Unpredictable weather is par for the course in Florida. If it's raining in one town, it could be dry in the next. If it's raining one minute, it might be clear the next. The course at Crescent Lake Park in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday was just that. An overcast start gave way to bouts of torrential rainfall, forcing meet officials to cancel the awards ceremony. Many competitors and spectators simply stopped even trying to stay dry and embraced it. Add that in with a gaggle of aggressive geese, staking out part of the course and you had a meet that was as wacky as it was wet.
Aside from the distractions, the course at Crescent Lake is pretty straight forward. It's basically two laps around the lake with a looping finish through an open field.
The girls race saw McAuliffe getting out to a firm start.
McAuliffe was dead-set on cracking 20 minutes, which would have been a new PR for her but after one loop around Crescent Lake, there was no one to put pressure on her. McAuliffe opened up and stretched her lead in front of the pack and coming home for the finish, McAuliffe put 30 seconds between her and anyone else.
"I remember I saw 19:56 on the clock and I tried to get to it," McAuliffe said.
McAuliffe came in at 20:02.40. Not the sub-20 she was hoping for but still a PR and 30 seconds ahead of Osceola freshman Taylor Stone. Stone, the newest addition to the Osceola tribe, finished second overall in 20:30.40. She and McAuliffe were the only runners under 21 minutes.
As a team, the Warriors seemed to not miss a beat even with their top runner from 2015, Emma Grantges, graduated. The Warrior girls defended their team title with 27 points to host St. Pete's 68. Sophomores Meghan Gregiore took fourth in 21:21.40 and Drew Safko fifth in 22:03.80. The Warriors put three in the top five and five in the top 10. Calvary Christian's Callie Friske grabbed third in 21:21.30.
On the boys side, Walker was the pace-setter early and had to contend with both Northeast's Michael Ecker-Randolph and defending Green Devil champ Matthew Wohlwend of St. Pete. Ecker-Randolph held on for the first 1.5 miles but started to drift back toward the pack as Walker and Wohlwend moved out in front. Neither runner could shake the other and as they came scorching down the final straightaway, they were stride-for-stride with Walker just getting it at the line in 17:02.00. Wohlwend was in at 17:02.20.
It marked a huge PR for Walker, his 2015 best, a 17:11.00 from regionals. Wohlwend improved, slightly, on his winning time from the 2015 Green Devil meet but Wohlwend has a 16:51.90 from last year's PCAC meet. Expect to hear from Wohlwend again and expect a strong rivalry between the two runners for the duration of the season. Wohlwend and the Green Devils did take home the team title, edging out Osceola 50-52. Bryce Burt grabbed fifth for the Green Devils (18:03.50). Northeast took third on the back of Ecker-Randolph's big run and got a top 10 finish from Mathew Maier (18:27.00). Kevin Cochran led the way for the runner up Warriors with a fourth-place 18:03.00 and freshman Trevor Coryea grabbed sixth in 18:05.50.
More Coverage
- 2016 Green Devil Invitational Meet Page (Complete Coverage/Results)
- Photo Album By Andy Warrener
- Interviews By Andy Warrener