BOCA RATON---Emilie Amaro of Cypress Bay won by the widest of margins and Sebastian Alvaro Castillo of Flanagan by the slimmest Saturday at the 24th annual Spanish River Cross Country Invitational.
Amaro looked stronger than ever three weeks into the season. She had no one around her for the entire girls 4A-3A race which she won in 17 minutes and 20 seconds. No other girl broke 18 minutes. Her closest rival was Brigithe Moreno of Tampa Plant second in 18:24.
"Thanks to the boys pushing me in practice I was fine getting motivated and pushing myself in today's race," Amaro said. "I am running better than ever. I just hope I can keep it up."
In a thrilling finish in the boys' 4A-3A race, Castillo outleaned pre-race favorite Michael Burke of West Boca Raton to win the individual title.
Castillo and Burke, 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 cross country. After a review of the race tape, the replay clearly outlined Castillo's torso leaning ahead of Burke's.
"I knew it would come down to a sprint," said Castillo who started reeling in the lead pack after Mile 2. "I just wanted to get close enough to sprint and win. 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."
St. Thomas Aquinas girls team won its second major invitational in two weeks. Against much stiffer competition than last Friday's Wellington Invitational, the Raiders got to see how they stack up against state rival Tampa Plant. The Raiders finished with 39 points. Plant had 63.
"At least we're on the radar," said St. Thomas coach Trish Butler.
For the second week in a row, freshman Lauren Ross was the Raiders top finisher placing third in 19:52 followed by teammate Nicole Suarez in 20:03.
The Raiders boys team, led by top finisher Kyle Bartfay, finished second among the 4A-3A boys teams.
Westminster Academy, led by brothers Paul and Christian Wackes and Julio Perez, was the top 2A-1A boys team from Broward placing fifth with 203 points, 6 points ahead of Cardinal Gibbons, led by top individual finisher Billy Zenga, sixth in 17:06.
Katherine Carrington of North Broward Prep finished second among the 2A-1A girls and was the top Broward finisher in 20:00 behind Emily Houston of Jensen Beach (18:21). Cardinal Gibbons was the top girls team placing sixth.
Sharon Robb can be reached at srobb@sun-sentinel.com.
