Well, it's almost here. The long anticipated and biggest cross-country meet of the year in the State of Florida. FLRUNNERS 7 at Ed Radice Park in Tampa, Florida.
The History:
For cross-country fanatics it doesn't get any better than this.
From humble beginnings in 2000 with roughly 450 runners, the 7th Annual flrunners.com meet has grown by leaps and bounds to become the premier cross-country event in the State of Florida and one of the largest and most acclaimed meets in the Nation. This year's event will feature over 4,000 athletes from Georgia, Florida, New York, Texas, and Virginia.
Flrunners founder Jason Byrne ushered in the first meet back in 2000, and since then there has always been a certain attribute that separates the flrunners.com Invitational from other meets: great match-ups!
The best of the best always circle the flrunners.com Invitational on the meet calendar. Superbly orchestrated with a fine supporting cast, Jason has succeeded in giving race fans an opportunity to see the best athletes in the sport go head to head regardless of classification and it doesn't stop there.
There's a race for everyone: middle school, JV, seeded invitationals, college and of course the premier match-ups in the high school ranks with this year's Night of Champions.
Die-hards will remember that in the very first meet, there was an epic rivalry in the making when two of the states best on the boys side, Winter Park's Mike Swope and Flagler Palm Coast's Matt Cianciulli dueled it out over 3 miles at sub 15 pace. Cianciulli gliding to a three second victory in 14:31 and immortalized flrunners as the premier showcase of the state's best talent.
In 2001 four boys ducked under 15 minute for three miles (Steven Hassen, Ryan Deak, Rolf Steier, and Sean Burris), with Hassen, Deak and Steier each within a second of each other. Footlocker finalist Kara Scanlin won the girls race with a time of 17:41 over Jenny Gomez (17:49) and Elly Kabboord (17:58).
The Boys Race of Champions in 2002 was probably the most exciting finish of all-time when Maclay's Ryan Deak, eventually a 2 time Footlocker finalist, unleashed a furious all-out kick coming down the homestretch to catch Ryder Leary of Bishop Kenny at the tape, making up what most thought was an unsurmountable gap with less than a quarter mile to go.
2003 was no different. In the end, people walked away with a sense of the miraculous when Belen Jesuit's Eddie Arguello ran the race of a lifetime to capture the Boys Race of Champions trophy and secured his place in the annals of Florida cross-country history by out distancing the likes of Princeton bound Bryan Sharkey and future Seminole Alex Miletich of Chiles. Arguello won the race in front of his proud father who smiled ear-to-ear and was near tears after Eddie's victory. It was especially emotional because it was one of the last races Eddie's father attended before he lost his battle with cancer later that season.
2004 was also a stellar year for races and great match-ups and produced one of the greatest ladies battles ever when Jenny Barringer and Pope John Paul's Nicole Schappert went stride for stride around the course and only at the finish line did Jenny finally out lean Nicole with one last surge to the tape to claim victory by a mere 3/10's of a second. This race confirmed for many the solid belief that distance running, can at times, be a contact sport.
With a brand new location at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City, the Steeplechase Horse track turned cross-country venue quickly showed the casual fan that yes, hills and subtle but significant terrain elevation changes do exist within our beautiful State and yes, they present unique challenges to the typical Florida flatlander. Located just north of Dade City in Pasco County, a somewhat out of the way town known more for it's Kumquat production than a town with an idyllic venue for 2 legged runners, it was a beautiful location for Flrunners VI with "2,000 acres of rolling hills, oak trees and untouched lakes; a playground for bald eagles, blue herons and sandhill cranes." In this regard, Little Everglades didn't disappoint, but once again it was the match-ups, especially in the Race of Champions that ruled the day.
With the advent of the Nike Team Nationals, rankings and head to head competition became buzzwords with significance at Little Everglades. With 5 nationally ranked boys teams competing for their shot to the coveted finals at Portland Meadows, it was Coach Butler's Tiger harriers that solidified Florida's claim as one of the top teams in the Southeast by finishing second to a fine Warwick Valley squad from New York State, 77-138. The Tigers eventually finished 3rd in the rankings and just missed the "Worlds" event at Portland Meadows.
The Boys race saw favorites Justin Harbor of Flagler Palm Coast and James Osborne of Tampa Jesuit slowly pull away from the huge pack just after the 1 mile mark with a game supporting cast in tow that included Jonathon Blocker of Chiles, Michael Anderson of PK Yonge, Bishop Kenny's Luke Russell and a gutsy Kyle Cooke from Holy Trinity. In the end it was a depleted Harbor that held on for the win, but just barely--collapsing just over the finish. A combination of an ever increasing pace, combined with the heat and humidity that is oh so familiar to cross-country runners took it's toll on Harbor towards the end, but he had already taken care of business by outdistancing himself from Osborne to win the Track Shack ROC in 15:26.
In the end it was the freshman phenom from Wellington, Ashley, who pulled away on the final leg up the long straightaway at Little Everglades to claim victory and go into the history books for all-time.
This years rendition will be the biggest yet and have NTN South and Southeast ranked national implications for teams vying for a coveted December all expenses paid trip to the Nike Team Nationals in Portland, Oregon.
On the boys side, the Eagles of Georgetown, Texas, ranked #8 in the NTN South rankings, will look to do battle with their Florida counterparts and move up the ladder of national recognition. They'll be pressed by the likes of Winter Park's deep squad and #1 1A ranked PK Yonge from Gainesville. Waiting in the wings as spoilers are other fine teams such as Belen Jesuit, Ft Myers, Sickles, Tampa Jesuit and a host of other suitors.
The girls race will really be a race for second place as "soon to be" NTN SE #1 Episcopal looks like a run-away winner once again, but then again this is FLRUNNERS!
Looking to be spoilers on the girls side is a savvy, championship tested Satellite High girls team who are defending 3A State Champions. After a stellar showing at Spain Park in Hoover, Alabama, where they finished 6th during Race of Champions, the Scorpions are knocking on the door of the NTN ranking committee and will look to have the door opened fully if they can narrow the gap considerably between themselves and Coach Krueger's Lady Eagles. Satellite finished ahead of 3 NTN SE ranked teams but at FLRunners the Scorpions of Satellite High will need a stellar day to knock off Episcopal, but this is FLRunners VII, and anything can transpire on the raceway at Ed Radice.
Individually, this is going to be another clash of the titans. For the most part, every top-notch runner in the state is healthy and ready to roar. On the boy's side look for a plethora of worthy challengers to claim the gem as overall winner. The field will be led by PK Yonge's Michael Anderson who has already run 15:40 at the University of Florida Invite and has the fastest outing yet so far this year but the field of contenders is especially deep this year. Flagler Palm Coast's Anthony Morales, Belen Jesuit's Guillermo Echarte, Georgetown's John Litos, Holy Trinity's Kyle Cooke, and after a great outing at Great American where he ran superbly to take 6th place overall, fully expect pre-race favorite Robert Saltsman of Lyman to be in the thick of the bee-hive that is sure to be the Boys Race of Champions event "Under the Lights" Friday night. This isn't just another race. This is the Race of Champions with great match-ups, surprises around every bend, and several wannabees waiting in the wings to snatch victory from the favorites and lay claim to being one of the greatest ever on this given night.
The girls Race of Champions will be highlighted by three of the nations fastest runners and Footlocker prime contenders in Wellington's sophomore Ashley Brasovan, second at Great American this past weekend; Cypress Bay's Emilie Amaro, third at Great American behind Ashley; and Great American's fourth place finisher and 3 time individual 1A State champion, Kayla Hale, of Holy Trinity. Roughly 70% of flrunners viewers say Brasovan is the favorite, the Wellington sophomore could become the first to break 17 minutes to break her own meet record from last year. Look for these 3 to be solidly in control from the gun but the intriguing question will be who will be in the chase for the rest of the coveted positions. At FLRunners, it could be history in the making once again.
On the girls side, one has a feeling the top 3 will take it out hard by themselves and slowly put distance between themselves over the course. It will be interesting to see who decides to lead the race. Will it be Ashley or Emilie? Will Kayla stay close enough from the start to be a challenger at the finish? Will Jensen Beach's Emily Houston and Plant's Brigithe Moreno secure the #4 position?
On the boys side, there will be so many different tactical ways to approach the race, we'll never really be able to pin it down until the race actually unfolds. Surely, folks would like to think the Anderson twins from PK Yonge will try to take it out hard and break the field with mid-race surges but with a deep and talented field that tactic may prove unwise as the deep field behind them could collectively close the gap considerably in the latter stages of the race leaving them moving against the flow as opposed to with it. If the pack is still together at 2 1/2 into the race, the final part of the race will come down to will. The Anderson's could decide for a relatively fast pace but wait until late in the race for that sudden surge to gap the field and hope for a long continuous push to the finish that casts aside all challengers. If Godby's Franklin Joseph can stay in the race to that point his superior leg speed may overcome the fast pace and propel him to the winner's circle. It will be interesting to see if the Anderson's decide to dictate the pace at will, who decides to go with them and who decides to sit back for a later attack. In the end it just won't get any better than actually being there and seeing how the race unfolds as the fan friendly course at Ed Radice has spectators criss-crossing the infield as the runners circle the course to cheer on their favorites Friday night.
FLRunners 7 promises to be another superb rendition of the best Florida cross-country has to offer. Led by a fine supporting cast in Meet Director Fred Finke; Venue Coordinator Cyle Sage of St Leo University; Meet announcer Dan Dearing and always precise- Steeple Timing, it's time to get ready for "Friday, under the Lights" with the Night of Champions!