Even as pioneers, the residents of what is now known as Orange City were sensitive as to how the world saw them. The townsfolk felt that finding a proper name for the town would add distinction to their community. So back in those early days (circa 1880), it came down to two possible choices. Most of its residents chose as its namesake the refreshing Blue Springs, which was greatly admired, not only as a source of clean water—which was bottled and shipped all over the world—but as a landing for steamships that connected the town with the outside world. That second name was Orange City, heralded by a local businessman, John Stillman, who predictably wanted to advertise the town’s—and his--main product. Although the majority of people chose Blue Springs, when Stillman filled out an application for its post office, he penciled in “Orange City” as the town, thereby outmaneuvering the rest of the populace by a majority of one. Orange City it was, and Orange City it remains.
It has always been Orange City’s ambition to be a college town. Its first high school, chartered in 1878, was called the Orange City Collegiate Institute. A few years later, they conducted a vigorous campaign to convince Alonzo Rollins to build his college—which would be Florida’s first private college--in Orange City. He instead chose Winter Park (1885). (See: http://www.ci.orange-city.fl.us/city/government/city-town-history/)
In the more recent past, in 2010 the Volusia County School Board “ratified” University as the name for Orange City’s latest high school. But why that? To many, “University High School” sounded like an oxymoron. Besides already having been taken by another secondary school close enough to cause confusion, there is no university nearby. There is a University Avenue; however, the school is two blocks south, on Rhode Island. To make a long story short, the answer is best explained by an acronym, STEM: Science-Technology-Engineering-Math. Working with UCF (biomed), Embry-Riddle (engineering, robotics, and simulation), Stetson (finance through their School of Business) and Daytona State (dual enrollment), the school offers college-level courses in tandem with high school classes. Third time’s the charm?
The periapt of the school’s teams, likewise, deserves a closer look. While TITANS (from Titenes, or straining ones—a hint at least of the last--if not all—of the OC selection committees’ frame of mind) seems like an inspiring mascot, the actual gods were anything but role models…probably the reason they were never rated a capital G.
According to Edith Hamilton, whose classic work on this classic subject—simply called Mythology--wrote that “The Titans, often called the Elder Gods, were for untold ages supreme in the universe.” Not much about them has survived to this day, beyond their names: Ocean (the river encircling the earth); Tethys (his wife); Hyperion (father of the sun and moon); Mnemosyne (memory); Themis (justice); and Iapetus (whose sons were Atlas and Prometheus). Let one’s diabolical actions, however, serve as an example of their disreputable behavior.
Still existing as the root word chron (time), Kronos deposed his father through castration, then married his sister, Rhea. He is often portrayed as father time, which is why he is seen as a symbol of New Year’s Eve (hence the scythe, his weapon of choice). Hopefully, while the adults are out celebrating his comings and goings, they will have left a well-armed sitter to guard their children. The man under those robes likes to eat children. In fact, he ate all but one of his own. The only one who escaped his hunger was Zeus, whom his sister-wife saved by serving, as her husband’s meal, a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes. Like I said, Titans is not a name I would have associated with a high school team. Perhaps, as a possible explanation for that particular decision, is that it was all Greek to them?
On the other hand, once we get past that controversial name game, there are many things that make this school a winner, beginning with its facilities and staff. The school itself is well-placed, and the athletic fields about as wide-open as Volusia’s other schools are claustrophobic. Its neo-classical architecture is quite attractive. In perusing the IslandwideRunner photos, should you study the building behind the race starts, you can almost see the Parthenon (“temple of virgin goddess”), sans Doric columns and marble facing. After that, the money must have run out, because the track/football facilities are not all there, but hopefully someday will be completed. Nonetheless, its athletic staff is enthusiastic and resourceful, as is evidenced by a first-class cross country meet. And therein lays the real story.
Varsity Girls
Just as Kronus’ scythe swings back and forth, so too do the fortunes of the ten schools in the 5 Star Conference. Lately, the nearby sea’s breeze has been blowing straight on shore, as exemplified by this meet’s opening race.
The 2013 Seabreeze High School girls’ team is on a roll. Not only is it a well-oiled running machine, but its parts are interchangeable. Their first five girls are equal parts talent and humility. As is apparent in races, as well as interviews, it isn’t so much a matter of who on the team wins, just as long as the winner is wearing a Seabreeze singlet.
This time, first out of the box, and maintaining that position--right up to the finish--was sophomore Elizabeth Murray.
“I wanted to try something different,” she told me later that day. “I usually go out a little slower. Last year I won this race, so I wanted to keep it going.”
“I was surprised that she took off,” said her teammate, Kianna Bonnet. “I’m really proud of her.”
“This race is really hilly; I remember that from last year,” added Murray. “So I took that experience and went up the hills really hard. I’ve been trying—as the season progresses—to do better, as compared to last year’s races. My races are going better, and I’m very satisfied.”
Elizabeth’s need to speed seemed shared by an unusually large, and overly optimistic, lead pack in the early stages of the race. These runners clogged the course, and when a sudden shift in direction occurred as they were making their first pass by the finish area, someone’s fast-moving feet tripped up Murray’s teammate, Kianna Bonnet.
“I saw her fall,” Elizabeth said. 
“She got right back up, so I didn’t think it affected her. Still, I felt really bad. I think some of the competitors who knew her took advantage of that, and put some distance between them and her.”
Much of the 5K remained, however, and when the course opened up, neither Murray nor Bonnet had any problem getting away from the crowd. This pulled along a third teammate, Alyssa Bayliff.
“I wanted to keep my pace,” Alyssa said, “and pass anyone I could. (At first) there were three girls ahead of me. I wanted to keep my score down, so we could win. I passed two before the finish. If it wasn’t for the soft sand near the end, I think I could have sprinted. I got closer, but not close enough, to that third girl.”
Lyman’s Mary Grace Sonksen finished third (20:47.7), and Bayliff fourth, just two seconds behind (20:49.2).
“Yeah, there was a lot of soft sand,” Kianna agreed.
“It was pretty difficult,” said Bayliff. “(If you went too fast) you could either fall, and eat dirt, or twist your ankle.”
“The finish was pretty nice, though,” redirected Bonnet, “the way it goes down. It was a quick finish.”
None of the three--Elizabeth (who finished first overall in 20:11.4), Kianna (who was second in 20:35.5), or Alyssa seemed concerned about the team’s order of finish. Kianna, who was first for Seabreeze at the September 21st Embry-Riddle Invitational, explained.
“We both”—she and Elizabeth—“have the potential to be great runners.”
“Yes,” added Alyssa, “they work off each other, and motivate each other to get faster. And with me to catch them….”
“You’re not too far off,” reminded Kianna.
“So far, we are rated tops in our district and region, based on flrunners.com,” explained Alyssa. “And today, a lot of us got PRs.”
“I was only two seconds off,” mentioned Kianna.
“But we did really well,” said Alyssa. “Josie (Gray, fourth for Seabreeze, in 21:45) is usually right beside me. And Lea (Gray, their fifth finisher, in 21:49), when we need her, she will push herself as hard as she can.”
“She’s my secret weapon,” added their coach, Debora Diaz.
“Our times are so much closer this year, and everyone is so dedicated, that I think we’ll make it to states,” concluded Murray.
Team Race - “Today, it helped that we had Alyssa back,” Elizabeth Murray told me. “Last year she got a stress fracture in her foot during cross country season. When the boot came off, she got another one, and was out for track too.”
Add Bonnet and Lea Gray to that five, and this team is tough to beat.
With a 1-2-4-11-13 finish—and 31 points--no other team was close. Lyman was next best (3-6-14-18-19; 60), and host OC third (7-8-12-15-37; 79). 10 full teams and 81runners finished the GV race.
Varsity Boys
In the early stages of the VB race, Lyman’s Zach Nicholson took off like a greyhound chasing a rabbit, but was soon overtaken by three Lake Howell runners—Christopher Rife, Ivan Montero, and Jan Figueroa--and eventually New Smyrna Beach’s Matthew Seward. Seward outsprinted Nicholson for fourth (18:08), and the former faded to fifth (18:10).
Chris: “We knew he was going to drop. We tried to stay together (as a team) because he would do so.”
Ivan: “He started out too quick, so we just waited for him to die.”
Jan: “We were just pacing off each other, and after the second mile….”
Ivan: “We knew we had it, and just kept the same pace.”
Jan: “Our goal was to come in the top three—together—and win the meet as a team.”
Chris: “We haven’t done any hills in training—there are no hills anywhere near us.”
Jan: “But we used the hills as an advantage. We were going up pretty hard, and down pretty hard.”
Ivan: “After the hill, when we got next to him, we speeded up, and he kept the same pace, so he fell back.”
Jan: “There was one spot, on the backstretch, that was all sand.”
Ivan: “The sand was a killer.”
Chris: “This race gives us more confidence and a dedication to running. We’re looking forward to Districts.”
Ivan: “Lyman and Lake Mary ….”
Chris: “Are our two big opponents.”
Ivan: “Lake Mary has two fast runners…”
Chris: “And Lyman as a team. They have a solid five.”
Jan: “We’re just trying to work on our #4 and #5 runners, to get them down to the low 18s, or high 17s, so we can beat Lyman and Lake Mary.”
Ivan: “Jon Rothrock is a great coach, and really knows how to motivate and push us in practice every day.”
Jan: “We three are always pushing each other. We run together in practice and in meets. We’re trying to stay healthy and get better.”
Chris: “My parents, teammates, and coaches all know how to support us.”
Ivan: “Our goals are to get better this year, and next.”
Chris: “To go as far as we can.”
Jan: “And get to states. That is our main goal.”
In this race, Chris Rife (a junior) finished first in 17:22.1; Ivan Montero (also a junior) was second in 17:25.9; and Jan Figuero (a sophomore) was third in 17:29.2. Coming at the approximate midpoint of the season, it paints a bright picture, not only for the end of this season, but also for all of 2014-2015.
Team Race – With their 1-2-3 finish--followed by Irvin Montero’s seventh (18:27.1)—LH’s coaching staff must have held their collective breath for that minute and a half while they waited for #5. Brandon Harkins finished in 20:04.5, and that 1-2-3-7-36 (49 points) closed the door on New Smyrna Beach (second with 52 points; 4-8-9-12-19). Timber Creek (6-17-23-26-50) was third with 122. 11 full teams and 96 runners scored.
JV Girls
“I didn’t think I could win. I just went out there and tried my best, knowing that, with all my practices, I could PR.”
Thus rationalized Lyman sophomore Danielle Johnson, who—besides sharing the same name as 43 other girls on the MileSplit network, which must be a record in and of itself—now knows that with the right mindset, all things are possible.
“I took the lead near the beginning, and led the whole way. I didn’t want to give up my place. I knew there was a girl 100 yards behind me.
“I’m a strong Christian, and I always think ‘mind over pain.’ So when all these things go through my mind—like this is really hard, or it is sandy, or I could trip—I think of the verse: ‘I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength. That removes all the negative thoughts. It helps me focus on the positive: it’s less than a 30 minute race, and I can get through this. At the end, I think He got me through it.”
“Getting through” might be downplaying it somewhat. Besides setting a seven second PR—her winning time on a notoriously challenging course was 24:17--she also won the race, her first. She offered some possible reasons.
“My coach said that when you run a hill, it’s more of a strength test. Just go out there, knowing that you’ll be strong in the finish.”
That, and 27-flat/62.27 (200/400) speed last spring in her freshman year of high school track might have helped. At the suggestion that making varsity would be her next challenge, she demurred.
“Our varsity girls are really strong. They all run under 22. Being it’s my first year of cross country, I wouldn’t feel bad about not moving up (right now). I’m happy where I am, but maybe next year I can fill a senior’s position. There will be at least three openings, and I hope to get a chance to fill one of them.”
Team Race – In a really close race—check the finish places--DeLand (6-9-11-16-28-34-35; 70 points) edged out New Smyrna Beach (4-8-12-20-31-32-33; 75 points) and Seabreeze (2-13-14-25-30-43-49; 84 points). 74 girls and eight full teams scored.
JV Boys
This race, as did the others, took on the flavor of a conference show-down. With the 5 Star Freshman/Sophomore Championships only three days away, it could certainly be a confidence boost for Murray, Bonnet, et al. Add Nick Barnes to the list.
“I just did my normal thing; try to beat everyone from the start,” he rationalized. “I was trying to get up ahead so I wouldn’t have to pass anyone. Sometime before the half-way point—maybe at the mile—I was in the lead.”
Nick, a freshman, has—in his four races prior to this one—hardly had a chance to settle in to a familiar pace. His times have bounced around, from a high of 21:45 at the August 31st DeLand Invitational (his first), to a low of 19:49.80 at the September 27th FLR XIV JV Blue race. In this, however, he seems to have hit his stride, running a solid 20:36.9 to take first overall.
“I left most of them—my teammates—but I told one of them, Dylan”—Oakes, who finished in 20:49—“to follow me, and he got third,” explained Barnes.
Besides the difficulty of the course, by the time the BJV kicked off at 10:30, it was closing in on 90 degrees, and shade wasn’t one of the amenities. Perhaps a sprinkler next time?
“The temperature didn’t have much of an effect on me, but my shoe came untied, and my foot was moving around in my shoe. It was a little bit harder getting up the hills. That happened about halfway into the race.”
Barnes, however, prevailed.
“My breathing and my times are both getting better. I’m not dying out as much (during the race). Practice has been really hard; we’ve been running on the roads—to A1A and back. As a team, we’re doing better and better. A lot more guys are running PRs.
“I think I have a chance to make varsity this year if I keep doing what I’ve been doing, and maybe working harder…improving on what I’ve been doing.”
Team Race – Despite Nick Barnes’ “1”—or maybe because of it—New Smyrna Beach slipped in to win by one. Sophomore Harrison DeCamillis—who might be aiming for a rematch at 5 Star F/S—led the Sharks with a 20:44.7 second overall. It was the odds vs. the evens, as NSB’s 2-4-6-16-18 added up to 46, and Seabreeze’s 1-3-7-17-19 totaled 47. (It doesn’t get a whole lot closer.) The Titans were third with 87 (9-11-12-25-30). 7 teams and 71 runners counted.
Footnotes: There are cross country meets, and there are cross country meets that are fun. This was certainly the latter. Well-planned by U’s Lisa Eggert, and facilitated by a host of parents and staff, this was a showcase cross country meet. The course wound around University’s wide-open campus, offering spectators a panoramic view of the race, and the runners a clear view of the course. While I was not personally in tune with his choice of music, volunteer Adrian Zvarych certainly knew what the kids liked. (The photos posted under IslandwideRunner will give you an idea of just how much dancing was going on.) And, to wrap it up, Final Mile Timing sure made my day easier: fast, easily accessible results, and a take-home copy on recycled paper showed a lot of class. And they were uncommonly pleasant to work with.
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