1A Team Rankings
Rankings By: Joe McKinney (Episcopal) jmcki5@aol.comAll the major invitationals are now complete and most squads will either rest next weekend or head to conference championships. District meets kick off Tuesday, the 21st at Benjamin, so on next Monday, you expect a district preview. Things are starting to get a little more interesting as team prep for the meets "that count" and there's always a few surprises.
1. Holy Trinity
2. Oak Hall
3. Episcopal
4. Benjamin
5. Maclay
6. Indian Rocks Christian
7. Shorecrest Prep
8. Ransom Everglades
9. St. John Neuman
10. Berkley Prep
11. Trinity Prep
12. PK Yonge
13. Keswick Christian
14. Dade Christian
15. First Academy
Although Holy Trinity is a clear favorite, the race for the top spot appears to have a chance at tightening as Oak Hall has finally found a fifth runner in the ultra-talented Ellen Abbey (seventh grade sister to standout Danielle). The younger Abbey ran a 21:03 in her first complete 5K race on the not-so-fast Buchholz course. If Oak Hall can get Lowery and Babbs healthy, and Uribe running well, the FHSAA may be able to save some postage on premailing the trophy to Melbourne. Those two are clear of the pack, while it appears that Benjamin is closing ground on Episcopal for the third slot. The Eagles 4-5 runners are getting better and will have to continue to do so for Episcopal to hang on to their spot. Nos. 5 thru 10 look as open as a Miami receiver in the FSU secondary with those five teams less than 10 seconds apart on my scale. Things are starting to get interesting on all fronts as we head into crunch time.
1A Individuals
1. Robyn DeBenedet (Episcopal)
2. Rebecca Zuhlke (Holy Trinity)
3. Haley Mercer (Kings Academy)
4. Adriana Piekarewicz (Maclay)
5. Melissa Kotchman (Indian Rocks Christian)
6. Danielle Abbey (Oak Hall)
7. Chelsey Joiner (Holy Trinity)
8. Laci Huddleston (Oak Hall)
9. Mercedes Anderson (Benjamin)
10. Kayla Hale (Holy Trinity)
11. Jade Miller (Holy Trinity)
12. Laura Steel (Episcopal)
13. Brittney Clark (First Academy)
14. Nicole Grothaus (St. John Neumann)
15. Kelsey Dunn (Warner Christian)
Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
Farah Stewart (Jay), Allison Babb (Oak Hall), Ellen Abbey (Oak Hall), Stevie Uribe (Oak Hall), Katherine Putnam (Holy Trinity), Lindsey Putnam (Holy Trinity), Morgan Anderson (Benjamin), Falyn Cantrell (Mount Dora Bible), Lexi Hillman (Benjamin), Alicia Ivanhoe (Trinity Prep), Farah Elchalal (Berkley Prep), Cori Morris (Shorecrest Prep), Pavandeep Birk (Shorecrest Prep), Lindsey Myers (Ransom Everglades)
On the Individual side, DeBenedet's 18:22 this weekend clearly outdistances the pack. If she's able to continue her high school trend of running her best in the postseason, she may be tough to beat. Unbeaten against Class 1A runners this season (only Mallory Wellman and Anna Greskovich have beat her). Any of the rest of the top-5 could knock off the Episcopal senior, however, led by upstarts Zuhlke, Mercer, and Piekarewicz - whom Coach Droze has hid very well this season. Central Florida runners Kelsey Dunn and Brittney Clark both enter the poll for the first time this week after impressive performances over the weekend.