BOYS WINNER: Manny Velasquez - Senior @ St. Thomas Aquinas High School
After an injury plagued sophomore and junior seasons, Manny Velasquez was back at it his senior year. The St. Thomas Aquinas standout proved he was back in prime condition early in the season after winning the city championships and then following that up with a runner-up finish at the UF Mt. Dew Invitational. Velasquez went on to post a top fifteen finish at the flrunners.com Invitational, and win county and district championships. At state, he finished fourth, and lead STA to a state championship. Coach Trish Butler says Manny is an inspiration to the team.
Velasquez wasn't going to let his senior season come to an end just yet. He had more work to be done and on that same Apalachee Regional Park course. Two weeks later, he returned to the spot of his fourth place finish to test his hand against the top seniors in the state at the FACA Senior All-Star meet. Butler says his familiarity helped with the game plan.
"He knew that he would be in the lead pack. Taking lessons from the last two races at ARP, he stayed in contention until the last 1000m than surged and finished strong."
Velasquez sprinted to the finish and crossed in 15:38.35, over seven seconds faster than runner-up Charles Shackelford. The win was his third of the season. Butler is excited his career ended the way it did.
"I am so happy for him. He has had a frustrating high school career, so for him to stay positive, believe in the plan, and finally finish on a high note is wonderful."
The Raiders' senior will compete in the upcoming Foot Locker South Regional and then hang up his racing flats. That is until next fall. Butler believes he has a bright future at the next level.
"Manny will be remembered for his determination and dedication. He has aspirations of running in college. I know that it will be a smooth transition for him and he will be an asset to any program."
Manny's Athlete Profile
GIRLS WINNER: Katrina Santiago - Senior @ John A. Ferguson High School
Coming off a strong junior year, Ferguson's Katrina Santiago was poised to be one of the state's top runners in her final cross country season. Coach Ryan Raposo believed his pupil could hit times in the lower 18 range and make a name for herself. Santiago focused on working on her overall strength and paid off in 2013. She won three of her first four meets, a total of five invitationals on the year, as well as a district championship. Want more improvement? How about lowering her 5k personal record down by nearly thirty seconds?
It wasn't all smooth sailing though for the senior. Santiago ran a personal best 18:21.84 to finish 9th at Pre-State. She was actually sixth coming down the final stretch before being outkicked by three girls in the final few meters. Raposo says a top ten finish was what they were aiming for, and he was pleased with her postseason performances leading up until regionals. That is when nerves and anxiety struck.
"She had fairly good performances at our conference and district championships, but unfortunately her anxiety and nervousness got the best of her at the region meet as she suffered from hyponatremia. After that the goal at state went from shooting for top two to just aiming for another top ten finish, which she was able to accomplish for the second consecutive year."
A week after finishing 39th at regionals in 22:41.07, Santiago regained her composure to place sixth at states and break back under nineteen minutes. Two weeks, later she would once again return to Apalachee Regional Park, her third time of the year, for the 2013 FACA Senior All-Star Meet. Raposo says after having a fairly successful state meet, the goal for FACA was really to just go out and have fun.
If nervousness struck, Santiago had some calming forces to her left and right. Raposo was the coach of the South team, and three other of her Falcon teammates were also on the team. Raposo feels having everyone around her helped make the atmosphere relaxed for her as her and her teammtes met and interacted with the other South girls from different counties since they all drove up together.
Santiago and MacNeal worked together for the first two miles of the race when the Ferguson star pulled away. She crossed the line in 18:38.35 to finish first, nearly ten seconds ahead of MacNeal. Raposo knew she had the ability win the meet and was really excited and happy to see her perform well just as she has done over the last couple of seasons.
"After seeing her at the regional championship and being scared for her, I was happy to see her bounce back into her typical racing form and being able to compete where her body could respond the way she wanted it to. The FACA individual win was more than I could have hoped for her and I'm extremely proud of her."
A staple in Coach Raposo's program for the last four years, he has a lot of memories of Santiago. He says of all the things he will miss her bright personality the most and looks forward to watching her at the next level.
"She has so many positive attributes about her, but when it really comes down to it, she's a good and kind-hearted girl that genuinely enjoys the sport, her teammates, and trying to succeed in every way possible. If every athlete of mine had her excitement, optimism, and confidence, we'd be contending for a state championship every year. As she moves on to college there will definitely be a void left behind, big shoes to fill from a very small girl."
"For being a Miami girl from the suburbs, in many ways she's very country at heart. She owns a goat named Margarita, who is pregnant, as well as a couple of chickens and should be adopting a cow in a new future as well. She is an active member of our school's FFA program and shows her animals off throughout the year at various competitions including the State Fair. She also loves country music, particularly Luke Bryan, and desperately wants to know my psycho-analysis of her. Well I hope this was close enough for you, Katrina!"