Great meets can come in small packages, and in that vein we have this little gem. Over the years, its courses have undergone several modifications, there always seems to be an impressive aerial fly-by--whether planned or otherwise--and its participants have been witness to cameos by a former ERAU Olympian. For 2015, the date was moved from late September to early October, and the number of races has fallen from eight to six (the same Men's 8K and Women's 5K college races, and a Boys and Girls High School JV, but a now combined large and small school race for both Boys and Girls). Remaining was a school wide passion for organization, the meet being facilitated by a large contingent of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical students. This year things moved quickly, avoiding both the rapidly rising heat index and a sudden, late morning downpour.
Two-by-Two-by-Two
The two college races had a distinctive local "flavor," with three nearby teams providing all the necessary ingredients for individual and team honors.
Opening with the Men's 8K just eight minutes after sunrise--pardon the dark photos--two cross-town Bethune-Cookman Wildcats ambushed the host school Eagles before they even got off the ground. Was that BCC's decoy cat, or bear (or whatever), that took the early lead? No matter. Seconds later, BCC freshman Daniel Kiptoo ran past; once he clamped onto the lead, he never let go. By the second lap, teammate Xavier Watkins had shaken "the pack" and was in third--un-shirted, unattached Sean Kelly was sandwiched in between--and sixth year BCC coach Don Cooper was following his athletes' progress with enthusiasm.
"We finally have two guys who can run together," Cooper told me afterwards. "In the past, we never had that depth."
While building his thirty second lead over the next runner (Kelly eventually finished second in 26:24), Kiptoo seemed more focused on teammate Xavior Walton, than a shirtless wonder.
"I felt good for the first mile," Daniel explained, "but with the hills and my fatigue, I didn't feel quite right. On the second loop, when I had a chance to glance back, I saw Xavier."
"On the second loop, my coach told me to close the gap (with Kiptoo)," Walton said. "So I started to pick it up. As I got closer to the finish, I was able to close on him. That 26:46 was a new PR."
Their combined talent works better than warm milk in putting the BCC coaches to sleep at night, even if that day's plans didn't go exactly as was envisioned.
"Unfortunately, two guys who should have come in behind them had to sit, so we'll have to wait," Cooper seemed to be thinking out loud. "But these two are so close...we'll have to see what kind of strategy we'll use in track. They both have a range from the mile up. This year, MEAC just added the 10,000 to the Conference Championship, and we hope to be competitive in that.
"I definitely think they (Kiptoo and Walton) will help our distance program. Coach Jackson, our distance coach, and I have put in a lot of work into recruiting kids that will improve our program, and it is finally paying off. We get a lot of kids who want to come to the warm weather. Of course, being in Daytona, we have that, but still have to compete with other schools (for athletes).
"We're returning (MEAC) champions, indoor and out, so we hope these two guys will help us maintain our position. (Right now) we're very well balanced in track."
Kiptoo, a freshman, is originally from Eldoret, Kenya, and came to Bethune-Cookman as a nursing major. After two seconds in his first meets of the season--a 20:52 6K at the University of Tampa on September 4th, and a 26:32 8K at UCF on September 12th--Daniel has now won two firsts--16:03 at FLR 16 and 26:13 here --and, so far, two MEAC Runner of the Week awards.
Walton, a sophomore from Titusville, looks to be along for the ride. For him, his third at ERAU dovetails nicely with his second at FLR 16 (16:25), also right behind his friend and teammate Daniel. And with the eye of the tiger, err, Cat, he has his sights set on Kiptoo.
"I'm going to get you," Walton laughingly warned.
"No, you're not," replied Kiptoo.
A fine combination of athleticism and esprit de corps.
Team-wise, Embry-Riddle's men were too deep for BCC's top two to overcome. Led by Andrew Carpenter (officially, third in 27:06), they placed 3-5-6-7-8-11-12 to win 29 to 69 over Bethune- Cookman (4-9-13-15-18-19-20). In between the two was Stetson (59 points).
In the College Women's race, two Eagle chicks, Alex Orr and Sarah Edens, led their team to a ten point win (1-2-6-9-13-16-17; 31) over cross-county rival Stetson (3-7-8-11-12-14-15; 41), with Bethune-Cookman again placing third (4-10-18-19-21-24-30; 72).
"That was the first race I've won in college," Alex admitted. "I'm not sure if I expected to finish first, because Sarah and I are usually close. Once or twice I've been ahead of her, but we're always close together. Today, we were right next to each other for most of the race."
"(Of course) we train together, and our coaches work us pretty hard, but it really pays off," Sarah added. "I think that being a team where everyone cares how each other does, also makes a big difference."
"This year," Alex joined in, "it has had the positive effect of doing well (together) in each race. We are moving from NAIA, so we will not be able to go to a conference championship (formerly they were in the Sun Conference), because we are in a two year transition of going into the NCAA (Division 2 ). By the time we get to go into post season, I'll be a senior and Sarah a junior."
While the A&S duo were racing to win, teammate Marina Levine, in sixth, was helping to close the deal on the team title. As it turned out, her finish alone was worth the price of admission...and maybe another camera. (Two angles are better than one.) In the waning yards of the race, she somehow--as always--darted between and past two Stetson runners that were immediately ahead of her. The times tell all: Levine, 19:54.44; Frankenberger, 19:54.60; Consol, 19:54.82. Spectacular. I want her autograph.
High School (Combined) Race
With the combination of the large and small school race, and the unlikely entry of a runner without a team, this race actually had three winners.
First, there was Kara Funke of Leesburg. Kara ran the fastest time in the Girls High School race, 19:06. While off her time from last year's 3A State Meet (18:45 last November 15th), she has a few things going for her next time around.
"I'm the only one on the girls' team, so I train with the boys," she explained.
Without a girl's team behind her, at Embry-Riddle Kara ran solo....
"I ran my own race. I really love this course. It's challenging and a lot of fun. The hills here are rather narrow, so I try to stay on the flattest parts, and power uphill, then power downhill. There are a lot of hills at the FSU course, so this course gets you mentally and physically prepared for the State Meet. My main plan will be to run my own race, because my main competition will be (the level of) my conditioning."
... at the Embry-Riddle ASICS Classic, Kara never feels quite alone.
"We (the Leesburg team) love this meet. We know a lot of people here, and are (all) good friends with the people who come here to run. In the summer, I went to the Embry-Riddle Distance Camp, in South Carolina. That's where a lot of us met."
Meeting, and greeting Kara on the winner's line was the "team champion," Claire Mortiz of Ponte Vedra High School. In the Pre State Meet (October 2nd) , Claire was a few places ahead of Funke, finishing in 18:44. (Funke ran 19:01.) In this race, Claire was second overall.
"We ran this course last year, so I knew what it was going to be like," Claire said, "and last week I ran the FSU course, so I'll be ready for the hills. (Here) you have to power up that first hill"--which is only yards from the starting line--"and then open up your stride going down.
"For this race, we had planned our race strategy, which was to run the first mile a minute slower than our usual pace, then for the last two miles to pass as many people as possible. It was kind of nice to do that, but also challenging to pass so many people.
"We weren't supposed to go super hard, so I am happy (with my time). I was also happy that I was able to pass those last two girls at the end. I knew that I was fourth, and by passing them I'd end up second...it's the first real race I've ever won."
Claire's time was 19:38.
Winning the Small School section was ninth-grader Bryanna Pado, representing Father Lopez, located in Daytona Beach.
"I've been running for about five years," Bryanna reminisced. "My Dad, Kenneth (seen with Bryanna in our photo album), got me started with the Palm Coast 5K Series."
Ken: "There was about a race each month--about ten to twelve per year. She would also get involved in other races too."
Bryanna: "When I was 14, I was running around 23 minutes for 5K. Now I'm running in the 20s. My PR is 20:37, which I ran in my last race, the Pre-State Meet (third in the Varsity A race).
"This course (Embry-Riddle) is where we train two times a week, so I was used to the hills. I was trying to go under 21, and be in the top ten. I was fourth halfway through, but finished seventh in 20:51...but got first in the small school division. I am happy with that.
"Next week is the 1A District 9 race, which is here. My competition will be Rebecca Clark (also a ninth grader, at 1A Mt. Dora). I think today gave me an advantage. I am going to pace off her as much as possible, run under six for the first mile, and try to get under 12 for two. I want to finish in under 20, maybe 19:30 or 19:40 by the end of the season."
For years, the Mountain View High School Cross Country team has made their trip to Florida, and this meet, a regular part of their cross country schedule.
"We had a time trial at the beginning of the season," explained Henrik Anderson. "The coaches picked 24 of us--12 boys and 12 girls--based upon our times. I was one of them; I think I ran 16:23 for three miles.
"We flew down on Wednesday, after school. We went to Universal Studios on Thursday, then the Hard Rock Cafe after that. Today, after this race, we're going to a theme park--the coaches haven't told us which one yet--and then we are flying back on Monday. It was nice the way they set it up, with the holiday (Columbus Day) on Monday."
Climbing the "hills" of Daytona Beach like two-legged mountain goats, one has to wonder what it is like running back home in Virginia.
"This was probably one of the flattest courses I've ever run," Henrik clarified. "They told us it was one of the hilliest in Florida. We looked at it and thought, 'Is that it?'
"It was sandy and kind of 'mulchy,' and at times I had to run on the side of my feet...it was kind of challenging to try to run on the flatter parts. But the hills...I would charge up the hills. I could catch some of the guys ahead of me because the Florida guys didn't seem to know how to run the hills.
"I took the lead when the guy who I was pacing with went the wrong way. He went straight when the golf cart took a right. I knew I had to take the lead. I never saw him again. I don't think he finished in the top ten."
Anderson not only led the race--he won in 16:54--but was also the lead runner in a 1-3-4-8-10-12-17 finish (for 26 points), besting Ponte Vedra (5-6-11-15-19-57; 56) and Spruce Creek (9-20-21-22-29-32-38; 101) for the large school championship.
In the Small School race, Nick Theriault (Father Lopez) won in 17:29, which was second overall. With 21 points (1-2-4-5-9-15-23) his team won "easily." Bishop Moore was second (3-6-8-10-11-13-14; 38), and St. Johns Country Day School third (72).
In a close Girls School competition, Bishop Moore led (4-5-9-10-12-16-19; 40), with St. John's Country Day School second (2-6-7-11-21-24-26; 47), and Father Lopez third (1-3-13-14-18-20-22; 49).
