Sinclaire Johnson, Steven Cross Clinch Wins At Mike Gibson Summertime Run

Aug 30, 2014

On-Site Coverage

Complete Results & Meet Coverage
Featured Girls Photo Album By Marty Hammond (153 Photos)
Featured Boys Photo Album By Marty Hammond (191 Photos)
Race Videos/Interviews By Todd Grasley

The 34th Annual Mike Gibson Summertime marked the first race for many Central Florida harriers. Over a dozen teams headed to Lake Mary for some heated competition in the Saturday morning heat and humidity. A new course layout, didn't produce the fastest times of the season, and some runners even thought it might a little closer to 3.3 or 3.4 miles rather than the standard 5k distance of 3.1 miles. The races ended on the track with Sinclaire Johnson of Lake Brantley and Steven Cross of Merritt Island emerging from Greenwood Lakes Park and crossing the finish line first in 19:36.30 and 16:28.70. Flrunners.com was on-site with photos, race video, interviews, results, and a complete recap of all the action!

On the girl's side 2013 champion Fatema Jaffer of Lake Mary ran stride for stride with Sinclaire Johnson of Lake Brantley. At the two mile mark, Johnson showed why she was the state champion in the 800m and 1600m and used that speed to pull away from Jaffer. She won in 19:36.30, a very impressive early season time especially for a course that might have been a little on the longer side. Jaffer was second in 20:07.40 with Mikaela Hakamaa of Merritt Island, Dr. Phillip's Annika Sisson, and Leesburg's Kara Funke rounding out the top five and all breaking 21 minutes. Merritt Island placed five runners in the top thirty to win the team title with 58 points while Lake Mary edged Dr. Phillips by just one point 66-67 for second and third respectively.

As you can see in the photo above, the boy's race was a three-person battle for the majority between defending champion Franco Martins, Steven Cross of Merritt Island, and Ryan DeGale of the home team Lake Mary Rams. A little after the two mile mark, Martins the 1A Cross Country Finals champion in 2013 and 1600/3200m state champion in track, faded back to third position with Cross and DeGale tussling for top honors. Cross pulled away with 800 meters to go to get the win in 16:28.70. DeGale was second in 16:34.60 and Martins at 16:50.40. Dr. Phillip's led by Jean D'Haiti's fifth place finish was the team champion beating out Lake Mary by one point, 50-51. Merritt Island was third.