JACKSONVILLE - When Holy Trinity coach Doug Butler recently lobbied Great American XC Festival meet organizers to move his defending Class 1A state champion girls team from the small school division to the Race of Champions (ROC) he was asked one question.
How do you do against Bishop Kenny?
"I'll let you know in ten days when we race against them on their home course," was Butler's reply.
At the Katie Caples Invitational Saturday morning the Tigers answered, winning the title by 19 points (55-74) over the host and defending 2A champion Crusaders.
Both teams did it without the best races from a pair of usual single-digit scorers. BK's Courtney Hall finished 34th as she returns from ailments stemming for track season, while HTA's top runner Chelsey Joiner fell back to 13th place, the No. 4 scorer for the Tigers, after a week of intense training, according to Butler.
Sophomore and Satellite High transfer Rebecca Zuhlke led Holy Trinity by finishing second overall as Holy Trinity put four girls in the top 15.
"The goal was to at least stay close to BK and that way we could get into the Race of Champions," Butler said, admitting he wasn't expecting an outright win. "Hopefully now they will change their minds and let us in."
The home team Crusaders fared better on the boys side with Bishop Kenny placing all five scorers in the top 11 for a cumulative team score of 34 points.
But it was an Episcopal duo who out-dueled all challengers Saturday. Robyn DeBenedet and Tim McLeod validated their preseason No. 1 rankings in Class 1A with decisive individual victories. Both were runners-up at last year's state meet.
At Katie Caples DeBenedet didn't face much of a challenge as she led from the gun and finished 13 seconds ahead of Zuhlke in 19:09. McLeod's title didn't come as easily.
Interlachen's Jeremy Criscione took the race out fast, going through the first mile split in 4:49. McLeod admitted he thought the runner in white would fall back.
"I thought he was from St. John's Country Day and was like a 17-flat runner and he'd come back, but he never did," said McLeod, who transferred from Trinity Prep.
Criscione, better known as an avid road racer than a cross country threat, remained strong as he extended the lead to nearly 30 meters halfway through the race, about the same time McLeod decided to wait no more.
"I was at 10:10 at the two-mile," McLeod said. "I realized Criscione was way ahead and picked it up. I thought I was going to get second."
With a little more than a half mile left, McLeod finally passed the Interlachen junior, rounded the track without looking back and crossed the line in 15:49, eight seconds ahead of Criscione. It was McLeod's first win as an Episcopal Eagle in his first race in the EHS maroon.
Despite the threat posed by Tropical Storm Henri off Florida's Gulf Coast the meet at Bishop Kenny's campus on the edge of the St. John's River went off without a hitch, leaving the skies only cloudy and the conditions breezy and unseasonably mild. The edge of the storm even seemed to give a peace offering.
Finally, just as the winners, runners, coaches, parents and the life of Katie Caples were being celebrated during the awards ceremony, the sun emerged from the Jacksonville skyline across the river, signifying a bright end to the first race of the year and a fitting tribute to the beginning of another beautiful cross country season.