1A Region 3 (On-Site Coverage By Doug Carroll)
(Photo by Jeff Adams)
The 1A Region 3 Championship at Holy Trinity means home field advantage for the Tigers. Senior Shelby Smith was third at the meet last year behind eventual 1A champion Sarah Candiano and Hannah Brookover who is now in Region 2. However, Smith who was third at state will go head to head with Mt. Dora Bible freshman Rebecca Clark, who was the 1A runner-up in 2014. Clark was two seconds faster at FLR16, but nearly 18 seconds faster a week later at Pre-State. Nobody else in the field will be within in 20-30 seconds of this duo. Others to watch in the second pack of runners include Smith's teammates Samantha Folio and twin sister Sydney as well as First Academy sister's Caroline and Isabel Crist who went 1-2 at the District 10 Championship.
The Tigers are the clear favorites to hoist another regional title and to do so on their home turf. TFA and Circle Christian will compete for the runner-up trophy while Father Lopez, Lakeland Christian, the Benjamin School, and the Geneva School are five teams trying to fill four spots and a trip to state.
It's no surprise the top three runners in 1A-3 all won their respective districts. Pine School junior Chase Hyland is making a name for himself down their in Hobe Sound. Hyland finished 8th at the Martin County Under the Lights Invitational in his first race, but has not finished worse than fifth in any meet after and has run under 16:30 in four meets including a 16:28.19 to win 1A District 12. Mt. Dora Bible's Gabriel Curtis poses the largest threat. The freshman with those long strides became one of the top 2019 runners in the country when he ran 16:33.30 at Pre-State, but the pressure soon began to show running an average of 18 minutes the next two weeks. If Curtis can keep it close, he has the confidence of winning district, and might surprise more people in the next two weeks. Others to watch include District 10 champion Drew DeArmas of The First Academy, Josh Skielnik of Jupiter Christian, and Father Lopez's Nick Theriault and Matthew Roof.
Father Lopez is the best team in this region and should be a contender for a state title in two weeks with TFA in the drivers seat for a runner-up finish. The next four spots are completely up for grabs!
Girls Virtual Meet (Based On District Results)
Boys Virtual Meet (Based On District Results)
Girls Virtual Meet (Based On Season Bests)
Boys Virtual Meet (Based On Seasons Bests)