Cross Country: Fort Walton Beach sweeps Mobile Challenge of Champions Invitational Division

Niceville's Thomas Howell strides to victory in the Invitational Boys' race of the Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country meet on Saturday at Langan Park. ((Arthur L. Mack | al.com))

MOBILE, Alabama—It was a good day to be a runner from the state of Florida at the Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country meet held at Langan Park on Saturday.

Fort Walton Beach, long a cross country powerhouse in the Florida Panhandle, came to town and ran away with the Invitational Boys and Girls' divisions of the meet. The boys held off Panhandle rival Niceville, winning 35-56 and withstanding a 1-2 finish by Niceville's Thomas Howell — who was second in the Challenge of Champions Track and Field Meet's Invitational 2-mile — and Nicholas Morken, who ran 15:59.20 and 16:03.58 respectively in hot weather on a slow, and in some spots muddy, course.

Three Louisiana teams — John Curtis of River Ridge, Brother Martin, and St. Thomas More — rounded out the top five with 92, 145, and 184 points, respectively. The top Mobile area team was Spanish Fort, which finished eighth with 240 points, while UMS-Wright's Robert Hope, last year's Invitational boys' race champion, finished seventh in 16:52.95.

On the Invitational Girls' side, Fort Walton Beach also dominated, defeating Ocean Springs 74-104. Parkway was third with 172, while Starkville, led by girls' race winner Kate Mattox (18:51.25) and Mandeville rounded out the top five with 190 and 206 points respectively.

The top Southwest Alabama teams were T.R. Miller and McGill-Toolen, which placed eighth and ninth with 221 and 224 points respectively. T. R. Miller's Karisa Nelson was the top Southwest Alabama runner, finishing fifth on 19:44.73.

Fort Walton Beach head coach Jeff Fields said that the rivalry with Niceville, along with dealing with the weather, was a big help in the sweep.

Starkville's Kate Mattox, who finished second in the invitational girls' 2-mile run at last April's Challenge of Champions Track and Field Meet, leads Pass Christian's Regen McGee (left) and Parkway's Alison Ringle (648) during the Invitational Girls' race at the Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country Meet at Langan Park on Saturday. (Arthur L. Mack | al.com)

"We've been working hard all summer and coming off where the girls were Panhandle Region champions and (3A) state runner-up, and we followed it up with a lot of hard work this summer," he said. "Obviously with the boys, Niceville has Thomas Howell, who is the defending state (cross country) champ and Nick (Morken), who finished third. When you have that kind of training in house, it's kind of easy to train against them. As for the weather, I told them that everybody else had to run in it, so we just hydrated and it was gut check time."

Howell and Morken bided their time in the Invitational Boys race, being content to run behind a trio of Fort Walton Beach runners — Charlie Shackelford, Demery Benedict, and Trey LaNasa — as well as Hope. For about a mile, they ran as a group, and then broke away at the two mile mark.

Howell downplayed the relatively fast time, hinting he could go even faster.

"It was a pretty slow course," he said. "I was expecting to just relax and place and not worry about time today. We were kind of relaxing behind Fort Walton Beach, because they're pack runners and have a really good team. There's a lot of improvement ahead."

"It was our first time running the course, and we were just trying to get a feel for it," said Morken. "We are seniors, and we can't come back here next year. We didn't know where to make the move. We wanted to draft off Fort Walton because they knew the course."

Mattox, who like Howell was a runner-up in the Mobile Challenge of Champions Invitational 2-mile event, was locked in a battle early on with Parkway's Allison Ringle, Fort Walton Beach's Emma Rudman, and Regen McGee of Pass Christian. Mattox, though, pulled away in the last half mile of the race.

"I really enjoyed it because I didn't know what to expect, and I like that," Mattox said. "I didn't feel much pressure on me, and I was praying to God to give me strength and endurance to do my very best. It was really competitive, but it was good because we really got the chance to push each other. I was in pain, but it was either deal with the pain now or the pain of giving up (too soon)."

Niceville won the Open Girls Division, defeating Ft. Walton Beach 33-114. Rounding out the top five were Mt. Carmel (120) Navarre (152) and John Curtis (154). Niceville's Mackenzie Shinnick was the Open Division Girls' winner in 21:57.88.

Brother Martin won the Open Boys Division, edging Fort Walton Beach 80-91. Mandeville was third with 92, followed by John Curtis (102) and Navarre (105).

The bright spot locally in the Open Boys race came from Daphne's John Alan Walker, who broke away from Mandeville's Dylan Heck with about a mile to go and won in 17:18.97. Afterwards, he said that the heat was tough, but he was prepared. What he wasn't expecting was a challenge from Heck around the two mile mark

"It was rough," Walker said. "We have practice in the afternoons only two days a week, but I worked out all summer anyway, so I was ready for the heat. I was afraid I was going to be dehydrated for a minute. There were three of us, and when we reached the tennis courts, this one guy (Heck) passed me, and then I passed him back.

"I wasn't expecting this kind of competition, because the Open race is usually a JV (junior varsity) race and it was more of a confidence booster for us. I think some of the teams slipped their varsity runners in this year. But it was a very good race. I had cottonmouth early on and I couldn't breathe, but once I got to the water station and got some water in me, I was all right."

RESULTS
Team scores and top 10 finishers in the Open and Invitational Divisions of the Mobile Challenge of Champions Cross Country Meet held at Langan Park on Saturday.

OPEN GIRLS
Team scores: Niceville 33, Fort Walton Beach 114, Mt. Carmel 120, Navarre 152, John Curtis 154, Long Beach 199, Baker 247, Spanish Fort 261, McGill-Toolen 261, St. Thomas More 266, Daphne 289, Montgomery Academy 289, Cabrini 344, Robertsdale 351, Gulf Shores 404, T.R. Miller 425, Mary G. Montgomery 455, Fairhope 476, Davidson 489, Faith Academy 494, Alma Bryant 531, Saraland 556, St. Luke's 562.

1. Mackenzie Shinnick, Niceville, 21:57.88; 2. Hannah Ivory, John Curtis 22:01.67; 3. Kaileigh Akers, Daphne, 22:26.66; 4. Claire Crist, Niceville, 22:28.91; 5. Bailey Gardner, Navarre, 22:30.98; 6. Anna Herrera, Navarre, 22:43.79; 7. Kaitlin Bouchat, Navarre, 22:53.79; 8. Katy Hines, Foley, 22:56.89; 9. Autumn White, Fort Walton Beach, 23:06.93; 10. Anastasia Thibodeaux, Long Beach, 23:19. 49.

OPEN BOYS
Team scores: Brother Martin 80, Fort Walton Beach 91, Mandeville 92, John Curtis 102, Navarre 104, Niceville 105, St. Stanislaus 216; Baker 308, Daphne 362, Catholic-Pointe Coupee 384, Spanish Fort 403, Robertsdale 408, Davidson 421, T.R. Miller 438, McGill-Toolen 465, Baldwin County 468, Mobile Christian 483, Long Beach 506, Alabama School of Math and Science 520, St. Paul's 534, Foley 559, Theodore 571, Choctawhatchee 572, St. Luke's 587, Faith Academy 624, Saraland 731.

1. John Alan Walker, Daphne, 17:18.97; 2. Dylan Heck, Mandeville 17:30.59; 3. Tanner Wilcox, Navarre, 17:52.51; 4. Dominic Dudai, Navarre, 18:26.80; 5. Mitch Anderson, Navarre, 18:28.43; 6. Mac McGuire, Mandevillle, 18:35.55; 7. Dane Williams, Brother Martin, 18:37.99; 8. Davis McKinney, Fort Walton Beach, 18:40.24; 9. Leith Rawson, Satsuma, 18:40.92; 10. Kyle Ferris, Niceville, 18:42.70.

INVITATIONAL GIRLS
Team scores: Fort Walton Beach 74, Ocean Springs 104, Parkway 172, Starkville 190, Mandeville 206, Mt. Carmel 208, Montgomery Academy 221, T. R. Miller 221, McGill-Toolen 224, St. Thomas More 226, Choctawhatchee 240, Catholic-Pointe Coupee 264, Spanish Fort 289, UMS-Wright 308, Baker 325, St. Paul's 377, Murphy 414, D'Iberville 431.

1. Kate Mattox, Starkville, 18:51.25; 2. Alison Ringle, Parkway, 19:05.21; 3. Emma Rudman, Fort Walton Beach, 19:33.30; 4. Regen McGee, Pass Christian, 19:40.34; 5. Karisa Nelson, T.R. Miller, 19:44.73; 6. Katie Nelson, T. R. Miller, 19:46.81; 7. Olivia Murphy, Mandeville, 20:03.85; 8. Hannah Borque, St. Thomas More, 20:04.13; 9. Hannah Evans, Fairhope, 20:22.83; 10. Jade Kindsvater, Ocean Springs, 20:24.86.

INVITATIONAL BOYS
Team scores: Fort Walton Beach 35, Niceville 56, John Curtis 92, Brother Martin 145, St. Thomas More 184, Ocean Springs 200, Montgomery Academy 231, Spanish Fort 240, Baker 243, Starkville 252, St. Paul's 273, UMS-Wright 279, Fairhope 280, Choctawhatchee 311, Mary G. Montgomery 397, D'Iberville 448.

1. Thomas Howell, Niceville, 15:59.29; 2. Nicholas Morken, Niceville, 16:03.58; 3. Charlie Shackleford, Fort Walton Beach, 16:15.26; 4. Demery Benedict, Fort Walton Beach, 16:18.98; 5. Trey LaNasa, Fort Walton Beach, 16:28.88; 6. Devyn Keith, John Curtis, 16:47. 15; 7. Robert Hope, UMS-Wright, 16:47. 15; 8. Trace McMullen, Fort Walton Beach, 17:10.10; 9. Chase Edwards, Brother Martin, 17:19.35; 10. Nathan Bolner, Ocean Springs, 17:21. 73.

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