Boys Preview
Individuals:
Lincoln Park Academy senior and FSU commitment Caleb Pottorff has looked as good as advertised this cross country season. Pottorff was the 2A runner-up in 2015 and had a very successful track season heading into this fall. He tallied a major win against a stacked field at the flrunners.com Race Of Champions, crossing the line in a PR of 15:30.11. He is undefeated in all six races he has run in this season.
Charles Hicks of Bolles was fifth at last year's state meet and has five wins in six appearances. In all six meets, Hicks has run under 16 minutes including a personal best of 15:33.21 at the Florida Horse Park Invitational. Coach Rivera told me last week at the FLYRA Middle School State Championship that Hicks is looking the best he has all season and will be ready to challenge Pottorff and the rest of the field on Saturday.
Also, in the mix will be a pair of seniors in Titusville's Mason Jones and Trinity Prep's Trent Mandato. Jones has been the model of consistency this year running in the 15:50 range for a majority of races. He was second at the UF Mt. Dew Invitational as well as we the flrunners.com Invitational behind Pottorff. Jones finished 4th at regionals, but if he is on his "A" game can run with the best in the state.
Teams:
The 2A boys team race is probably the one I am most looking forward to watching on Saturday. Trinity Prep has been the preeminent program in the classification over the past few years winning the last four championships. Longtime Coach Ken Vinal has taken a leave of absence and the team will be under the direction of Mike Hill who has been a part of multiple state championship programs while at Winter Park and Leto. Ironically enough the last Hill coached team to win a title, the 2006 Winter Park boys, ten years ago.
Last year, the Saints won with 40 points, a 44 second 1-5 split, and a team average of 16:16. The Bolles Bulldogs (145 points) were fifth and Satellite seventh (217 points). This year is a new ballgame so to speak and that gap will be much closer.
Looking at the team scores based purely on season bests the Saints are five points shy of Satellite. The Scorpions are coached by Doug Butler one of the winningest coaches in state meet history. They boast a team average of 16:13.28 and a 1-5 split of 31.7 seconds. This race could come down to fifth runners Walker Hirsch and Mamush Galloway who have nearly identical SB's of 16:28.80 and 16:28.40. Don't sleep on Bolles though, Coach Rivera has a trio of sophomores that might be one of best class of 2019 trios in the country with Charles Hicks, Chase Rivera, and Benjamin Foltz.