This past weekend, five area teams traveled to Trotters Park for the Edgewater Invitational. In total there were more than 30 teams from all over Central Florida that made the trek to the greater downtown Orlando area for a Friday evening race in the second weekend of the cross country season. Little did anyone know the weather had plans to make this evening very interesting. Lighting forced the JV races to be combined with the varsity squads, creating two larger races. Another delay forced the two races together, creating one very large continuous stream of runners around the 3 mile loop.
Coming in, the St. Cloud girls and the Harmony boys looked to be the top area teams and they held up their end of the bargain. The St. Cloud girls came out second thanks to a 5-6-10 from their top three.
Interview
The Harmony boys had their hands full and took 7th, but St. Cloud was right behind finished just a mere eleven points back. Harmony ultimately scored fewer points, but the ever crucial 5th man for St. Cloud was 27 places better than the 5th runner from HHS.
Liberty High school junior Rogelio Araiza was the winner of the boy’s race, coming in at 17:26 officially, but it was more like 17:10. By the time they hit the 1.75mile mark, the lead pack of six runners had caught the tail end of the field, so traffic was becoming an issue early. The finish line was just off course from the normal loop, and spectators had blocked the entrance, making it difficult to find the finish. But with so many runners, it was hard to really know where the leaders were anyway. The finish lane did open for two Colonial HS runners to make a sprint for the finish, but just 10 strides from the line, Araiza popped out from the crowd just in time to walk across with a look of sheer disappointment. Thank you to the Celebration coaching staff for sending him in the correct direction.
Harmony:
The boys took 7th lace and were led by senior Jose Loredo (18:17) who took 14th place. Their 1-5 split was 3:07 with an average time of 19:25.
The girls took 16th place. They were led by junior Rebecca Ouellette (23:35) who took 32nd place. Their 1-5 split was 5:21 with an average time of 26:45.
St Cloud:
The boys were 8th place. They were led by junior Harvey Ferriera (18:33) who came in 20th. Their 1-5 split was 1:52 with an average time of 19:32.
The girls took 2nd place. They were led by junior Octavia Gonzalez (21:31) who took 5th place. Their 1-5 split was 2:13 with an average time of 22:25.
Coach Kevin Harkema had this to say afterwards “I was pleased with our effort today considering the conditions and the crowd. Our young girls did really well, I think the future is pretty bright for them."
Gateway:
The boys were 12th place. They were led by sophomore Jose Alvarado (19:29) who came in 42nd. Their 1-5 split was 2:41 seconds with an average time of 20:40.
The girls didn’t have enough runners to place as a team, however, senior Stephanie Rosado (24:53) put up the best time for the group and took 49th place.
Celebration:
The boys were 11th place. They were led by Diego Sanchez (17:36) who came in 28th. Their 1-5 split was 3:30 with an average time of 20:37.
The girls took 7th place. They were led by Megan Flores (22:18) who took 14th place. Their 1-5 split was 7:30 with an average time of 26:50.
I spoke with Coach Corey Green and a few of his runners, and they all had the pretty much the same response…. it was wet, muddy and crowded, but we made it, and we are looking forward to next week.
Liberty:
Coach Pauley thought it was best for his entire squad to do a workout, rather than run in sloppy conditions in Orlando. He bet his hair on the fact that Rogelio Araiza would win it, and now he has to pay up, because Araiza won the race in an unofficial 17:10.
Poinciana & Osceola High school were not in action this past week.
News & Notes
Next up for most schools will be the Poinciana invitational on Wednesday, September 11 at Poinciana HS.
St. Cloud/Harmony Boys are traveling to UF for the Mountain Dew invitational on Saturday where a stellar field awaits.
Gateway is traveling to Oviedo for the Hagerty Invitational which has an equally strong field of runners.
OBC Preview
Octavia Gonzalez & teammate Karissa Solorzano are still headed toward a dual on October 16 at the OBC championships, but teammate Grace Miller could be hot on their heels. Rogelio Araiza is the reigning champion, and he is on a clear path for repeat after his strong race with in Edgewater.
As for the team titles… St. Cloud is looking increasingly strong on the girl’s side, while Harmony & St. Cloud are still pretty close on the boys side.