2A Team Rankings
Rankings By: Dan Dearing (Bolles)1. Bishop Kenny- The best until somebody beats them. Second at State last year to Lourdes (now in 3A). Wellman and Marshall look to have started where they left off. Hall is a sub 5:00 miler, who will contribute near the top once she returns to form. Also, bad news for the other schools looking to make a move on BK and you heard it here first – sophomore transfer Tiara Harrell may be better than the other three by the time her high school career is over. Not this year, but someday. Incredibly talented, great attitude and has only been running with the team for about a month after a summer full of track races. BK could have four girls under 20:00 at state.
2. Pope John Paul- There's a good chance they will be scoring four at state with defending state 1600/3200 champ Nicole Schappert on the squad. Funny thing is, She (19:26) got beat by her teammate, Jaqueline Areson (19:16) at UF. Both of these girls should be top ten and could be higher. They could possibly be scoring three! Solid cast behind them. Won the UF meet without Cormier and Anastasi. Should be a good threat to BK. Good depth with possibly eight girls under 21:00 by the end of the season.
3. Pensacola Catholic- PC returns four girls at 21:01 or faster from last year's state meet, including perennial frontrunner, Anna Greskovich. Top four runners have been a model of consistency in the first two races and their five and six runners have flip-flopped at around 22:30. Need for Lambert and Bordelon to start attacking other teams #1s to have a chance for hardware this season. Greskovich will be near the top.
4. Gulliver Prep- As if having Gill wasn't enough, now it looks like Gulliver has another frontrunner with freshman Sasha Mera, who beat Gill to win the Gulliver Invitational. Not very impressive results from Boynton Beach, but they return a deep squad from last year. Missing Rebstock at Boynton also. They are better than they showed at that meet.
5. Bolles- A lot of question marks here. Not much experience on the team except for Junior Heather Marees. Sophomore Gallogly looked good in her first XC race. #3 girl is yet to run a race. Injuries, inexperience and a lack of depth are all red flags with this team. Need to see how the younger girls develop.
6. Lincoln Park- An impressive start to the season with their #4 girls already at 21:39. All four returners from the state meet last year have already run faster than they did at state. Must have had a good summer of training. Still need a strong number 5 to develop to be a contender.
7. Cocoa Beach-Elly who? Well, not really – but this year's team does look strong, even without the multiple time defending state champ to lead them this year. Virtual unknown (at least to me) Leann Newrocki led the team at the Astronaut Invitational. This is a team returning five girls under 22:00 from last years state meet, not counting Newrocki. It should be fun to see how they fit in the mix at state.
8. Rockledge- I'm just guessing here, but they return five girls under 22:33 from last years state meet, and that's not counting Krystal Kerr, who led the team at Astronaut. Should be a contender, but I need more results to know for sure.
9. Bishop Moore- Returning four girls from last years state team – three of them under 21:17. Led by Natalie Saltmarsh who should be a contender for a top ten finish this year. Is it me or have we been talking about a Saltmarsh in the rankings for about ten years now. . . . . . As is common in this part of the rankings, team needs to show it has some depth to stay here. All four of the returners from last years state team will be back again next year as well.
10. Lecanto- Looked good and consistent at first two races. Freshman Taylor Cooke appears to be a solid #1. The #5 girl is already at 22:55, not bad. This is a team that may be underranked here, but we will have to wait and see.
Honorable Mention:
Crestview
Cardnial Gibbons
Clearwater Central Catholic
Gulf
2A Individuals
1. Anna Greskovich (Pensacola Catholic)- What a great start to the season.19:08 in debut backed up by a 19:06 in winning the FSU meet narrowly over 2A rival, Wellman. She showed that she can run with the best and win. That's what it takes to be #1. She also has team hardware to run for. What else do you need?
2. Jacquline Areson (Pope John Paul)- I know, I know. Some of you are saying she may not be the best on her team, much less the best in the state. Well, she beat Schappert by ten seconds in a blazing time of 19:16 in the first meet of the year. I believe you are the best until beaten, and Jaqueline beat Nicole. Plus, these two girls were so funny last year on their post the week of state writing each other back and forth. That's why I decided that . . . . .
3. Nicole Schappert (Pope John Paul)- Wow, what a formidable 1-2 punch these two are. The defending state champ in the 1600 and 3200. Didn't run at state last year, but has a XC PR of 19:14. She almost beat that in the first meet of the season. Expect big things from these two.
4. Mallory Wellman (Bishop Kenny)- Third at state last year, looked good in the opener at BK, but you know the BK coaches understand which meets are important. Very impressive runner up to Greskovich at FSU in 19:09. That's already faster than she was at state last year. Great set of training partners surely doesn't hurt. I can't wait to see the above four battle it out to see who is best. Any one of them can beat the rest on a god day.
5. Heather Marees (Bolles)- Second at last years state meet. Opens up with 19:29 at BK meet and looked strong in the race against her BK rivals. Great leg speed and great attitude. That's a nice combination to have. Lack of a teammate to train with may hurt her until Maggie Traylor gets healthy. A little off pace at FSU, but I think she runs better when Gallogly is in the race, and Gallogly will be at State.
6. Sasha Mera (Gulliver)- Great, just what we needed. Jillian Gill now has somebody to train with. Mera is a freshman and proved she belongs by winning the Gulliver Invitational over teammate Gill in a misleading time if 20:04 (slow course). Remember Gill ran 19:23 at state last year, and Mera just beat her. . . .
7. Amy Beth Gallogy (Bolles)- I wasn't sure where to put Gallogly. We probably won't see much of her this year, but she is very talented. She swam in a swim meet on Friday, went to swim practice for two hours Saturday morning before the Katie Caples meet, went to her first cross country meet in her life, ran 19:34, and then went back and swam in the rest of her meet right after the race was over. Unfortunately, doesn't get to practice with the team and is limited in her competitions, but man is she talented. Great attitude as well. (Can anybody say Fran Rodriguez?)
8. Jillian Gill (Gulliver)- She was just ahead of Marshall at state last year, so she is just ahead of Marshall in the rankings. Having Mera to train with should help the eighth grader to develop, if she needs any help. She could easily finish in the top five at state, maybe higher.
9. Laura Woznicki (Kathleen)- It's hard to say where Laura should be ranked right now, as we haven't seen her against many of her 2A foes yet. She did beat Sasha Mera at the Boynton Beach Invitational (19:48) though and possible should be ranked higher.
10. Mallory Wellman(Bishop Kenny)– Its hard to say where the BK girls belong because I honestly believe any of the three (maybe four now) could be the #1 on any given day. Marshall ran 19:26 at state last year and looked about like you would expect her to in her opener at Katie Caples. She'll be good and probably end up with a State championship ring.
10. Stephanie Amerman (Wesley Chapel)– I can't leave her off after her 19:40 at the USF meet. Need to see her race some more, but she also could move up this list pretty quick.