Ferguson Girls and Reef Boys Adding GMAC Championships to School History

Meet Coverage:

About the Meet:

- It was a rainy afternoon at Larry & Penny Thompson Park but without the presence of lightning, it provided for a competition without the typical South Florida heat, although it was definitely a wet affair as is also commonly seen with the weather this time of the year in Miami. The GMAC is the conference for all Miami-Dade County Public Schools, along with the lone private school who is a charter member of the conference, Christopher Columbus HS. With the continued addition of smaller academy structured schools, the GMAC now has 40 total member schools. For this 2015 edition of the championship, there weren't many surprises as to how the races played out, but there was some more history added to the record books.

Junior Varsity Race Recaps:
- The first two races of the afternoon were the junior varsity races, these two races having slightly better weather because the rains hadn't hit quite so hard yet. Both races were fairly small in size and not too competitive due to a couple of reasons. First, the GMAC's restriction on number of entries and athlete grades, only 7 entries per schools and only underclassmen are allowed to run, and second but more importantly, this meet was one day after the Miami Junior Varsity Championship. A meet that was created specifically in response to the restrictions placed on the GMAC JV divisions and in just it's second year has already grown to be a larger and much faster competition. In addition, it sported athletes from the three largest teams in the GMAC: Ferguson, Columbus, and Coral Reef, which greatly watered down the GMAC JV races.

Junior Varsity Winners:
Girls JV Individual Champion: Teralyn Ubico, Southwest Miami (22:59.20)
Girls JV Team Champions: Miami Palmetto HS - 15 points (the only complete team)

Boys JV Individual Champion: Toru Dean, Miami Southridge (18:58.39)
Boys JV Team Champions: TERRA Environmental HS - 19 points

The start of the rainy girls varsity race.

Girls Varsity Race Recap:

- Heading into the girls varsity race, there wasn't a lot of debate as to who the top teams and individuals were coming in, and the races played out more or less as they were expected to. Daesha Rogers of North Miami HS was the big individual favorite based on her performances all season long and she came through with a big win by nearly a minute margin. This marked her second individual GMAC title in her career as Daesha earned her first title her freshman year while competing for Miami Jackson HS; she finished in third last year while competing for Miami Northwestern HS. In the team race it was Miami Northwestern off to an early first mile lead, but after that it was all John A. Ferguson as they landed their sixth straight conference title. Northwestern managed to hold on an beat Coral Reef for runner-up honors.

Girls Varsity Award Winners:
Girls Varsity Individual Champion: Daesha Rogers, North Miami (19:45.67)
Girls Varsity Individual Runner-up: Shiree Hinds, Miami Northwestern (20:38.01)
Girls Varsity Individual 3rd place: Jazmyn Martinez, John A. Ferguson (20:41.12)

Girls Varsity Team Champions: John A. Ferguson HS - 32 points
Girls Varsity Team Runner-up: Miami Northwestern HS - 51 points

Girls Varsity Historical Notes:

- The sixth straight conference win by John A. Ferguson HS breaks the conference record for consecutive titles, which was previous shared by Miami Sunset who had five straight titles from 1997-2001.

- This win for the Ferguson girls brings their GMAC XC Championship total to eight, impressive for a school only in it's 13th season, and this win is only one shy of Miami Sunset who holds the GMAC record for total championships at nine.

The GMAC runner-up girls team from Miami Northwestern HS.

The John A. Ferguson HS girls with their sixth consecutive GMAC title.


Boys Varsity Race Recap:
- Leading the way into this competition was heavy favorite, Carlin Berryhill, who not only had the background for success, but also the undefeated streak going in the conference this season. Carlin is the defending track & field 1600m state champion, the 2014 cross country 4A state runner-up, and also the 2014 GMAC cross country runner-up, so there was no surprise as he picked up the easy win by a margin of nearly 30 seconds. In the team race however, there was much to be determined as three schools were all vying for the team championship. Columbus and Ferguson have flip-flopped wins over each other all season long, while Coral Reef had been waiting for one of their key runners to return from illness. Although an extremely even competition through the first mile, by halfway mark it was clear that Ferguson was out of contention, although Columbus still had a slight edge over Reef, whose fifth runner was still out of the mix. However, in the second half of the race there was good resolve by the Reef runners who surged past Columbus to place their #5 inside everyone else's and pick up the big win.

Boys Varsity Award Winners:
Boys Varsity Individual Champion: Carlin Berryhill, Coral Reef (16:16.10)
Boys Varsity Individual Runner-up: Leonardo Rodriguez, John A. Ferguson (16:44.20)
Boys Varsity Individual 3rd place: Guillermo Rojas, John A. Ferguson (16:49.43)

Boys Varsity Team Champions: Coral Reef HS - 36 points
Boys Varsity Team Runner-up: Christopher Columbus HS - 48 points

Boys Varsity Historical Notes:

- Although improperly noted during the award presentation, this was actually the third boys team title in Coral Reef history, a school which which opened in 1997. Their two previous titles came in 2001 and 2002; the team also had runner-up performances in 2000 and 2010.

- Carlin Berryhill is the school's second GMAC individual champion. Brian "BG" Griffith won the GMAC individually in 2002 on his way to a District Championship, followed by Regional Runner-up and State Runner-up individual performances.

- This was the third consecutive runner-up finish for Christopher Columbus who holds the GMAC record for championships with an impressive 18 titles since 1984, which is 15 more than any other conference school. Miami Central, John A. Ferguson, and now Coral Reef have three titles each.

The GMAC runner-up boys team from Christopher Columbus HS.

The GMAC Championship boys team from Coral Reef HS, earning their first title in school history.

The Berryhill family after the awards presentation: Cameron on the left, champion Carlin in yellow.