The newly re-named Land O' Lakes Keppel Invite pays homage to the Gators' late coach Kris Keppel and it would be the host Gators that presented the biggest challenge to Wiregrass Ranch.
In the girls race, Lecanto's Claire Farnsworth and Land O' Lakes freshman Natalie Abernathy set out to a fast pace, putting distance on the field early. Sunlake's Jamilla Cardwell and Wesley Chapel's Amber Maxwell put early pressure on the lead runners. Through the first loop that radiated around an open field at Crews Lake Park into the oak canopy, Farnsworth took a slight lead over Abernathy with Cardwell and Crystal River's Jillian Felton giving chase. The second pass through the east side of the open field, saw Farnsworth and Abernathy hang a nearly 30-second lead on the field and into the final loop before coming down the straightaway it was a two-girl race.
"She hung on to me a lot more in this race but I got her at the end and that's what matters," Farnsworth said.
Farnsworth carried it with a 19:30.8 and Abernathy took second in 19:41.1. Felton moved up into third with a 20:42.4, just a few seconds ahead of Cardwell at 20:46.4. Maxwell took fifth in 21:17.8 and then the team battle heated up. Brenna Moran topped the Wiregrass girl runners in sixth (21:47.2) and teammate Lauren Payne took ninth in 22:10.6. The Gators' Isabella Brown made it interesting as she took seventh in 21:49.3 but the Wiregrass girls prevailed by just three points, 45-48.'
"We ran just like we thought we'd run," Wiregrass girls coach Don Howard said. "It was good to win this local, popular meet, there's a long tradition here."
On the boys side, Lecanto's Mackenzie Woods and Mitchell's Austin Koos battled for the front position for most of the race. Koos and Woods squared off a couple weeks ago at Wesley Chapel with Woods winning in that meet. Through the first two-and-a-half miles it was all Woods and Koos until Sickles senior Paris Williams crept into the mix. The final clockwise loop saw a huge move from Williams that eclipsed the jockeying Koos and Woods. Down the final straightaway, it was Williams with the lead and the win in 16:57.1. Woods took second in 17:12.2 and Land O' Lakes' Alex Normandia slipped past Koos for third in 17:24.8. Koos settled for fourth in 17:27.2.
"I knew after I passed them, I wanted to maintain my pace, I didn't want either of them to out kick me at the end," Williams said.
The boys team title was a close race between the Gators and Bulls with the Bulls taking it 83-92. The Bulls got big runs from Joseph Salerno (6th in 17:36.6) and Donald Swartz (11th in 17:43.6).
