Okaloosa-Walton County Championships Summary

 

Light rain the day before helped to pack the all dirt track for the varsity races. As the sun came out and temps warmed up, the course became drier and less packed, especially through the second mile. "It wasn't as compact on the second mile as it was for the varsity boys," stated Kathryn Russell from Fort Walton Beach. 

 

Joining the spectators and giving runners a little encouragement was retired coach Don Foy. Don was a Niceville coach for 25 years between 1973 and 1998. Coach Foy now works in Mississippi helping the teams at Pearl High School and enjoys his time being a grandfather. 

 

Coach Foy reminisced a bit about why he started in Cross Country. " I'd done some distance running myself and it's so great to get out in the woods. I love track too." He also noted how there seems to be a close brotherhood among the coaches and the teams. Niceville coach Sherman Eller fondly stated that he is still coaching today as a result of Coach Foy's influence. 

 

Going into the races there was a lot of talk about rivalry between Niceville and Fort Walton Beach for both the boys and girls teams. All rivalry aside, both teams proved this was anybody's race. Baker, Crestview, Rocky Bayou and South Walton High Schools were also competing.

 

Marsel Mosley, who's season's best time poised her to take the county champ title, crossed the finish line ahead of the pack, looking as if she had left it all on the field. Marsel liked the course, commenting that it was an easy out and back. "I try not to go out too fast. I just stay behind a certain person and when the time comes, pass them." That strategy seems to work well for her.

 

Right on her heels was second place finisher Sarah DeVaux from Fort Walton Beach, followed by Ivy Chastain, also of Fort Walton.

 

In the boys varsity race, Thomas Howell and Jason Riggs, both from Niceville, were predicted to take the top two spots. In a huge shake up, Fort Walton Beach senior, Sam Ammons surged through to the finish, taking the county win, beating not only the Niceville top two, but also his teammate Jake Dearmon. 

 

"Of course I'm disappointed," noted Jake. But Jake and Sam don't look at this race as one teammate beating the other. Jake maintained his positive outlook despite the minor upset. "We work together as a team, Sam and I. We were up there."

 

Sam, quite happy with his own win, also praised his team. "I think everybody was mentally on track and had the right confidence. Coming into the state series everyone knows they have to gut it out the last part of the season and that's where we're gonna win it."

 

"We had great surprise today," Coach Lissette Moller happily noted of Sam's first place win. "I think he's been determined for the last four years. It was great to see."

 

Second place finisher Thomas Howell wasn't feeling well and that certainly affected his performance today. "I was kind of sick. I think I could have done a little better. I was kind of disappointed." Thomas felt the course was also tough and didn't like it. "The whole second mile was all deep sand. I didn't like the course at all."

 

The overall varsity team wins went to Fort Walton Beach for the girls with Niceville in second, and the Niceville boys took home the champ trophy with Fort Walton taking second.

 

The JV races also had some great competition. The Fort Walton Beach girls took the team win with Kathryn Russell leading her team to victory. The newly named JV county champion was quick to commend her teammates. "I'm so proud of my girls. They really stepped it up. I know we had to keep our eyes on Niceville. They kept up with them and we all stuck together." The Niceville JV girls took home the second place trophy.

 

Fort Walton Beach is also home to the JV boys county champion, freshman Charlie Shackleford. Charlie, who normally runs about eighth for his team was quite ecstatic about his first place finish. "I'm really happy with my place." Charlie also noted it was a hard course. "The second mile was rough. There were a lot of hills and the sand was a little thicker."

 

Fort Walton Beach JV boys were named the county championship team and Niceville JV boys took home second place.

 

Both Niceville and Fort Walton team members talked about the friendly competition between the two teams. "If we beat Niceville by 100 points we wouldn't have any competition, we wouldn't have anything to train for. It's nice having somebody out there that you know you have to race against,"  noted Jake Dearmon.

 

Walton County also had some representation with South Walton High school. Their top two boys finished sixth and seventh places. Tristen LaNasa ran a 16:56 and Jacob Leuze was right behind him with 16:57. Both runners commented they were disappointed to be the only team from Walton County.  "We wish Freeport was out here," Tristen smiled. "They have a fast runner. But we like running with the big schools, good competition."

 

Niceville Coach Sherman Eller was quite pleased with Niceville's performance today. "I think everybody ran strong today. It's always fun to bring the kids from the county and let them all just run together. Course is always 30-40 seconds slower than the Panhandle, seems like. You have to throw the times out on this, it's all about place now."

 

After the race, Coach Moller remarked about both the Niceville and Fort Walton wins today. "This is our only opportunity for Niceville and us to have the word Champion behind our name." Fort Walton Beach Coach Lissette Moller remarked about today's races. "It's such a hard district and region. This is a day when we can proclaim Champion, even if it's on the county level."

 

There will definitely be some good competitive races in the weeks to come.