It’s back for year two! Runners across the state are now in full gear. However, many are still trying to find the groove of where their team stands. From the coaches standpoint, many runners are likely still out of shape and not quite ready for the next month that will determine who runs for a title and who stays home. Here is your school by school breakdown for our seven schools in the Orange Belt Conference.
Celebration: These guys have some work to do to be competitive. None of the girls could crack 25 minutes in Mt Dora and only one guy broke 20. Team leader from last year Justin Corinealdi is now at Liberty.
Gateway: Under a new coaching staff, Gateway is in the same boat as the above mentioned cross town rival, Celebration. What doesn’t help either team is the 4A classification.
Harmony: They have a few meets under their belts so far, including the big UF meet this past weekend. The girls are led by Senior Adalyn Gaston while the guys return a group that came in 2nd in conference last year, just seven points away from the win.Junior Canyon Huff appears ready for the challenge of the year hitting his PR last Saturday.
Liberty: The rich get richer seems to be the trend over there for Coach Pauley. Already sitting on three consecutive OBC crowns, the Chargers inherit its biggest challenger from Celebration in Corinealdi. Rogelio Araiza returns for his senior campaign and goes for the 3-peat as individual champion. He and Ryan Yarde lead a young group that could take this school to Tallahassee for the first time as a team.
Osceola: The Kowboys also have the dubious distinction of also being a 4A school in XC. Coach Maldonado hopes to make a few waves amongest the big schools with senior Edwin Estrella and sophmore Paul McCrimon. It’s still early in the season, but Estrella could wind up district champion this year.
Poinciana: Having already ran two meets this year, the Eagles know this will be a rebuilding season. Junior Matthew Luzi has to step it up if he wants to make this school competitive before he graduates.
St. Cloud: The best girls program of the area comes right where it left off last year. I predicted a perfect team score in the conference championship last year, but they came out with 17 instead of 15; close enough. Currently eight of the top ten area girls run for STC, including Grace Miller who looks as determined as ever. The boys are showing promise with a real young group.
Everyone will compete this weekend at the St Cloud Invitational. This will give us a real clear picture of where teams stack up against each other with less than a month til the confence championships. Stay tuned for more from Osceola County.
Love it or leave it, Donald Lamb is a regular contibutor to Flrunners.com as a photographer, videographer & blogger. He is a devoted area coach, who is working hard to help the local running community.