A heat index putting temperatures close to the 100 degree mark did little to stop dedicated teams from participating in the Bay Invitational Sept 26th, 2009. 14 Boys teams and 17 girls teams showed up displaying eagerness and fortitude. There seemed to be a true sense of teamwork throughout the entire day starting with the teams and ending with meet Director Tim Wanamaker, coach of 10 years for Bay High School's Cross Country teams.
Coach Wanamaker had this to say about the meet, "we put the announcement out on July 1st that we would be hosting the event. It took a lot of cooperation from parents, students and other volunteers. Everyone stepped up to the plate and did whatever was needed."
Among the teams in attendance was Altha Public High School from Altha, Florida, in their first year having a Cross Country team and the second meet of the season. Their young team ranging from 6th - 12th grades ended the day with the girls varsity finishing 11th and the boys taking 17th. When asked about the team's performance, Coach John Sewell said, "they are coming along. Our team has a lot of motivation and I think they are doing really well."
Fort Walton Beach High School had a great day, seizing the win in both the girls and boys varsity races. Capturing an early lead, the girls team stuck together, driving each other throughout the race. They took the top 5 places, giving the team a perfect score of 15 points. Iolani Scanlan finished 1st with a time of 20:02. Iolani stated the only real challenge was the heat and the last hill near the finish. She said, "The team just kept pushing each other." Right behind her was Holly Stanton (20:08), Sarah deVaux (20:21), Ivy Chastain (20:39), and Brittany Long (20:58). Niceville varsity girls placed second having 87 points with Washington High School securing a close 3rd place with 88 points.
Finishing with a 1st place time of 16:48, Luc Lawrence of Fort Walton Beach High School grabbed the lead from the start of the boys varsity race and led the way as he ran a 5:10 first mile, and didn't consider the heat to be a big deal. Luc stated, "it's a harder course with all the hills. My goal was to stay in the lead against everyone else." The Fort Walton Beach varsity boys took 1st place with a score of 50 points. Chris Douglas (17:10) and Matt Bevel (17:11) were 7th and 8th. Alex Godfrey (17:34) and Brian Staton (17:41), who is new to the team this year, came in 16th and 18th giving the team what they needed for the win. Niceville High School's boys team also placed second with 79 points and Washington High School was 3rd with 103 points.
Fort Walton Beach High School Coaches Lissette Moller-Fields and Jeff Fields were definitely excited about their teams' accomplishments. "The girls (varsity) team was amazing, "Coach Fields stated. " The freshmen really stepped up to the plate, including Brittany (Long) who gave us our perfect score. The boys (varsity) performed really well, even minus one of our top 5. The JV teams were also impressive, cutting times by as much as a minute. Coach Moller-Fields commented about next week's race saying, "I think we are in great shape for next week's FLRunners Meet and think our girls could place in the top 3 and the boys in the top 5."
The JV teams unquestionably showed some awesome aptitude. Kathryn Russell from Fort Walton Beach High School was the JV girls winner, running a time of 22:18. Kathryn said of her teammates, "the team did really well. Everyone stuck together. It was a good course, I really felt like I knew what I was doing." And they did indeed stick together. Kathryn was followed across the finish by her fellow teammates, Briana Degennaro (22:49), Sierra Wanner (23:06), and Jessie Niemiec (23:42). Christine Poole of Godby High School placed 5th running a time of 25:15.
In the boys JV race, Niceville High School's Danny Cooper took the win with a time of 18:29. His older brother, Michael, placed 9th in the boys varsity race. "It was a smooth course," Danny commented about the race. Coach Sherman Eller stated that Danny did excellent considering he was recovering from being sick just two weeks ago. "He's on track for a PR." Not far behind Danny was Tim Bulger (18:38) and Zach Smith (18:44) from Fort Walton Beach High School who placed 2nd and 3rd with Washington High School's Andre Bordelon (18:57) close behind in 4th.
The top 10 finishers from each race were awarded ribbons. The winning varsity teams were awarded a trophy.
For those interested in the 3A Boys state battle, #1 ranked Washington High School and #2 ranked Fort Walton Beach High School have started the fight. Last week's race at the Washington Wildcat Invitational, Washington High School placed first with 44 points, beating out Fort Walton Beach's second place with 54 points. This week, the tides turned and Fort Walton Beach placed 1st with 50 points beating Washington who came in 3rd with 103 points.