The Class 4A races were held toward the end of the day and they proved to be some of the most fantastic individual races of the six. Both Sarasota's Adam Bradtmueller and Riverview's Bailey Hertenstein not only won their individual races, they both ran the fastest times of all three regions for their respective genders.
Hertenstein set out first but was pressed close by George Jenkins' Emily English and Victoria Jung. Both Jenkins girls kept with Hertenstein through the first mile but up the hill after the first mile and beyond, it was all Hertenstein.
"I noticed I was starting to separate at about the 1.5-mile mark," Hertenstein said. "I sped up going down the first hill and they (English and Jung) didn't stay with me so I just tried to open up the gap."
Hertenstein, the consummate perfectionist even found areas to improve on.
"I wish I had sprinted out faster in the beginning," Hertenstein said. "I also wish I had started my kick earlier."
English held on for second in 19:36.71 behind Hertenstein's 18:43.15. Jung took third in 19:38.62. Sarasota might not have cracked the top three but their finishes from Sage Lyons (4th in 19:48.34) and Allsion Wright (5th in 19:55.3) helped push the Sailors over the top for the team victory. The Sailors out-scored second place Newsome 65-104. Wharton took third as a team with 112. The Jenkins tandem will be attending states alone as a logjam for the last qualifying spot went to Steinbrenner with 136. North Port missed out in seventh at 137 and Jenkins scored 139.
On the boys side, Bradtmueller already used to pushing himself in the race, went out to an early lead and never looked back. One mile in and Bradtmueller already had five seconds on the field. Coming out after three miles, Bradtmueller had more than 12 second on a pair of Hillsborough County runners, battling each other for second.
Bradtmueller finished in 16:24.87 the fastest time in the region and all day on Friday at Holloway Park.
"The last couple races I would sit back and take the lead late in the race," Bradtmueller said. "Today I tried to take the lead from the gun and control the whole race."
With Sarasota moving up into 4A this season and with the top five runners from last year's 4A Region 2 meet graduated, Bradtmueller is looking like a top candidate to compete for the Class 4A state title next Saturday.
"There's still going to be tough competition at states, there's no guarantee," Bradtmueller said. "If I run my race, I have a good shot at winning it."
Brady Hill of Sarasota took fourth in 16:56.5 and helped the Sailors to a slender 57. The Steinbrenner boys were second with 115 and Newsome was third with 125.
Maybe the best individual battle of the day was for second place in the boys 4A race. Sickles' Paris Williams and Durant's Haftom Fliegelman were stride-for-stride most of the race. Williams clipped Fliegelman at the Hillsborough County meet two weeks ago. Friday, it was Fliegelman's turn to win the battle as he eclipsed Williams with just 50 meters to go and held on for second in 16:33.87. Williams took third at 16:36.17.
"He (Williams) got me before at county, I wanted to get him back today," Fliegelman said. "I felt good today, I knew I would do well."
