Indian Rocks Invitational: The Race Of The Lost Shoes

The 2013 Indian Rocks Invitational was sped up to duck a storm system that threatened lower Pinellas County on Thursday evening. The JV race was bumped up to 4pm and the Varsity boys and girls races were combined for a 4:45pm start. The boys started two minutes ahead of the girls to curb congestion on the course. 

 

“We had a horrific rain last night,” Indian Rocks coach Bobby LaBrant said. “This race has all the elements of a good cross country race.”

 

While the elements were there, LaBrant’s comments were close to an understatement as there were long stretches of full sun exposure and flat out mud pits that devolved into quagmire as runners sloshed through the final straightaway.

 

“When I hit the two-mile mark, I didn’t think I was going to make it,” junior Kelsey Karmele said. “There was scorching heat, especially in the straightaway by the street, by the time I got to the mud, I felt like it made me run faster.”

 

Karmele wound up 74th at the meet but her shoes never did quite cross the finish line. Karmele lost each shoe on subsequent steps during the last 20 yards of the course. She finished the race barefoot and knee-high in mud.

 

On a more somber note, Keswick Christian lost a family member on Monday. Fifteen-year-old Katie Yale died as a result from her injuries sustained during a boating accident on Lake Seminole. The Keswick team released 15 white, heart-shaped balloons before the race to commemorate the young athlete.

 

Both JV and Varsity ran co-ed races. The JV race went off first. St. Stephen’s Episcopal eighth-grader Henry Howell put the Pinellas cross country scene on notice with a blistering win in 18:37.90, a full minute ahead of runner-up Robby Jessup, a junior from Gulf. Howell’s time would have put him in 11th place in the Varsity boys race. The youth movement continued in the girls JV finishers with sophomore Aubrey Crespo of Gulf finishing first with a time of 25:33.50, Shorecrest eighth-grader Karli McDonough claimed runner-up with 26:19.20.

 

The Varsity runners clamored down the starting area and jockeyed for position as they were quickly funneled onto the sand and shell paved course. The girls cut loose just minutes later and by the first lap, about a mile-and-a-half, they were already intermixed; all of them except for Indian Rocks senior Trevor Quandt. Quandt burst out of the gates to start the race.

 

“That first mile I always kill it, just run as fast as I can for as long as I can,” Quandt said. “I just think about how I used to run as a kid and I forget about time and where I am on the track.”

 

Quandt was by himself the entire race, moving out to a commanding lead after the first lap and never relinquishing a yard as he scorched the field in 16:43.90. Shorecrest sophomore Luke Peterson came in second with 17:34.00 and senior teammate Ross Porter was ten seconds behind him at 17:44.60. Quandt’s time was a new personal record and raised the bar for himself and the county. Quandt ran a 17:14.20 at last year’s IRC Invitational, taking second. He’s off to a great start this season.

 

“I knew this was coming,” LaBrant said. “I told him people will know who you are by the second week (of cross country season).”

 

Quandt’s time helped the boys take second place behind what wound up being a Shorecrest team sweep. The Shorecrest boys scored a slender 55 and Indian Rocks could only come as close as 95.

 

The girls race was equally exciting and equally dominated by an individual athlete. Shorecrest senior Alex Eaton took no prisoners Thursday evening, cracking the 20-minute barrier with a slim time of 19:40.70. 

 

“A few girls started fast and there was kind of a fast pack the first half mile and from there I just took the lead and didn’t look back,” Eaton said. “I kept trying to push the pace even though I was dying inside.”

 

Eaton shoved the pace into the drainage pond in the center of the course. However, there were still some admirable individual times. Cambridge eight-grader Brooke Santiesteban ran a 20:24.70. Right behind was Shorecrest ninth-grader Olivia Rovin at 20:25.10, a few seconds behind her was Shorecrest sixth-grader Sophia Vesely at 20:49.60. Three more Shorecrest runners finished in the top 25 and the team title was a landslide with 30 points to second place Boca Ciega with 78.