Photo Album - Friday Night by Ralph Epifanio (1000 Photos)
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Runners being polar opposites of those who gamble, I seriously doubt if any of this website’s readership shared my initial reaction to the “FLRUNNERS INVITATIONAL 11” logo. (But then again, few people share my reputation for occupying both poles at the same time.) Runners almost universally follow the philosophy that, if they work really, really hard, and avoid all vices, everything will turn out hunky dory. Never the less, when I saw that 11, the thought that passed completely through my mind was snake eyes. Then I asked my other self: “Why not good old Roman numerals? You’re always safe with Roman numerals.” After all, that’s probably why the Latins, in their infinite wisdom, used dots (or pips, as they are called) for their dice. (The Romans, incidentally, called double ones “dogs,” or a dog throw, but more on that later.)
The first evidence of foreshadowing, that the meet’s long history of good weather, good runners, and good times was in “the cup,” so to speak, was when a tropical depression—which NOAA officially referred to as TD16—formed just south of Havana (former gambling capital of the world). That was on September 28th, three days before FLR XI. The path that it was projected to take—not to mention the timing--would make TD16 the first to cross the finish line in Chain of Lakes Park. Fortunately, what came around went around, and as it moved north it danced past Titusville, just like one of those little white cubes does when it first hits the table. Fortunately, on opening night, the weather was just peachy keen. (I could hear Jason’s “Whew!” from here in Deland.)
The second thing that happened, just before the meet was about to start, was that the computer system wouldn’t. Being pros at this sort of thing, this wasn’t the end of the world for Steeple Timing, but their view of the finish line from its edge wasn’t the one they were hoping for. Even though those first eight (Friday night) races went off like clockwork, the actual clocking more closely resembled good old-fashioned clerking.
There was also a team—no names necessary; you know who you are—whose coach issued the guys’ numbers to the girls, and vice versa. That was certainly fun, but let’s not do that again, okay. Oh, the stress!
And then, there was the traffic. But we’re not talking about the vehicular kind. For some unknown reason, everyone on the west side of the finish line chutes just had to be on the east side, and vice versa. What followed was a steady flow of pedestrians (with or without mechanical support), runners, pets (what was up with all those dogs?), those licking their Hawaiian Ice in ecstasy as they wove their way back to their “spot”, and maybe even a shark or two, in an ooh-ah dance with the exhausted, somewhat dazed, and too tired-to-care runners finishing the race in PR times. (Someone please check Jason’s blood pressure.) Was this great migration a reminder that Ceres, Roman goddess of craps, was still very much around…or was she the goddess of crops?
Despite all this, everyone did their job—and did it well, I might add—cranking out yet another Day 1 of this increasingly popular mid-season test of fitness on the road to the FHSAA championships.
JV Blue-Girls
It may be that you can’t always tell a book by its cover, but in the case of sophomore sensation Ryley McCallum, she’s a sure bet.
“This is my first race,” she said, surprising more than one interviewer. “Last year I didn’t run cross country, just did track. This year, because of soccer, it’s the first meet I’ve been able to make.”
Right now, the life of Ryley revolves around the midfield of the Central Florida Krush, an under-16 youth team.
“I do a lot of running (during soccer games). I probably do about four-ish (miles per game), depending upon playing time.”
After only one race, which she won by 22.2 seconds, she already knows that she could have a bright future in running, but soccer, for her, is still a kick in the grass.
“I think I’d get further with running, but I’d be going in to running, so I think I’ll stick with soccer for now, and see where it goes. It was my first race, so I can’t tell.”
What we can tell is that her 21:20.53 would have placed on the Oviedo varsity in the Girls Large School race.
TEAM RACE - Although the Oak Hall team included a runner as young as sixth grade (12th place finisher Talia Carlson in 24:15.66), it was their fifth place finisher Layne Weitzel, a junior, who rolled the winning numbers (24th place in 25:41.20), snatching the victory (3-8-9-18-24-30-38; 62) from American Heritage Academy (1-2-11-14-37; 65). Episcopal (7-10-16-19-20-26-50; 72) was hot on their heels. 147 runners represented 13 scoring teams.
JV Blue-Boys
If you turned away too quickly, it might have seemed that this was anything but an invitational. No less than six of the top ten finishers were from Henry Plant High School in Tampa: sophomore Kyle Groh (17:39.46) was first, sophomore Anatoly Samaha (18:07.85) third, sophomore Jason Mersereau (18:08.82) fourth, sophomore Lawson Jaffe (18:18.62) fifth, junior Joe Gilberto (18:27.91) seventh, and freshman Carlos Andino (18:42.64) ninth.
There were two parts to their game plan, as Groh explains.
“We were going to let other people lead, but if it got too slow, to take over the lead.”
As in most JV races, the Plant squad also had a second agenda.
Groh again: “We wanted to run for place, BUT we also wanted the best time possible (in order to) to run varsity in the next race.”
It would seem that success of this magnitude inevitably turns the spotlight in the direction of their coach, Mike Boza (who was insistent on a cool down, protectively truncating the interview somewhat). Anatoly Samaha, who is the team’s historian—he gave me a short, but thorough history of shipping and railroad mogul Henry Plant, whom the school is named after—explained that they have a highly structured pre-race regimen.
“We warm up for ten minutes, come back, put our shoes and chip on, make a bathroom trip, then do drills.”
“More of a dynamic stretching exercise,” added Jaffe.
“One fast, race-pace run for a minute, and then huddle up while our coach gives us an inspirational talk. Then we go out and run,” Samaha concluded.
And win the team race.
TEAM RACE -- Since I already let the cat out of the bag, here are the numbers: Plant 15 (1-2-3-4-5-7), Oak Hall 85 (12-13-14-21-25-43-46), and Oviedo 114 (10-11-22-27-44-45-55). 9th grader Tim O’Loughlin (Tampa Jesuit), who finished second in 17:49.84, and junior Dallas Remnonda (North Fort Myers), who finished sixth in 18:26.73, did not figure in team scoring. 225 runners finished and 23 teams scored.
Varsity Girls – Small School
The longest stretch on this cross country course is after that final turn, back towards the finish line, when the clock first comes into view. In quick succession, you see the time—whose digits are turning over far faster than your legs—yourself moving in relatively slow motion, and the blur on either side, that if you weren’t so incredibly tired, would clearly be recognized as the familiar faces of your friends, family, and team members, all screaming for you to “go faster!”
“This is the first time that I broke 20,” Trinity Prep sophomore Kelly Fahey enthusiastically explained. “But that was my goal.”
Fahey’s previous personal best was a 20:27.95, November 21, 2009, at the FHSAA 1A State Meet.
“I like this course. It’s very fast, but I started off a little behind. I hit the mile in 15th, but caught the #1 girl at two miles (freshman Emily Crist, First Academy, second in 20:05.25).
“My (next) goal is to break 19:20, and, as a team, to place at the States. We have a lot of seniors; we’re all trying to get better and improve during the season.”
TEAM RACE – With runners from seventh through eleventh grade—and finishing from 2nd to 104th place--TP bunched four in the top ten, then bit their nails until #5 crossed in 51st place. They had 80 points (2-7-9-11-51-88-104) to Westminster Academy’s 88 (WA had all seven of their runners in before TPs fifth; 12-13-19-21-23-29-47), however the latter had a sixth, a seventh, three eighths, a tenth and an eleventh grader on the team, a sure sign that we haven’t heard the last from them. Jensen Beach (14-25-26-27-33-61-70; 125) rounded out the top three. 117 teams and 134 finished made the results.
Varsity Girls - Large School
Anytime there is a lake—this invitational being held at Chain of Lakes Park,--there’s invariably a winner with “Lake,” or at least some form of water on their singlet. In this race it was Lake Howell’s Regan Farrow (Lake, not Blake). The 15 year old sophomore came in to the race with a 19:47.33 PR, run at this year’s September 11th Hagerty Invitational, where she finished fifth in a field of 107.
Hotly pursued by Holy Name eighth grader, Colleen Doherty (who just happened to be wearing bib #1)—looking at the photos, we can just hear and feel her breath on Regan’s back,—her pace could best be described as “motivated.”
“It motivated me because I knew that if I didn’t keep the pace, she would take over,” clarified Farrow. “I didn’t recognize her.”
Farrow’s tactic was to “sneak up” on the competition.
“In the first mile, I was in the top seven. Then I moved up to four, and then two. I passed her (Doherty), maybe, in the last ¾ of a mile.”
“Over by that palm tree,” interjected her mom. She and her husband, Steve, definitely helicopter parents (in a good way), can be seen with Regan in “Lake View.”
“I’ve won one this year (first of 82, in 19:55.72, at the September 18th Lake Brantley Invitational), and two last year (the September 14th Trinity Prep I in 21:46, and the October 28th Seminole County Conference Championships in 20:35.06).”
But she always has time for her teammates.
“I kind of keep them together and help them to do their best. I encourage them by saying, ‘It may not seem possible, but you can get there,’ give them advice, and tell them how I did what I did.”
TEAM RESULTS – Doherty’s second place finish led her school, Academy of Holy Names (too many to list here), to a resounding first place finish in the team race (2-6-12-13-16-18-34; 49). In second and second, with 118 points each, was Episcopal (11-22-24-30-31-35-51) and Lincoln Park Academy (4-5-14-46-49-66-71). Of course there can’t be ties in the high stakes game of cross country, so Episcopal was declared the first second—and LPA the first third—due to the “role” of sixth place finisher, senior “Chad” Crowell, in 35th place. (Episcopal, incidentally, by order of finish, featured a seventh, eighth, ninth, seventh, eleventh, twelfth, and seventh grader, proving that seniors rule…or at least prove the margin of victory.)
Water Break
What’s a high school cross country meet without a water “stop?” This one was womanned by the Park Ave. Christian Academy Running team (K-8th grade), whose head coach is Sarah Guttery. I made every effort to interview her, but she is a vet, and being on call—man’s best friend waits for no man—she was tending to the needy. Putting words in her mouth was Valerie Suffern (they actually named a town in New York State after her), who can be seen—along with a LOT of water cups--in “Lake Views.” So you have a “water view” from your “Lake View.”
“Valerie, water being essential to life, what would you do if you witnessed a runner go down because of the heat?”
“Throw water…I mean share water, and then call for first aid.”
“I’m really parched, and all these cups look the same to me. Would you use your ‘professional’ training to pick out the best one on the table?”
“Sure.”
After handing me the only one with a blade of grass bobbing around in it, I asked about her choice of one among many.
“Grass? That’s extra…vitamins.”
Yummy.
Actually, it isn’t often that you meet someone at a meet with such a “dry” sense of humor.
Boys Varsity – Small School
Predictably the theme of water—and school names that contain them—continued with this race, figuratively splashing itself across my steno pad in the name, Farragut High School. (Admiral David Glasglow Farragut, a Union Naval hero, was famous for his remark “Damn the torpedoes…go ahead…full speed,” (and not the way it is recorded, grammatically correct, in history books; he was, after all, lashed to a mast and being shot at), during the battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864. In case the date doesn’t ring a bell, it occurred during (what southerners call) “The War Between the States.”)
Blake Arnold, a 16 year old junior at Farragut, came into the race with a 17:16 personal best (set at the St. Petersburg City Championships on October 22, 2009). His season, so far, has pointed towards even bigger and better things to come.
“I won my first race this season (17:55 at the September 15, 2010 Pirate Invite), then finished second, and second again…and now this,” he said after the race.
Being one of the top runners in the field, he lost no time in challenging the leaders.
“I tried staying with the top two guys at first. At mile two, the guy in the blue and orange uniform (sophomore Dane Mauger, who finished second in 17:22.23) started breaking away. I was right with him. I started pushing him, and he pushed me. At 800 to go, I made my move, pushing (the pace) and pulled out ahead.”
Arnold had quite a lead going into the final straight away, but one thing he couldn’t beat was the clock, thus making landfall in 17:10.42. Although shy of running in the 16s, he had a new PR.
“I love this course. It’s one of my favorites; all grass and has a competitive field. It’s one of the big races of the year, so a couple of weeks before, I start pushing myself in practice to get ready.”
TEAM RESULTS – With 160 runners and 24 teams, the scoring, naturally, went in to the hundreds. First Academy was the only one to finish with less (3-9-15-22-33-43-53; 82). Circle Christian (14-18-19-36-37-39-71; 124) and Admiral Farragut Academy (1-26-32-45-59-75-88; 163) finished second and third, respectively.
Boys Varsity – Large School
Winter Springs (water, water everywhere) had three finishers in the top four, all seniors and all under 17: Timothy Nguyen first in 16:51.04, Nathan DeKrey second in 16:56, and Matt Streich fourth in 16:59.74. Austin Cox (junior, from Lincoln Park) squeezed in between them to finish third in 16:55.67. The WS runners made every attempt to stay in consecutive order.
“I move up on him in the last half mile,” said Nguyen. “I was dying, and I knew it, but I just let it loose. It was the first time I’ve ever been this close to being first in a race. I pushed past the pain. I didn’t want him to pass me in the chute, so I really extended it (his lead) in the last mile.”
DeKrey added, “I tried to run negative splits, and I’m usually seven to ten seconds behind this guy (pointing to Nguyen). The last 200 meters I kicked it and carried it through. I left my guts on the other side.”
Picture that.
And from Streich, “We knew this year it would be really close, but it was good seeing it happen. It was great seeing all of our work coming together.”
“We are in the early stages of our training,” remembered Nguyen, “so this is the first big meet that it showed. It was also our last chance to show it. The seniors are gone and it’s time for us to have our own races.”
“It is amazing, after four years of training together.”
And the all important name game?
“It is getting closer to winter,” remembered Nguyen, “and I’ve noticed that as it starts cooling down, we start speeding up….”
TEAM RESULTS - With a trio like Nguyen, DeKrey, and Streich, all it took was two more runners to stay close to the front, and Winter Park got that from sophomores Stefan Yocum (16th in 17:48.11) and Cornelius Wesley (24th in 18:08.67). They won by 79 (1-2-4-16-24-32-61). Oviedo (5-17-20-29-55-62-85; 126) was second and North Fort Myers third (9-23-26-34-47-87; 139). There were 146 runners and 22 teams.
Is there a doctor in the house?
Well actually, there was. Besides “Team Titusville” (led by Battalion Chief G. Gienecke), four paramedics were on hand to handle any sort of medical emergency. As explained by Paramedic Daniel Ellis, “Usually, whenever they have these races, they have us here. We are contracted by FL-runners. They also have some doctors from Parrish Hospital here.”
Which is why problems were handled so quickly and efficiently, that hardly anyone was aware that a few runners “went down” from heat-related exhaustion.
Open and College Women
As the front runners raced along the shoreline opposite that of the main spectator area, it wasn’t difficult to figure out which team was in the lead--perhaps only which member of that team. The five runner long green streak that snaked around the lake was undoubtedly Jacksonville.
“We had the top five here last year,” commented JU coach, Ron Grigg. This year, knowing who was going to be here, we thought we could do it again. We ran very conservatively; went through the two mile in something like 12:15, and I think we had six together. That was probably a little slower than I liked. They took me a little too literally when I said, ‘Be easy at the front of the field. Control the race, but do it as easy as possible.’
“The Florida meet (Mt. Dew) is a high level meet. Pre-Nats (Pre-Nationals) is the highest level that we will run at this year. The (Atlantic Sun) conference is the most important, but the Pre-Nats have all the top teams. This (FLR XI) falls in the middle.”
The order of finish was Joane Pierre (18:38.71; about a minute off her Mt. Dew win, 18:33.8), Susa Klungveit (18:41.96), Anastasia Fokina (18:44.44), Bailee Hedstrom (18:48.95), and Svenja Meyer (18:54.25).
“We wanted our #4 and #5 to have a better race than at Florida. #2 and #3 were hanging back to help them,” added Grigg.
It is a squad with international roots; Pierre is from Haiti, Klungvit from Norway, Fokina from Russia, Hedstrom from Vietnam, and Meyer from Norway.
“There are recruiting services that help place students in American Universities,” explains Grigg. “Joane and Bailee, however, went to Florida high schools.”
TEAM RESULTS – Jacksonville, with 1-2-3-4-5-11-14, scored a perfect 15 (just one place—11 instead of 12—ahead of 2009). UCF (6-9-10-17-19-21-25; 61) was second, and a hard-charging St. Leo was third (8-15-18-27-28-37-40; 96). 93 runners and 11 teams were listed in the results.
Open and College Men
The “green streak” that was Jacksonville in the women’s race, became a “red streak” of Florida Southern runners—although 40% longer--in the men’s race. Led by senior Ben Martucci (15:34.16), the FSC team swept the first seven places. He was followed by Jason Patchett-Gillis (senior; 15:47.87), Zach Kobacik (sophomore; 15:53.84), Drew Martucci (senior and Ben’s twin brother; 16:03.56); Eric Larson (junior; 16:12.48); Chris Yanichko (freshman; 16:31.05); and Thomas Bryce Loudermilk (sophomore; 16:31.57). A little further back, but no doubt inspired by all the red shirts up ahead, sophomore Zach Wheeler (20:14) ran a 43 second PR.
“Our goal was to run the first mile together in five minutes and ten seconds,” explained team spokesman, Bryce Loudermilk. “We were able to do that pretty well. We were all there between five minutes and 5:15. Then we raced the last two miles.
“I don’t think we expected to place our first seven in the top seven. We came here expecting to win this meet, but not with a perfect score.
“I don’t think this is the most competitive college meet around, but we’re pretty competitive within the state of Florida.
“We have three races, back to back to back, in three weeks. (Following today’s race) we go to Tallahassee and race at the Florida State Invitational (October 9th), then the Stetson Hatter Invitational (October 15th).”
TEAM RESULTS – Three teams out of eight finished with less than 100 total points: Florida Southern (15), St. Leo with 76 (12-13-14-17-20-22-36) and Warner University with 97 (8-16-18-26-29-35-42). 99 runners finished.
Footnotes: Unfortunately, I didn’t make it through both days of FLR XI, but few people do. (I spent Saturday attempting to adequately chronicle just the first day of this event.) Still, for literally thousands of runners and their followers, this running “festival” is the most anticipated weekend of the fall running season, and rarely disappoints the participants. Upon perusing the accompanying photos, you will no doubt bear witness, not only to its pageantry, but the unrequited effort that is reflected in the faces—and strained bodies—of the finishers. Not to mention the volunteers. I might jokingly comment that, if you know Jason Byrne, this weekend might be the best time to become “unavailable,” perhaps for the next few years. (Some hospitals run specials on elective surgery after Labor Day, in case you’re interested.) Pride, however, would prevent that, as it is obvious that it is far more than a “one-man operation.” Minor calamities aside, which are a part of such a spectacular human endeavor, it was once again, quite memorable, both from a parental and journalistic standpoint.