followed in quickly by three from Melbourne and four others from George Jenkins. He took command early and set the pace for the race.
George Jenkins junior Victoria Jung won the girl’s race with a time of 20:47, 20 seconds faster than her nearest competitor, Octavia Gonzalez of St. Cloud.
Harmony:
The boys took 3rd place and were led by senior Jose Loredo (17:47) who took 10th place. Their 1-5 split was 2:13 with an average time of 18:34.
The girls took 5th place. They were led by junior Rebecca Ouellette (21:46) who took 9th place. Their 1-5 split was 5:18 with an average time of 25:09.
St Cloud:
The boys were 4th place. They were led by junior Harvey Ferriera (18:11) who came in 14th. Their 1-5 split was 1:14 with an average time of 18:57.
The girls took 2nd place. They were led by junior Octavia Gonzalez (21:07) who took 2nd place. Their 1-5 split was 2:56 with an average time of 22:18.
Gateway:
The boys were 8th place. They were led by sophomore Jose Alvarado (19:07) who came in 25th. Their 1-5 split was 0:56 seconds with an average time of 19:39.
The girls didn’t have enough runners to place as a team, however, senior Stephanie Rosado (24:01) put up the best time for the group and took 20th place.
Osceola:
The boys were 5th place. They were led by senior Cody Dana (18:32) who came in 17th. Their 1-5 split was 1:44 with an average time of 19:21.
The girls took 6th place. They were led by junior Keilah Vicari (22:54) who took 15th place. Their 1-5 split was 6:13 with an average time of 27:00.
Celebration:
The boys were 7th place. They were led by sophomore Justin Corinealdi (17:36) who came in 7th. Their 1-5 split was 3:00 with an average time of 19:25.
The girls took 7th place. They were led by junior Christine Infantolino (22:16) who took 13th place. Their 1-5 split was 10:18 with an average time of 28:43.
Liberty:
The boys were 6th place. They were led by race winner Rogelio Araiza (17:14). Their 1-5 split was 3:28 with an average time of 19:26.
The girls didn’t have enough runners to place as a team, however, sophomore Yazmizel Haase (25:34) put up the best time for the group and took 30th place.
Poinciana High school was not in action this week.
News & Notes:
Next up for Gateway, Celebration, Harmony, Liberty, & St Cloud will be the Edgewater invitational on Friday September 6th at Trotters Park in Orlando. Osceola and Poinciana do not have a meet scheduled.
In the “way too early” category… Octavia Gonzalez & teammate Karissa Solorzano are headed toward a dual on October 16 at the OBC championships. Rogelio Araiza & Justin Corinealdi are headed in the same direction on the boys’ side. Solorzano and Araiza are the reigning champions in the conference. For the team titles St. Cloud is looking very strong on the girl’s side, while Harmony and St. Cloud look like the top teams on the boys side.