Boys Elite Race Recap
Chiles junior Michael Phillips used his familiarity with the course to cap off a spirited run that resulted in a win in Saturday's Elite race at the FSU Pre-State Invitational. His time of 15:27.8 was a PR by 18.69 seconds.
With Hernando's Trevor Foley in the race, everyone could count on the pace being fast and Foley to be at the helm. Saturday's race did not disappoint as Foley sped to the lead and ratcheted down the pace. But unlike Mtn Dew, Belen junior Joshua Collins did not sit back. He tucked in and was just 0.4 behind Foley at the mile-4:46.3 to 4:46.7.
"I wanted to go out race strong this time, "said Collins." It was a little challenging, but I stayed with him."
Collins overtook Foley over the next half mile, but soon had company as Phillips made up ground up "The Wall" with his mother, Kelly Phillips, the FSU Women's Head Coach, cheering him on.
"We've done a lot of repeats up that hill," said Phillips. "I thought that would be the best chance of me winning."
For each uphill, there is a downhill and Collins was able to gain on Phillips each time. Passing the big scoreboard for the first time, Collins closed the gap and cut the lead down to 0.9 of a second. The ascent to the two mile took its toll as Collins was gapped again and Phillips was left with a little daylight heading into the next mile.
"I just hung on with Joshua Collins just liked I planned," said Phillips. "I'm glad that he caught me. He definitely pushed me. I don't think I would have run that fast if he hadn't done that."
"That hill gets me all the time," said Collins. I'm going to make sure I keep working on it and get it down by state."
As they two made their way towards "The Hill" for the second time, Collins was running with more gusto and again closed the gap on Phillips. Phillips work on the hill paid off again as he reopened the gap on Collins.
"I sprinted up the hill and my mom definitely got me going, "said Phillips. " I knew there was only 400 meters left after the hill so I said 'Why not?'"
" Everything comes down to that straightway because once you get to that downhill to the finish, it's pretty steep, " said Collins who finished second in a new PR of 15:30.9. "I was trying to catch him on that straightaway. It was still a good race and great competition."
Finishing third behind Collins was Marist senior Quinn Burden in a time of 15:56.7. Marist ran away with the title placing their top five in the top 17 to turn away Chiles and Belen by 59 and 67 points. Their 49 points was 152 points better than last year's third place finish.
After Great American, Marist was looking for some redemption. A fast first 800m made for a fast first mile which cost them and resulted in a disappointing 15th place finish in the Race of Champions.
"We ran a lot smarter today," said Marist Head Coach Eric Heintz who ventured to Florida for the second year in a row- last year because of a cancellation of Great American. "We moved up from the mile to the two mile and from the two mile to the finish. We were proud of how they executed today."