While most of the state was running at the FSU Invitational/Pre-State, seventeen boys teams, and fourteen girls teams headed to Picnic Island in Tampa for the Millard Shumate Invitational hosted by Robinson High School. It was a tough course that tested the runners mental and physical toughness, running through soft grass, several small hills, and along the beach.
Junior Jack Rogers and Robinson teammate Blake Stanford were familiar with Picnic Island and came in with the "home course" advantage. The duo went straight to the front and began to set the pace. Roggers turned it into second gear after Evan Collura of Plant began to throw himself into the mix. Rogers and Collura worked off each other for the next mile, when the Robinson junior turned to strategy. He wanted to surge everytime Colura made a move. With the race coming to a close, and 1k left, Rogers passed him and cruised through the finish line in 17:27.20. Ten seconds later Collura came down the finish, with Stanford breathing down his back. It was a kick to the finish, but Collura nipped him at the line by one second 17:37.20 to 17:38.20.
The Robinson boys picked up the team title placing four guys in the top nine spots and five inside the top twenty. Robinson's 38 points was six less than runner-up Steinbrenner, and 11 less than third place finisher Plant.
Calvary Christian sophomore Hannah Brookover is having a great 2013 season. She kicked off the year with a win at the Holloway Park Jamboree and has finished in the top ten of her races in state, including a tenth place showing at the flrunners.com Invitational Race of Champions. She finished 24th last weekend at Great American in North Carolina. Opting to run closer to home this weekend, Brookover dismantled the field on Picnic Island, crossing the line in 19:43.80 on a difficult course. Her time was over forty-two seconds faster than runner-up Eliana Ochoa of Brandon. Sneha Satish of King, and Maddy Hull of Robinson rounded out the top four, all breaking twenty-one minutes.
Seniors Maddy Hull and Julia DeYoung lead host Robinson to a team title with 81 points. The Knights placed their top four runners in the top fifteen. Lake Region edged out Osceola (Seminole) by two points 98-100 for second place.
The JV boys race was the Steinbrenner and Plant show. Steinbrenner sophomore Ian Campbell won easily in 18:46.50 followed by Plant's George Carr in 19:08.90. Steinbrenner went 1,3,4,5,6 to win with a near perfect score of 19 points with runner-up plant scoring 40 points and putting their top five in the top thirteen spots.
Robinson freshman Montana Page ran a new 12 second personal best with a time of 24:26.40 in just her 7th high school race to win the girls junior varsity race. It was a three team battle with Osceola winning (38) over Manatee (40), and Lake Region (46).
Elite Performances
