Andy Warrener recaps the 2017 Mitchell Invitational.
Andy Warrener recaps the 2017 Lecanto Invitational.
Andy Warrener recaps the 2017 FLYRA Middle School State Championship.
Andy Warrener recaps the 4A state championship meet at IMG Academy.
Andy Warrener recaps all of the 3A action.
Andy Warrener recaps the 2A state championship meet.
Andy Warrener recaps the 1A state championship.
Andy Warrener recaps day one of the 2017 FHSAA Outdoor State Finals.
Andy Warrener recaps the 3A Region 3 Championship held at Clearwater High School.
Andy Warrener recaps the 2A Region 3 Championships at Berkeley Prep.
Andy Warrener recaps the 2A District 7 Championship held at Anclote High School.
Andy Warrener recaps the 3A District 10 Championship at Clearwater High School.
Andy Warrener recaps the 2017 Steinbrenner Invitational.
Andy Warrener recaps the Hillsborough County Championships.
Even with Ciera Walker out and Kaitlyn Kirby competing at New Balance Nationals in New York, the East Lake Eagles found a way to pull through and sweep the team titles at the 55th Annual Ed Wells Jr. Kiwanis Invitational Track & Field Meet. The Eagle girls piled up 89 points to second place Mitchell with 76. Boca Ciega girls took third with 63 and Lecanto fourth with 62.
The East Lake Early Bird Invitational is in its seventh season. The last two meets have been on rubber tracks. The 2016 meet moved to Clearwater High while the rubber track was being installed at East Lake. For 2017, the Eagles got to host what would be many teams' first meet of the season, on their brand new rubber track.
Grace Blair led the Oak Hall Eagles back to the top of the podium after a 4th place team finish last year. Blair picked up individual honors as well to win her first state title. On the boy's side Mt. Dora Christian Academy's Gabriel Curtis won and helped the Bulldogs place second as a team behind Westminster Academy who won for the first time in over three decades. Andy Warrener recaps all of the 1A races.
Bailey Hertenstein and Kayley Delay came into the 4A Cross Country Finals with the top two times regardless of class. In the end it was Hertenstein who came away with her second straight title. On the team front, Steinbrenner ended a two year run by Winter Park at the top of the podium. Matt Doyle of Winter Springs won his first state title to end his senior cross country season, while St. Thomas Aquinas took their third team trophy in four years. Andy Warrener recaps the class 4A meet.
Freshmen Alyson Churchill and Valerie Lastra battled it our in the girls race as Niceville captured the team title. On the boy's side it was a rematch of regionals as Creekside edged out Chiles for the team trophy, but the Timberwolves crowned the individual champion in junior Michael Phillips. Andy Warrener recaps class 3A.
2A was one of the most exciting classifications of the day. On the girl's side Caitlin Collier revenged her heartbreaking loss from 2015 while the Pine Crest girls finally defeated Bolles after four years in a row as the runner-up. On the boy's side, Caleb Pottorff and Charles Hicks battled it out for 5,000 meters with Pottorff winning his first XC title. The team trophy came down to the narrowest margin as Trinity Prep took their fourth straight 2A crown. Andy Warrener recaps all of the 2A races.
Grace Blair of Oak Hall and Cooper LaBrant of Indian Rocks Christian both finished second at last year's regional, but came away with gold in 2016. On the team front the Oak Hall girls achieved their goal of winning with less than 40 points, while the boys had it a little harder edging out St. Stephens Episcopal by THREE points 97-100. Andy Warrener recaps all the 1A Region 2 action.
Both individual races in 2A- Region 3 were dominated by individual runners. On the girls side, it was Lemon Bay's Kelsi Oglivie, on the boys side it was Lake Wales' Paul Stafford. The Lely boys led by Joshua Wagner won the regional title over Dunbar while on the girl's side Academy of Holy Names and Berkeley Prep both used their depth to finish 1-2. Andy Warrener recaps all the action.
Land O' Lakes sophomore Natalie Abernathy and Vanguard junior Diego Lavieri-Sosa brought home their first regional championships by taking the 3A-2 crown at Holloway Park in times of 19:17.37 and 16:13.20. On the team side, Vanguard and Matanzas finished 1-2 while Logan Locascio and the Gainsville boys won by 18 points over New Smyrna Beach. Andy Warrener recaps all the action.
Having already asserted themselves at the Hillsborough County meet a week ago and all but one meet they competed in this season, the Steinbrenner Warriors swept both boys and girls titles at Al Lopez Park in Tampa.
Both defending district champions from 2015 held serve at Al Lopez Park in Tampa. First up were the girls and while the Academy Jaguars didn't return Greta Dieck to the top of the podium, junior Emma Zazzero came through to win the title for the Jags. Zazzero has emerged as the Jags' top runner in 2016.
Florida state cross country district meets got underway this week. The Class 4A District 8 meet kicked off Thursday morning at Taylor Park in Largo. The course at Taylor Park is as straightforward as it gets in cross country. Two laps around the Taylor Reservoir make the course with a slight split to the right for the last 10 meters into the finish line.
Andy Warrener was on-site at the 4A District 8 Championship at Taylor Park in Largo and captured nearly 300 photos of all the action including the boys race where athletes jostled for position hoping to make it in the top 15 and advance to regionals.
On the nicest day of the cross country season and the fastest course in Hillsborough County, the county cross country championships at Al Lopez Park in Tampa, made for some eye-popping times and the Tampa powerhouse Steinbrenner swept both varsity races and both JV races.
Hurricane Matthew threatened the Sunshine Athletic Conference or Pasco County cross country meet on Saturday. The close brush with the Category 4 hurricane forced cancellations of athletic event all over the state. The early season meet, the Wiregrass Ranch Run with the Bulls did get cancelled in the wake of Tropical Storm Hermine. The Citrus/Hernando County meet scheduled for last Thursday was postponed and dozens of Friday football games got re-scheduled. Fortunately, the storm had passed by Saturday morning, leaving a soggy, muddy course that spattered just about every runner on the course but nevertheless, the meet went on.