On-Site Coverage
Hillsborough County powerhouse Steinbrenner made a resounding statement at the Wesley Chapel Wildcat Invitational on Saturday, pushing four runners into the top six and all seven runners into the top 10 and scoring a razor thin 20, easily out-pacing runner up Land O' Lakes with 43. Sunlake girls took third with 76.
The course at Wesley Chapel is almost entirely grass and starts down a hill before looping around a pond on the far west end of campus. It then circles back through the starting area and wends around the baseball field and through the stadium, coming back through the starting area for the second and final lap.
The girls went off first and Sunlike's Jamila Cardwell took the early lead with King's Micaela Torres giving chase. Cardwell was battling an illness coming into the race and the fatigue quickly began taking its toll.
Around the pond for the first trip, Torres took the lead with Land O' Lakes' Natalie Abernathy moving into second and Cardwell slipping to fourth. Back through the practice fields, reaching the 1.5 mile mark, it was Torres and Abernathy. Coming back through the starting area, Steinbrenner's Brooke Santiesteban challenged the leaders, moving into third and it became a three-way battle with the lead group 10 seconds ahead of the field.
Into the second loop around the pond passing mile number two, Torres and Santiesteban jockeyed for position as Abernathy drifted back into third. The second trip around the baseball field and stadium saw Torres make a big move and emerge for the last 800m with a comfortable lead on Santiesteban. Torres nearly missed the turn heading into the last 10m but was re-directed. Santiesteban did the same thing before a phalanx of coaches and volunteers were able to steer the remaining runners down the final stretch. Torres broke the tape at 19:19.67, a season best and the best time she's ran since a tibia injury de-railed her sophomore campaign. Santiesteban took second in 19:24.84 and Abernathy took third at 19:42.94.
Watch: Micaela Torres Post-Race Interview
Steinbrenner put their top four runners in under 20 minutes, their top five under 21 minutes and their top seven all under 22 minutes.
"We've been planning since the banquet last December," Warrior girls coach Ladd Baldwin said. "I told them we'd have our top 10 runners back and that we could make a run for a state title."
Baldwin took his girls to Brevard County for a camp where they ran with state champion Winter Park.
"We wanted to see how state champions put it together," Baldwin said.
Watch: Steinbrenner Girls Post-Race Interview
The boys set off next. The race was strategic through the first mile, around the pond and back through the starting area. McKeel's Kendall Williams got in front only to have Land O' Lakes' Alex Normandia take him, dragging defending champ Dominic Moreno with him into second. Heading into the wends around the baseball field and stadium, Normandia began to assert himself.
Coming back through the starting area, Normandia stacked an eight-second lead on the field. By then, Wiregrass Ranch's Kevin Jacquez had moved into second in front of Williams. The second trip around the pond saw Normandia ratchet up the pace even more and before the runners completed the loop, Normandia had stacked a 20-second lead on the competition. The lead ballooned to 26-seconds heading into the last mile of the course. Normandia did not let up and even caught the pace cart at one point.
Coming in for the final push, it was Normandia in comfortably with a 17:17. 43 seconds later, the rest of the field caught up with Williams, Land O' Lakes' Juan Francisco, Moreno and Jacquez. Moreno, with the title out of his reach, reached deep and sprinted out the last 10 meters, passing Williams and Francisco almost at the line for an 18:00.
Watch: Alex Normandia Post-Race Interview
