On-Site Coverage:
- Complete Results & Coverage
- Photo Album by Teri Bernhardt-Rodriguez - Over 500 pictures!!
About the Meet:
It was another typical hot and steamy day at Larry & Penny Thompson Park in Miami as the Ferguson Falcons Invitational kicked off in the morning with the middle school races, and the weather trend continued through the afternoon for the high school races until the lightning came in. Luckily only one race was called off due to the inclement weather, the high school boys varsity race, as the girls varsity race finished with the bad weather settling in. This year marked the ninth edition of the meet, which typically showcases most of the premier programs in Miami-Dade County and a few other teams from South Florida. Attendance was slightly diminished this year due to many teams traveled to the flrunners.com Invitational this weekend in Titusville, but due to restrictions put in place by the Greater Miami Athletic Conference due to the upcoming Jewish holiday, any teams in the conference, which is basically all Miami-Dade County Public Schools, are not allowed to compete neither Friday nor Saturday this week. As Meet Director, I thank everyone who attended, I apologize for the cancelation of the final race of the afternoon, and I look forward to the tenth edition of this meet next year.
Middle School Junior Varsity Race Recaps:
The first two races of the day were the junior varsity divisions for the middle school races and both individual champions won by fairly comfortable margins over their nearest competitiors in the 2.1 mile race. Brittany Tyre of Keys Gate Charter had a nice 14 second lead over the second place competitor, and that was nearly thirty seconds ahead of the third place finisher, while on the boys side, Alex Carreras of Jorge Mas Canosa also finished with a 14 second lead over second place. For the team races however, the finishes were much different. A tight race determined by only 10 points decided the girls JV race and although Highland Oaks was better on the 1-2-3-4 finishers comparatively, the weaker 5-6-7 allowed for Ammons to pull off the victory, placing all of their seven inside Highland Oaks' fifth girl. For the boys race, this was a much more lopsided afair as Jorge Mas Canosa placed five boys in the top ten to win the competition by over 70 points. Ammons comfortably picked up the runner-up team honors as they beat the third place school, G.W. Carver, by a 37 point margin.
Middle School Girls Junior Varsity Awards Winners:
MS Girls JV Individual Champion: Brittany Tyre, Keys Gate Charter (15:32.62)
MS Girls JV Team Champions: Ammons MS - 79 points overall
MS Girls JV Team Runner-up: Highland Oaks MS - 89 points overall
Thirteen of the Top 15 Girls Junior Varsity Individual Finishers.
The Runner-up Girls Junior Varsity Team from Highland Oaks MS.
The Championship Girls Junior Varsity Team from Ammons MS.
Middle School Boys Junior Varsity Awards Winners:
MS Boys JV Individual Champion: Alex Carreras, Jorge Mas Canosa (13:30.41)
MS Boys JV Team Champions: Jorge Mas Canosa - 26 points overall
MS Boys JV Team Runner-up: Ammons MS - 99 points overall
The Top 15 Middle School Boys Junior Varsity Individual Finishers.
The Middle School Runner-up Boys Junior Varsity Team from Ammons MS.
The Middle School Championship Boys Junior Varsity Team from Jorge Mas Canosa MS.
Middle School Varsity Race Recaps & Awards Winners:
The most exciting race of the day was the middle school girls varsity individual championship race. Coming in you had three very talented 7th graders who ended up finishing within 15 seconds of each other and 75 seconds ahead of the fourth place finisher. The battles between Ayjah Silemon of Hammocks, Natalie Varela of West Miami, and Rahyah Andressohn of Richmond Heights have been fun to watch in the past year and should continue to grow in the years to come. In the end all three girls were able to run 13:00 or better on the challenging course with Rahyah picking up the win in 12:45, followed by Natalie in 12:53, and then Ayjah picking up the bronze medal. The team race was also a close one as Devon Aire edged Ammons by a margin of only nine points, who was only five points ahead of third place Hammocks MS. Although Ammons had the better 1-2, the 3-4-5 depth of Devon Aire allowed for the overall win. On the boys side, Damuari Little of Arvida picked up the 19 second win, and he was the only boy on the day who ran faster than the three aforementioed girls. The team race was comfortably spread out as Ammons put their top five in the top seventeen finishers to pull off a 30 point margin of victory over Hammocks who was more than 50 points ahead of the third place team.
Middle School Girls Varsity Awards Winners:
MS Girls Varsity Individual Champion: Rahyah Andressohn, Richmond Heights (12:45.70)
MS Girls Varsity Team Champions: Devon Aire K-8 - 52 points
MS Girls Varsity Team Runner-up: Ammons HS - 61 points
The Top 15 Middle School Girls Varsity Individual Finishers. First through seventh on top, eighth through fifteenth on the bottom.
The Middle School Runner-up Girls Varsity Team from Ammons MS.
The Middle School Championship Girls Varsity Team from Devon Aire K-8.
Middle School Boys Varsity Awards Winners:
MS Boys Varsity Individual Champion: Damauri Little, Arvida (12:42.99)
MS Boys Varsity Team Champions: Ammons MS - 43 points
MS Boys Varsity Team Runner-up: Hammocks MS - 73 points
The Top 15 Middle School Boys Varsity Individual Finishers. First through seventh on top, eighth through fifteenth on the bottom.
The Middle School Runner-up Boys Varsity Team from Hammocks MS.
The Middle School Championship Boys Varsity Team from Ammons MS.
High School Junior Varsity Race Recaps & Awards Winners:
The junior varsity races in the high school division happened to be runaway races both individually and for the team competition. In the girls race, a strong pack of Ferguson girls took the lead over a pack of Gulliver girls just beyond the first mile mark, and they kept on going bringing home the team victory with a perfect score of 15. Freshman Lauren Potesta was the only JV girl to break the 24 minute barrier as she picked up the 15 second win over fellow Ferguson freshman teammate Kayla Hogan. On the boys side, freshman Deshay Fernandes of Coral Gables basically lead from beginning to end, holding off Michael Cabrera of Christopher Columbus as he was the only boy under the 19 minute barrier, and picked up the win by 10 seconds. For the boys team race, Columbus easily picked up the win over Ferguson as they truly showed their depth with nine boys in the top sixteen, six of them being freshmen. Ferguson was able to pick up second place honors as Pembroke Pines Charter, who had three boys in the top ten, had a weak fourth and fifth place finisher which dropped them to fourth; Ransom Everglades finished in third.
HS Girls JV Individual Champion: Lauren Potesta, John A. Ferguson (23:51.94)
HS Girls JV Team Champions: John A. Ferguson HS - 15 points
HS Girls JV Team Runner-up: Gulliver Prep - 54 points
HS Boys JV Individual Champion: Deshay Fernandes, Coral Gables (18:54.93)
HS Boys JV Team Champions: Christopher Columbus - 30 points
HS Boys JV Team Runner-up: John A. Ferguson HS - 69 points
High School Girls Varsity Race Recap & Awards Winners:
Senior Aylwyn "Aileen" Hernandez of Ferguson helped lead her team to victory as the bad weather started moving over the course on Thursday afternoon, by taking the early lead and running away with the victory on her birthday of all days. And an individual trophy for the win, plus a team win, is always a great birthday present. This was the third invitational win for her on the season, and the third meet in a row where she and her Ferguson teammate, senior Lauren Gavulic, finished in consecutive places. As for the team battle, due to many squads attending the flrunners.com Invitational as mentioned earlier, became more of a head-to-head competition rather than a major four or five team battle. In the end the top two teams were more than 100 points from third place, but only had 10 points between them. Ferguson's 1-2 punch, and the strong pack that followed was enough to get the win over Coral Reef as they put eight girls inside the Reef fifth runner.
HS Girls Varsity Individual Champion: Aylwyn Hernandez, John A. Ferguson (19:47.53)
HS Girls Varsity Team Champions: John A. Ferguson HS - 31 points
HS Girls Varsity Team Runner-up: Coral Reef - 41 points
Some of the Top 15 High School Girls Varsity Individual Finishers; many had left during the lightning delay.
Coach Maya Scott, another birthday girl, accepting the HS Girls Varsity Runner-up trophy with Coral Reef athletes.
The High School Varsity Girls Team Champions from John A. Ferguson HS with Coach Ryan Raposo.
Meet note: The High School Varsity Boys race was delayed for almost 45 minutes before finally being canceled by Ferguson administration due to excessive lightning.