Coverage
Complete Results and Coverage Index...
Photo Album by Ralph Epifanio - Few hundred photos
The running--as well as the outcome--of two races on the same day couldn’t be more different than that of this Girls’ and Boys’ District Championship. It was as if the script(s) for the double feature were planned, so as not to be redundant, lest it lose the interest of its viewers. Thus each race held the attention of all those in attendance, and it behooves this writer to suggest that no one left Sperling Sports Complex any less than completely satisfied.
GIRLS’ VARSITY RACE
For Amy Ankli of Hagerty, this race was a prelude, albeit a necessary one, to the upcoming Region 1 and FHSAA meets. She took that first step with earnest enthusiasm, hoping to establish herself as the beast in the east, with a strong performance. But after building nearly a minute lead by the half-way point, it proved too difficult to maintain that same high level of intensity the rest of the way.
“I just wanted to get out, go fast, and hold my pace,” she explained. “Around the two mile mark, it (the size of the lead) kind of ‘got in my head’ a little too much.”
It was obvious, however, that she was slowing down.
“But I had my team cheering me on, so I tried to keep it up.”
Is an easy any less significant than a contested one?
“I try to take each race individually, and run it accordingly. During the race, my coach, Jay Getty, keeps me up to date on how the race is going, and how the other girls are doing.”
Most importantly, this includes how her teammates are running.
“Basically—during this race--I was thinking of getting a fast time, and thinking of how the rest of the team was doing. After crossing the finish line—and looking at my watch—the first thing I did was to turn around and cheer on the rest of my team. Our main goal this year is to finish the season strong and do well at the states. This race, and the next one, is to prepare for that.
“(Today) we accomplished that mission. Brenna Johnson (sophomore) ran a 19 for the first time. Kerstin Sosa (another sophomore) ran 20:26, and that’s also a PR. All the girls did awesome. We knew that Spruce Creek ran a “pack race,” but we also run as a group; we do that in practice. We know that’s our strength. Hopefully, the added competition at the regional will push us along and help us do better as a team.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Spruce Creek’s top finisher, senior Jocelin Adona. Adona came into the meet with a season’s best of 19:35.7, which she ran three weeks earlier at the Terrier Classic.
“They really took it out fast today, especially the girl who won. She was really out there. I could see her, but she was way ahead,” said Adona, after finishing third in 19:52.
That fast start caused the top five Spruce Creek runners—Adona, Alycia Loritz (fourth in 19:54), Tori Ehrhardt (11th in 20:25), Kaitlyn Kelly (19th in 20:38), and Zoe Volenec (20th in 20:41)—to lose contact with each other. And the team, which is known to run in close support of each other, was forced to break up and just try to hang on. But it is not the end of the road.
“I think we’ll do better at the regional; we’ll have faster teams to push us, and we should do better.”
GIRLS’ TEAM RACE
Led by Ankli’s 18:38, Hagerty placed their first five in the top ten: Brenna Johnson was sixth in 19:59, Sarah Ankli was eighth in 20:15, Haley Albers was ninth in 20:16, and Tiffany Gargiulo was tenth, also in 20:16. (Sosa ran 20:26 [13th] and Tayler Johnson 20:30 [17th].) Those times averaged out to 19:52.80, and their places added up to a miniscule 34 points. Spruce Creek (3-4-11-19-20-26-30) had 57, Lyman (18-21-22-23-29-35-42) had 113, and Lake Mary (16-24-25-27-31-36-40) had 123. Ten teams and 67 runners competed.
BOYS’ RACE
As talented as he is communicative—he’s also a formidable debater—Hagerty senior Peter Licari seems to have been born under the wrong “star” (sign). As a high school senior, not only does he share the same year in school with Lake Brantley’s Teixeira Otneil, but also the same 4A level, and the same races; conference, the district, and so forth, all the way up to—and beyond—the state meet. It also seems that he has the same ambitions.
“I came here with the intention of running with a fast time,” he told me after the race. “I knew we had Ken (Pineiro), Brian (Anderson), and Teixeira, and I knew it would be a fast race. But I’ve always been a front runner. I hoped they would push me to a fast pace and a good time.
“I think my first mile was 5:05. I tried to extend my lead, hoping that would either separate me from them, or draw off some of their energy. But I have asthma, and at a mile and a half my chest kind of tightened up. (During the race) I kept telling myself that I had to keep going, keep fighting.”
Although some of Licari’s challengers switched places, such as Lyman’s Brian Anderson (fifth in 16:41) and Lake Brantley’s Hunter Morgan (third in 16:29), Deland’s Keneth Pineiro was right on his shoulder from the get-go.
“I knew that Keneth was going to be a factor. I knew from the track Districts that he was competitive.”
In the 4A District 2 meet—held at Spruce Creek High School on April 20th--where they both competed in the distance double, Licari (4:28.86) jussst outkicked Piniero (4:29.51) to win the 1600. Later that evening, Licari also won the 3200 (9:58.47), but not before Pineiro pushed him in the early going.
“He was only a freshman then, and he was going to mature. I couldn’t sell him short. And Brian was kind of the bridge between Teixeira and us. I knew from last week—in the conference meet—that he was going to be a contender out here. When I saw that he was dying a little in the last 1000 meters, I thought ‘I’m going to get him.’”
But neither Anderson, nor Teixeira, were yet done for.
“I didn’t want to lead the race,” Otneil explained. “Because last week I led the race and Brian caught me at the end.”
In the Seminole Athletic Conference Meet on October 28th, Anderson ran 16:02.82, Otneil 16:27.72, and Licari 16:33.11.
“So this week I didn’t want to lead….same thing as at the Deland Invitational, where I stayed behind Licari.”
In that September 17th race, Otneil outkicked Licari to win by five seconds, in 16:23.47. This time, Teixeira “lost” Licari well before the finish (Peter was fourth in 16:34), but couldn’t shake Deland’s Pineiro. And first year runner Morgan Tucker snuck in between Licari and Pineiro.
“Hunter got third (16:29). He’s a senior, but it’s his first year of cross country. Last year was his first year of track. He quit baseball to do it.”
“Well,” said Morgan, “my brother Tucker was really influential in my decision to run. Last spring I was doing both track and baseball, but had to drop baseball half way through the season because I couldn’t do both. But I was better at track.”
“Better” reads as 2:04.10 in the 800 (at the March 11, 2011 Lake Brantley Classic) and 4:41.74 (in the March 13, 2011 SAC).
“After that, the guys on the team and my brother said, ‘Why not run cross country?’”
That decision was a fateful one. Not yet through his first cross country season, he has already finished fourth in the SAC XC Championships on October 26th (16:41.33), and here he improved both in time and place.
“For the first mile and a half, I was trying to stick with Otneil. At 4K, I saw Licari and Anderson, and saw my opening--once we got out of the woods—and decided to go for it.”
If anyone ran a “perfect race,” it was Deland sophomore Keneth Pineiro. Running with the “big dogs” for the entire race, he even had the guts to take the lead.
“I wanted to beat Teixeira,” Pineiro told me. “It was sort of optimistic, but I worked hard.”
Optimism spiced with a rich helping of prior success. Besides his five PRs thus far this season, he is also the 5 Star Freshmen/Sophomore Champion and the 5 Star Conference Champion. Added to that is a second place finish in the 4A District 2 Championship and his latest and greatest 5K (16:14).
“I pushed it at two miles, and led for a little while, but Teixeira caught up. I tried to stay with him for a little bit—about 100 meters—but then he kept taking little leads. In the woods he took a decent lead, but at the end, I couldn’t catch him.”
Humble words for a runner whose relentless pursuit of success spurred him to one last attempt to win his fourth race of the season. With barely ten yards left ‘til the chute, he tried to outsprint Teixeira. Eventually he may have run out of course, but not courage.
“In the beginning, I was all right, but in the end I was getting a little tired. I should have pushed a little harder in the middle; I wanted a 15. But in the end, it was getting a little tough.”
According to his coach, Dale Papineau, the next two weeks will be devoted to some “fine tuning.”
“I don’t think we’ll totally back off, but rather work on some mental things. The next two meets will have some hills, and we want to make him believe—mentally—that he can run hills well….We’ve been working on the idea that the State Meet would be his best race.”
BOYS’ TEAM RACE
Despite being shut out of the top four finish places, Lyman High School placed 5-7-9-21-23-31-39 to win with 65 points. Second and third—both with 76 points—were Spruce Creek (8-12-17-19-20-24-29) and Lake Brantley (1-3-6-16-26-30-36-55), respectively. Hagerty also “made the cut,” with 85 points (4-10-15-22-24-38-40). Nine teams and 67 runners scored.
Meet Summary
An increase in the number of districts (from eight to 16), plus this being one of the largest of districts, reduced the list of hopeful state qualifiers to the first 13 runners, and the four best teams.
In the Boys’ race, Lake Brantley’s Teixeira Otniel and Deland’s Keneth Pineiro finished a close 1-2 (16:13 to 16:14). Newcomer Hunter Morgan (LB; 16:29) finished third. Lyman, led by Brian Anderson’s fifth place finish (16:41), won the team race with 65 points (5-7-9-21-23-31-39). Spruce Creek (76), Lake Brantley (76), and Hagerty (85) also move on.
Hagerty’s Amy Ankli was the class of the Girls’ field, winning easily in 18:38. With five in the top ten (1-6-8-9-210-13-17), hers was also the best team. Spruce Creek (57), Lyman (113), and Lake Mary (123) also go on to the Regional Meet.