It's hard to believe we are nearing the halfway point of the 2016 XC season. Our FACA pollsters have been hard at work to give you their latest rankings.
1A Girls Rankings by Mark Caulfield, Circle Christian School, markscaul@aol.com
Team Rankings:
Commentary: Oak Hall comes out of the gate strong in the early season meets with an impressive showing at Alligator Lake. Maclay looked fast at Bainbridge Bearcat Invitational and has their top 3 running well. Early season showings put these two solidly out front with Circle Christian, Westminster, and First Academy looking to be competitive. Holy Trinity has been a pleasant surprise along with St. Joseph and Providence (without #1 Audrey Woods coming back from a foot injury). Biggest jump in the poll comes from Tampa Bay Heat moving up from 19th. Still early in the season with the big meets coming up in the next 3 weeks.
Rank. (Previous Rank) School = Comments
1. (1) Oak Hall = A focused and strong start highlighted at Alligator Lake (2nd) averaging 20:33.
2. (2) Maclay = Strongest team 1-3 showcased by big win at Bainbridge averaging 20:53.
3. (3) Circle Christian = Improving each week with a solid run at Alligator Lake (4th) in 21:07.
4. (5) Westminster Christian = Claire Kennedy's helps at Florida Horse Park (21:38 avg.)
5. (4) First Academy = Consistent with 21:59 average at Astronaut and 21:42 at Hagerty Inv.
6. (8) Holy Trinity = Rebuilding well with 21:41 showing at HTA and 22:10 at Haggerty.
7. (6) Providence School = Small team. Big results. Nice win at Alligator Lake (Green) with 22:18.
8. (9) Father Lopez = Up and down season but solid at Florida Horse Park with 22:24 average.
9. (12) St. Joseph Academy = Best Surprise of Season. 22:31 average at Alligator Lake.
10. (19) Tampa Bay Heat = Full team finally together in big win at Central High in 22:38
11. (13) Miami Country Day = 5th at Spanish River (1A/2A) with 23:04 average
12. (11) Canterbury School (Ft. Myers) = Averaged 23:54 at Fort Myers Hoptar
13. (7) St. John's Country Day = Runner-up with 23:16 avg. at slow Embry Riddle course
14. (10) Westminster Academy = 7th at Spanish River averaging 23:23
15. (17) The Kings Academy = 9th at Spanish River averaging 23:20
16. (14) South Florida Heat = Small team struggling to run 5 together but average PR is 22:52.
17. (15) Duval Charter = 23:51 team average at Golden Eagle
18. (16) Baker Senior High = Only 2 meets so far but average 23:30 at Pace Patriot Inv.
19. (20) PK Young = 24:03 Team Average at Florida Horse Park
20. (18) Shorecrest Prep = 24:06 Team Average at Indian Rocks
Individual Rankings:
Commentary: Samantha Folio from Holy Trinity has opened the season with 3 wins and a runner-up while running the top 3 fastest times in the State. As the early season begins to progress we anticipate seeing a tight race at the top with Grace Blair, Maya Espinosa, and Caroline Willis who are all coming off of some impressive wins over the last 3 weeks moving up to challenge. Lots of talent in this group and look for the ranking to dramatically change soon as we enter the competitive series of the Regular Season with Mountain Dew, FLrunners, and FSU Pre-State on the horizon.
Rank. (Previous Rank) Name, Grade - School = Comments
1. (2) Samantha Folio, 12 - Holy Trinity = Consistent at the top with 3 races between 19:04 to 19:08.
2. (1) Grace Blair, 11 - Oak Hall = Nice win at Alligator Lake in Season Best 19:35
3. (5) Maya Espinosa, 9 - Baker HS = Runs 19:44 for the win at West Florida Classic
4. (3) Caroline Willis, 12 - Maclay = Opens up season with 19:47 on fast Bainbridge GA course.
5. (4) Sinkenesh Parker, 8 - Circle = 19:25 on a fast HTA course and 19:57 at Alligator Lake (4th).
6. (9) Marcella Perez, 12 - Oak Hall = Runs 20:23 at Alligator Lake to finish 9th.
7. (12) Natasha Strump, 12 - Westminster Christian = 20:15 at Florida Horse Park (13th)
8. (6) Josie Garba, 10 - Tampa Prep = 19:56 at Indian Rocks and 20:57 at Seffner Christian.
9. (14) Mia Rodriquez, 7 - Kings Academy = 3 races in 8 days ranging from 20:08 to 20:24
10. (19) Lindsey James, 8 - Maclay = Solid 6th place finish in 20:28 at Bainbridge Bearcat Inv.
11. (NR) Caitlin Barker, 12 - First Academy = Steady climb with highlight of 20:38 at Hagerty.
12. (10) Katherine Messer, 12 - Providence = 20:45 at UNF and 20:43 at Alligator Lake
13. (13) Courtney Barber, 11 - The Pine School = Finished 4th in 20:20 on fast Spanish River.
14. (20) Oliva Rovin, 12 - Shorecrest Prep = 20:05 at Indian Rocks and 20:45 at Seffner Christian.
15. (17) Caroline Crist, 11 - First Academy = Season Best 20:52 at Hagerty Invitational
16. (16) Emma Rembert, 10 - Oak Hall = 20:59 at Florida Horse Park and 20:50 at Alligator Lake.
17. (NR) Olivia Watt, 11 - Marco Island Academy = Runs 20:58 on slow Fort Myers Hoptar Inv.
18. (NR) Kyra Wells, 9 - Westminster Academy = 20:48 at Florida Horse Park
19. (NR) Juliette Palechor, 8 - PK Yonge = Run 20:53 PR Florida Horse Park
20. (NR) Sydnee Calder, 7 - Boca Raton Christian = Ran 20:55 at Boca Bobcat Invitational