ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
BOCA RATON---Michael Burke of West Boca Raton never saw Sebastian Alvaro Castillo of Flanagan coming.
Burke led the entire boys 4A-3A race at the 24th annual Spanish River Invitational Saturday at South Regional Park until the last two meters.
In a thrilling photo finish, Castillo outleaned the pre-race favorite to win the individual title. The top-ranked runners in Broward and Palm Beach ran 16:07 personal bests. It was Castillo's biggest victory in only his second year of running cross country.
"I thought I had him," Burke said. "I thought I had my head over first. I didn't realize how close he was. Everybody was telling me I had a 10-second lead…then a 30-second lead."
After a review of the race tape, the replay clearly outlined Castillo's torso leaning ahead of Burke's to win in for 3.1-miles.
"I knew the competition and I knew who he was. I felt strong at the beginning and took it out fast at 5:03 pace. It hurt the whole race. I wanted to race hard and get a good time which I did on a very difficult course. It's not really a loss because I ran a great time. I will try harder next year and not make the stupid mistake of letting up too early."
Castillo, still relatively new to cross country after coming on late in the season last year, started the race conservatively and then started reeling in the leaders after Mile 2.
"I knew it would come down to a sprint," Castillo said. "I just wanted to get close enough to sprint and win.
"I didn't think [Burke] would have that much left at the end after leading the race for so long. I was just trying to keep myself motivated…I kept telling myself I could catch him and I did in the last two meters. This was really huge."
Defending boys county champion John I. Leonard was the top 4A-3A finisher placing sixth with 204 points. No other Palm Beach team finished in the top 10.
In the girls 4A-3A race, Cypress Bay junior Emilie Amaro won in 17:20. Palm Beach Central junior Juliana Tabares was the top Palm finisher placing fifth in 20:25.
Host Spanish River was the top 4A-3A girls team with a sixth place (224). St. Thomas, an early favorite for top honors at the State 3A meet, won with 39 points.
In the 2A-1A races, Suncoast was the top boys team placing seventh with 240 points. J.D. Stocking of Cardinal Newman was top individual in 18:03 and 18th place,
Pope John Paul II, with two runners, Andrea Mascaro (third) and Kelli Midden (sixth) in the top 10, was the top girls team placing fourth with 141 points. Benjamin, led by ninth place finisher Brenna McNiff, was also in the Top 10 placing seventh.
Sharon Robb can be reached at srobb@sun-sentinel.com.