The views and commentary expressed in this article represent only those of the author, our prolific and silver-tongued volunteer contributor, Ralph Epifanio. While we may laugh at what he says because it's just plain funny, his opinions do not necessarily represent and are not necessarily shared by flrunners.com, MileSplit, or Jason Byrne. Just making that clear! 
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Photo Album by Jeff Adams (Over 3000 Photos)
Photo Album by Ralph Epifanio (1350 Photos)
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There’s a scene in Caddyshack, everyone’s favorite golf movie, where the caddies descend upon a previously pristine pool for their once-a-year splash down. Chaos prevails, culminating with the old “tootsie roll on the bottom caper,” which in turn leads to a visit from Bill Murray in his hazmat suit…never a good thing. (If you haven’t seen this comedic standard, suffice it to say that once witnessed, the movie’s imagery lasts a lifetime.)
Cross country day at Mark Bostick-University of Florida Golf Course was not quite as apocalyptic as the aforementioned, but there are parallels: lots of young people sallying forth with unbridled enthusiasm, debris everywhere, foot-sized spike-divots in virgin sod, and waves (of people) sloshing back and forth, from side to side, again and again and again; seasick yet? (No one is ever happy with watching a race from a single vantage point, no matter how many times the runners go past said point.)
Compared to a swimming pool, it takes a lot more people to fill a golf course, something that was in evidence at Sir Mark’s. How many? We can add up the 17 Men’s and 19 Women’s College teams, 68 Varsity Boys and 58 Varsity Girls high school teams, and 24 Girls JV teams that scored--plus parts of others that couldn’t field an entire team—for a total of 1456 finishers—and then the (JV Boys) race, which finally overloaded the timing system; probably 2000 runners. Add to that a company of coaches, a battalion of Gatorhelp, and an army of spectators. Tents; who knows? They were everywhere. I tried counting, but every time my gaze drifted toward the Nease shelter, I had to shut my eyes and start over again. (Their color scheme, neon green, occupies that previously theoretical place where sound and color intermingle.)
It was, well, interesting. But will we be invited back next year?
Men’s College Race
The moral of this story is: watch whom you invite to your pool party.
“I was in first, about midpoint of the (final) hill with Evans (Kirwa, ERAU; 4th in 24:47.23),” explained Gator Matt Mizereck. “Half way to the finish, the Michigan runner just went--” and Matt made a whooshing sound. “My legs had nothing left.”
Au contraire. Had he looked over his left shoulder, he would have seen a second Michigander (Bobby Aprill), less than two seconds back. A Gator, caught in the jaws of an unexpected wolverine attack (Craig Forys, first in 24:35.55 and Aprill, third in 24:39.73), Matt survived to finish second in 24:38.50.
“From what Bobby was saying, Matt was moving pretty good,” complimented the winner, “and if he had run the race differently—maybe started moving a little sooner—he could have overtaken Matt. But Matt ran a good race. It was a challenge for him to hold Bobby off. He was coming on very strong.”
What scenario, I asked Forys, made it tempting to make a mid-season trip to such a warm climate?
“I think my coach (Alex Gibby) likes to come to a meet that is not overwhelming; the younger guys can wrap themselves around it. He is friends with the Florida and UNC coaches, and all the conditions were right to run here.”
But it’s hot down here!
“(Back in Ann Arbor) we’re in a stretch of pretty nice fall weather. Coming down and getting off the plane was quite a shock. But I knew that in doing the right things, like hydrating, and not thinking about it, the race would be fine.
“I don’t think it affected my race, or my team’s tactics. We wanted to work on miles two to four, and work ‘in the moment,’ without changing our plans. I would say that I usually run a pretty strong half mile, and have a strong finishing kick. That’s why I felt it was important to work on miles two to four. The final mile is only a few minutes, and goes well for me. There are always exceptions, but I felt if I could stay in contact, I could take it over.”
Craig has running in his blood. His father, Charles Forys, ran cross country and track for Syracuse, and his older brother Matthew (who starred at Bucknell from 2003-2007) has a shot at making the U.S. Olympic team in the marathon, qualifying for the trials with a 1:04:56 half marathon in New York City this past April. Matthew is currently the course record (15:18) holder for Sean’s Run, in Chatham, New York. When he was 16, Craig set—and still holds--the Sean’s Run 16-18 record of 15:56. Not just any race, it is held each April to honor the memory of Sean French, the brothers’ cousin—and a promising runner who ran a 4:18 mile as a high school sophomore—who died on January 1, 2002 in a tragic traffic accident.
For the here and now, however, the fifth year senior’s final collegiate cross country season, and the 2011 NCAA Championship, loom prominently over everything he does.
“Last year, I made the NCAAs as an individual (finishing 113th in 31:18). The team didn’t qualify. The year before, I red-shirted, and the team didn’t qualify. The two years before that, we both qualified, and were pretty highly ranked. We finished 24th.
“The plan is to leave the team on a solid note. I want to look back next year and see how they’re doing.”
Next year, Craig, who is currently student teaching in an elementary school (and will practice teach in high school, as well, after that), may be “looking back” from a classroom.
“I’d like to coach, for sure. I’m not certain about my own running. If things go smoothly for me in the next eight or nine months, I might continue. If not, I might take some time off and then go back to it.”
College Men’s Team Results:Except for Kirwa’s fourth place finish, the rest of places one through twenty two--as well as all of the quality points--were evenly divided between Michigan, Florida, and North Carolina. In the final analysis, Michigan, the team with the most, scored the least: 1-3-10-12-16-17-19 for 42 points; Florida had 46 points for second (2-7-8-11-18-21-22), and UNC was third with 47 (5-6-9-13-14-15-20). It played out like a triangular meet set amid lots of “extras.” 158 finished.
College Women’s Race
Like the Men’s race that preceded it, the distaff race was one among giants. An early intrusion into the lead by North Carolina’s Kendra Schaaf (a running phenom from Craven, Saskatchewan, Canada, with a yard of XC and track titles, not the least of which was a 15:52.33 5K PR at the June 8, 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships) was quickly shrugged off by a trio of Gatorettes (is that a word?), which eventually dwindled to a one-woman race.
“We had a plan for the start,” Genevieve La Caze explained. “We knew that North Carolina had a very strong girl, Kendra Shaaf. Florence was going to go out with her, but we ran as a pack for at least half way. She didn’t go out as fast as we thought--closer to five—and we had to group up and help each other.”
The big question was “Where was Schaaf?” Judging from the opening album photos, she led at the start, but disappeared from subsequent photos.
“We,” and she was speaking of teammates Florence and Cory, “know each other, and could feel each other’s presence,” LaCaze continued. “She (Flo) was talking to me, and me to her. It was only in the last 500 that I broke away. She said that she didn’t have it. A gradual gap formed, and I took the lead.
“I won this (meet) my freshman year (17:34.79),” finishing second in both her sophomore and junior years, in 17:41.03 and 17:36.6, respectively. “I’ve run high (17)30s every year. Today it was 17:04 (officially 17:05.09).”
That time, a new meet record for women, underscores that of former record holder Ashley Brasovan, of Wellington High School, set in 2007: 17:10.77. But Genevieve has far loftier goals.
“It definitely is encouraging. I’m not usually that good this time of year. But it’s my senior year, and I want to make the Olympic trials for Australia,” explained the Brisbane native. “I want to keep improving, stay healthy, and hopefully help us win the Nationals. I’ve been with UF for four years, and the best we’ve done is seventh. I’d like to, at least, match that.”
College Women’s Team Results: In all due respect to La Caze, they’re off to an excellent start. After her came Florence N’Getich (2nd in 17:11.96), Cory McGee (3rd in 17:28.48), Stephanie Strasser (9th in 17:59.22), Callie Cooper (15th in 18:18.40), Grace Van DeGrift (16th in 18:19.43), and Mandy Perkins (18th in 18:22.60). Total points: 30. Second was North Carolina with 35 (4-6-7-8-10-13-14), followed by South Florida with 105 (5-20-24-27-29-31-40). 208 finished.
Boys Varsity Race
There is little doubt that this, of all the day’s events, raised the excitement level to the caliber that would be expected of such a major meet. Balen Jesuit Prep’s senior statesman, Elliot Clemente—who came into the meet with a field-leading 15:03 best--ran it on his terms, which should have been enough to put the competition well behind him. But among those competitors was Colonial’s Andres Arroyo, Celebration’s Quincy O’Connor, Estero’s Aaron Rojas, and Buchholz’s Chris Godwin (and the list goes on), all of whom are members of the elite 15 minute club, all of whom—except Godwin—would run season’s bests at UF, and all of whom—except Arroyo, the lone junior among the top seven—are running their last fall prep campaign.
“Everyone was saying there was a lot of competition,” confirmed Clemente. “I knew there would be people around me, and behind me. There was a lot of hype.”
When judging cross country times, one should first consider the competition, then the course, and lastly the climatic conditions. The latter being somewhat favorable (at 8:00 AM, it was overcast and moderately cool for Gainesville this time of year), a challenging course, amply landscaped both with up-hills and down-hills, and an historical esprit de corps on the part of three of the top programs in the state served as a backdrop for equal measures of success and disappointment.
Take, for example, Colonial junior Andres Arroyo, and for that matter, the entire varsity field. Numbered at 463, this mass of humanity should probably have been divided at least three-fold (or at least cut off at some point). Alas, Arroyo had to survive some interval training before his start actually counted.
“Actually, by the second false start it woke me up. By the third, I was a little tired,” he lamented.
Also, by the third, a few hundred disgusted runners refused to stop running, and the referees had to bring out the heavy artillery to convince them to cease and desist. (No, it’s not what you’re thinking. No live rounds were issued to the recall judge!)
But in the course of running 3.2 miles, only the last 3.1 of which was actually timed, there were more than a few reversals of fortune.
“I took the lead at 250 meters,” Clemente explained. “From then on, I had Andres Arroyo right on me. He ran stride for stride with me.”
“I stayed with him (BP’s Clemente) for the whole race,” recounted an utterly drained Arroyo. “That was my plan; to stick with him. The ground was good, but the hills and heat could affect you if you didn’t stay focused on the race. So, I just kept focusing my eyesight on his back, and remained loose.”
And, until the end, very close.
“When I saw the distance between him and me—a gap—coming up the last hill, I decided to kick. I got close, but couldn’t get ahead of him. I felt I was working double, being behind him and going up the hill.
“He kept running his pace, then, in the last 100 meters he started his kick and opened it up even more. We kind of maintained the same gap after that.”
“I saw him two weeks ago at the Déjà vu Meet,” Elliot said. “It was the same sort of race. I won the same way. At 2 ¼, he started falling off, so I kept pushing it in.”
At the Déjà vu Meet, Clemente prevailed, 15:39.10 to 15:45.70, as did his team, Belen Prep, 41 to 69 over Arroyo’s Colonial Seven. This time, the results at UF were Clemente 15:26.62, and Arroyo 15:37.81, the difference being less than the time consumed in just one false start.
Despite finishing second at UF, this one race might have been Andres’s best ever. Notwithstanding the four starts in a marathon-sized crowd, he outran an all star field and finished within 11 seconds of a competitor that may be running 14s within weeks.
“This is a very important race because I can see who will be at the States, and see what I’ve got,” Andres is quick to point out.
“I know that everyone is going to get better,” Elliot added. “I’m going to be their target for the rest of the season, and even past that to the States. My main goal remains for the team to win the States, and also me individually.”
Varsity Boy’s Team Results
While Clemente and Arroyo were dueling with each other for individual honors, their respective squads were doing likewise for the team trophy. The end results, however, were nowhere near as close. Belen placed their runners 1-8-11-14-18-30-60 to score a miserly 52 points (keep in mind that there were 68 teams). Meanwhile, Colonial’s 124 points (2-24-25-29-44-63-176) allowed them to squeak past Miami Columbus, which had 129 (13-19-26-28-43-49-106). 463 finished.
Varsity Girls Race
The aforementioned attention to the competitive Boys Varsity Race, wasn’t meant to imply that the Girls Varsity was any less so. However, the presence of one Shelby Davidson, and the absence of a single false start may have muted any possibility of a close finish. The Cocoa Beach senior came in with a monster 17:27.82 5K PR (set during the April, 2011 New Balance Indoor Nationals at the New York Armory). Even her current cross country best, 17:47.86 at last year’s FLR XI (October 1st), was out of reach for her UF challengers. So what was her plan? In order to find out, my plan was to catch her the second she crossed the finish line, before she had a chance to skedaddle.
I waved my interview book at her while she was exchanging pleasantries with second finisher Olivia Ortiz of Lakewood Ranch.
Shelby: “Olivia, do you want to be interviewed?”
Olivia: “It’s up to you.”
Shelby: “Okay.”
I opened up (both notebook and conversation) by asking, by the way they were interacting after the race, how well they knew each other.
Shelby: “I can’t remember when we last raced each other. I think last year.”
Olivia: “I think Mt. Dew.”
Shelby: “Track?”
Olivia: “Yeah.”
Shelby: “The two mile.”
To remind her of my continued existence, I interjected, “Did the presence of such strong competition influence her race strategy?”
Shelby: “I knew that there were a lot of fast girls: Olivia (2nd in 18:28), Kacy (Smith, 7th in 19:14), Brittany (Olinger, 10th in 19:29), and Bridget (Blake, 5th in 18:57). I knew there was going to be some stiff competition; there were, like, 50 teams here. I planned to go out fast and then kick at two miles if I was drafting off someone, because it affects their breathing cycle.
“Kacy was, at one point, right next to me. It wasn’t even at the mile. We were approaching the mile. That’s when I picked it up. I knew it was early, but she has one heck of a kick.
“The whole race, people were saying, ‘You have 50 yards!’ But you can’t get comfortable with that. Well, with people like Olivia, with super long legs, it wouldn’t take long for them to catch up quick.”
Olivia: “I was with other competition, like Kacy and Bridget, and they kind of pushed me along. We ran the mile in about 5:23, and what did you do two in?”
Shelby: “11:12.”
Olivia: “I think I was at 11:36.
“They finally dropped off. Like Shelby said, Kacy at the mile. Bridgett was right next to me. I knew she was a great runner. She left right in the middle, and I knew I could keep going. My goal was to stay at the top, because it was mega-competition.”
Shelby: “I thought that we’d be all together. We all have the potential to run the same times. If I went into the race expecting to win, it would have been bad. It would screw up your mentality. So I went in thinking that anyone could win it. The only time that I beat Kacy was at the Footlocker South.” (Shelby ran 17:36 to advance to the Nationals, Kacy ran 17:51.) “And Bridget; I don’t think I’ve ever won before today.”
Olivia: “It’s still early in the season.”
And another race was starting (even before this one had concluded).
Varsity Girls Team Results
As previously alluded to, there wasn’t nearly as much pushing and shoving in the GV race as in previous starts, and tiny Estero was able to escape the crush of 58 teams and run their “A Race.” With 116 points (6-8-14-31-57-70-80), they outran schools all up and back down the enrollment scale, including 3A Lakewood Ranch (second with 124 points: 2-11-19-43-49-50) and 4A St. Thomas Aquinas (third with 178 points: 17-18-34-44-65-94-173). 408 runners finished.
JV Boys Race
Only the truly naïve (or adventurous) go through life without a backup plan, a contention that fits both the participants and the results (or lack thereof) of this race. In the absence of names and numbers, we have photographs and what’s left of my memory to frame the following.
On the side of preparation is Frankie Ruiz, the cross country coach of all male Balen Prep., a Jesuit Catholic school of approximately 1500 students, located in southwest Miami-Dade.
“We were up here yesterday, kind of tuning up for the races,” he said to me. “We noticed that the humidity was not as bad (as at home). Our climate cuts down on our mileage, and forces us to work on quality, rather than quantity. And our recovery time is longer because of the climate.”
Mr. Ruiz went on to say, “Psychologically, we like the cooler temperatures and lower humidity. It tends to help us.”
Even in the absence of made-to-order running weather, you can count on some athletes to make the best of what they are given, athletes like Diego Rojo, a junior at Belen.
“Last year I didn’t have that good a race,” he recollected. This year, I came here wanting to forget it, to redeem myself.”
Diego ran a race much like that of Elliot Clemente, aggressive and oblivious of what could happen, and intently focused on the positive.
“I went out a lot faster today, by far. An element that contributed to my performance was the hard work and dedication that I put into this season.”
His is the best description of the outcome.
“I believe that I went with a pack, with some team members behind us. I ran a 5:19 first mile, and about 10:57 for two. At about 2.5 miles, I took off. I ran, probably, a sub-2:30 in the last half mile.”
In watching and listening to Diego, I saw a future varsity runner, waiting for his chance to move up. To his credit, his resume already includes a 16:55.75 PR set this past September 17th at the 29th Annual Spanish River Invitational.
“I believe I do, to be honest, have a chance to make it. Early in the year, for two races, I was running varsity. I’m still trying to work for the best advantage, not only to help myself, but also because I want to be able to contribute to the team, and to contribute to the school in general.
And that, in the absence of results, is that.
JV Boys Team Results
Unofficially, but gratefully, due to Belen Coach Ruiz's help, we can honestly speculate that Belen won the JV race with 15 points. According to Mr. Ruiz's own times, the first six finishers, all from Belen, were Rojo (17:15), Alexander Isaac (17:25), Branden martinez (17:30), Osiel Gonzalez (17:32), Alvaro Mejer (17:40), and Andy Fernandez (17:52).
JV Girls Race
In watching Colleen Openshaw run her race, one in which she won by a minute and 19 seconds, it all seemed so effortless. After finishing the JVG race, she seemed hardly to have exerted herself, a little flushed perhaps, but hardly winded.
Let’s put that time in perspective: 21:30.14 would have placed her (overall) 67th in the Girls Varsity race, 115th in the College Women’s race, and 362nd in the Boys Varsity Race. In other words, it was phenomenal performance. How did the freshman accomplish such a feat?
“I thought they were right behind me; I thought they would catch up,” she explained. “When they didn’t, I just tried to keep my lead. A few times, I thought I heard them breathing behind me.”
Sounds like a nightmare. She finally gathered the courage to pull the covers back and look.
“When they weren’t there, I realized that I was imagining it.”
It was almost as if someone had simply photo-shopped the next 50 runners out of the race. Putting her unnecessary worry behind her, he continued her lead, extending it to nearly three miles.
“That’s never happened.”
Even in dreams. Why, one must ask, isn’t she on varsity?
“I normally run varsity, but we could only run seven today, and I’m eighth, so I ran to try to keep that spot.”
And #7?
“Elyse Jagemann is #7. She’s my friend, and an amazing runner. I really don’t want to take her spot.”
(Jagemann ran 24:46.) I pressed her.
“I really don’t want to take it!”
As emphatic as she sounded, I didn’t make the same mistake twice. But in walking away, I was content in the knowledgeshe wouldn’t be the one to bump Elyse, simply because Colleen’s time wouldn’t have placed her seventh on Creekside’s varsity. It would have placed her fifth. Billiards anyone?
JV Girls Team Results
Bartram Trail’s low score of 61 points (8-11-12-14-16-21-28) and those of St. Thomas Aquinas’s 75 (4-5-9-25-32-40-51) belie the fact that 24 teams scored in this race. In third place with 103 points (1-15-26-30-31-46-54), was Creekside. Although not entirely due to Colleen Opshaw’s amazing race, it still shows the difference one that runner can make. 219 runners finished.
Footnotes
Perhaps unknown to many, if not most of the runners who consume it, America’s favorite sports drink—with approximately 75% of the market share—was originally a cocktail consisting of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, phosphate and lemon juice. Invented by a team of University of Florida researchers consisting of, among others, Robert Cade, Dana Shires, Harry James Free and Alejandro de Quesada in 1965, it was named Gatorade after the school’s mascot. In 1967, Georgia Tech football coach Bud Carlson is credited to have explained a loss to the University of Florida by commenting “We didn’t have Gatorade. That made the difference.” (It is unknown how much stock he was offered to say so,)
The original juice was marketed by Stokely-Van Camp, and tasted quite salty, which makes sense, since that was a prime ingredient. Their rights were sold to Quaker Oats in 1983, which then sold it to Pepsi (2001), and eventually began to taste more and more like the soda pop that the company sells more of. Not to be outdone by its biggest competitor, Coca Cola (they make Powerade), a group of UF student trainers unveiled an exciting, economical, and easily obtained sports drink at this year’s meet. It’s name? H20. Don’t be fooled by the cups and canisters in our photo collage. That’s just a way of hiding the truth behind this superior hydration system.
The photos showing Mt. Dew bottles being proffered by spectators at the Mt. Dew Invitational, do indeed contain that high-octane beverage. When asked, the gentleman holding the regular version assured me of it, saying, “Oh yeah. I paid two bucks for it.”