Land O' Lakes Boys Take Individual & Team Trophy, Ocala Vanguard Girls Edge Out Seabreeze By One

FHSAA 3A Region 2
Todd Grasley

On-Site Coverage

Junior Emily Kerns of Mitchell decided to set the pace at the beginning with Amber Philpott and Adair Lyden right behind her. She told me aftewards, that is just her style, but when you go out too fast sometimse you lose the energy when you need it the most. When the runners came back from the far part of the course (behind the baseball field and lake), Philpott had taken the lead. Kerns remained on her heel for the second mile with Kiana Bonnet of Seabreeze and Audrey Carpenter of Vanguard moving into the third and fourth spots. Philpott, a sophomore at Springstead in her first year running picked up her first ever regional championship in a time of 18:53.80. Bonnet, another first year runner. was secon in 18:57.30. Kerns, Carpenter, Elizabeth Murray of Seabreeze, and Elizabeth Mulford of Ocala Vanguard rounded out the top six. 

Vanguard was predicted fo finish second at this meet, but hey those are just predictions! The team beat Seabreeze 55-56 with the race coming down to both team's number four and five runners. Carpenter and Mulford were so excited after the team trophy was announced they were at a loss for words. Seven points separated Mitchell (127), Gainesville (132), and Lake Nona (134) points for the next three spots while Mainland snuck in the last spot.



Land O'Lakes came in as the heavy favorites in the boys race and the Gators didn't disappoint. Jean Carlos Peralta of Lake Nona paced the first mile with the trio of Travis Nichols, Tyler Stahl, and Jake Poore hanging back. As they came to the "mini hill" or bump as Coach Pauely of Liberty called it, Nichols looked at Stahl and asked when they wanted to make their move, which they did shortly thereafter. The pair left Peralta and Poore behind and went onto run together for the remainder of the race crossing the line at what seemed like the exact same time. Upon further review, it was Nichols by two tenths of a second in 16:05.10. Eleven seconds later, came Rogelio Araiza of Liberty in third place. Araiza was in about seventh or eighth place at the two mile, but knew he had beaten Peralta earlier in the year, and came sprinting down the chute. Poore was fourth with Eric Foster of Sebring and Jean Carlos Peralta rounding out the top six.

The Gators, running with heavy hearts and on a mission in 2013, captured the team title with 66 points. Jason Byrne's alma mater Sebring High School, the Blue Streaks, might have surprised some folks at this meet. Brothers Eric Foster (5th) and Damian Foster (15th) both advanced as individuals, but gave theit teammates another race as well, guiding the team to a second place finish by ONE point over host Lake Nona 134-135. Gainesville squeaked out a one point tussle with Mantanzas for the fourth and fifth spot while Lecanto claimed the sixth and final spot.

Race Video/Interviews by Todd Grasley

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elite Performances

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights