4A Girls State Meet Preview

FHSAA State Finals
Todd Grasley

In The Title Hunt...

  • Bridget Blake
  • Bryce Seymour
  • Emily Headley
  • Alexa Cruz
  • Julia Rodriguez
  • Scarlett Fox
  • Amber Johnson
  • Christina Kalis

Fighting for the Podium...

  • St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Plant
  • Ferguson
  • Olympia
  • Hagerty

Individual Analysis

Dr. Phillip's senior Bridget Blake has won the past two 4A Cross Country Finals and has won the 3200 and 1600 meters outdoor the past two seasons as well. As a freshman, she finished runner-up in all three events to Shelby Hayes who is now at the University of Florida. Blake told me two weeks ago that a state championship was the goal and why shouldn't it be? Blake has taken it easy most of the season, but has really picked it up at districts and regionals posting times of 17:43.03 and 17:56.08. Her biggest challenger might be another Central Floridian. Bryce Seymour of Hagerty, who recently committed to the University of Florida, beat Blake at both the flrunners.com Race of Champions, as well as on her home course at the Hagerty Invitational. However, at the regional meet Seymour finished fourth. Blake's teammate Amber Johnson will also be in the mix. Johnson finished fifth last season and has been running well as of late and has trained wtih Blake all season so if anyone knows her tendencies best it is Johnson. Rival school Olympia boasts reigning runner-up Emily Headley and senior Kaitlyn Campo. Alexa Cruz the freshman from St. Thomas Aquinas can challenge those girls. She beat a very strong field at the UF Mt. Dew Invitational at the beginning of the season and won the 4A-3 regional championship with teammate Christina Kalis coming in second. Their times of 18:09.24 and 18:27.29 are very impressive. Plant boasts a talented group of upperclassmen in Scarlett Fox, Julia Rodriguez, Caroline Gibson and Anna Montgomery that will also be in the mix. Lastly, don't count out Ryan Raposo's Ferguson Falcon girls. 

Team Analysis

St. Thomas Aquinas is the favorite to win the team title in 2012. The Raiders finished third in 2011 in a very closely contested battle that saw four points separate first from third. Coach Butler's team returns three of their top five runners, but it is the addition of freshman Alexa Cruz this year that might have them poised to be at the top of the podium. According to our team rankings St. Thomas Aquinas is projected to place their top five in the top fifteen spots. Their biggest challenger will be Plant, the defending 4A state championships. Coach Roy Harrison is one of the winningest coaches in Florida history for a reason. He knows how to get his girls ready when it matters the most. Plant has a consistent group of girls led by Scarlett Fox, Julia Rodriguez, Anna Montgomery, and Caroline Gibson. Like STA they won their regional fairly easy and are always a team to be reckoned with at the state meet. St. Thomas Aquinas beat Plant pretty easily at Pre-State, but Plant was without Scarlett Fox one of their top runners.Plant faced off against 3A favorite Estero earlier in the year and it was very close.I project the battle for the 4A team title between St. Thomas Aquinas and Plant to be a lot closer then the virtual rankings predict and it could come down to the number four and five runners on these teams. Also in the mix will be 4A Region 1 champions Olympia, 4A Region 1 runner-up Hagerty, and 4A-4 regional champion Ferguson who finished second in 2011.

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