GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RACE
As in prior years, the favorites in the girls race have been fairly well identified by this point in the season. Five girls make up the lead pack:
Lilian Holtery, Ruckel Middle School. She's the top returner from last year's State Meet (3rd overall), and has posted the fastest 3K time this year. Her last two races were a huge victory at Pre-State, and a 10:42 (the top time in the state) at the Destin Invite. Not much you can add to that - she's definitely the favorite.
Ani Veltcheva, Abraham Lincoln MS. Most famously ran an 18:47 5K as a 9-year old (which is still the age-group world record), but more recently was the top sixth grader at the 2015 State Meet (9th overall) and runner-up in the 3000m on the track. She posted the second-fastest 3K time very early in the season, but hasn't raced since mid-September - so it will be interesting to see where she's at after seven weeks of training. She's the only seventh grader of the group, so win here would give her the chance to join Rafaella Gibbons as a repeat champion.
Keleigh Scallon, HTTR Tornadoes
Jacquelyn Abanses, Hillsborough Harriers
Ellie Pleune, Hillsborough Harriers. These three have raced against each other so many times over the past two years - both on the trails and on the track - it's almost impossible to talk about one without talking about the others. Each is one of the fastest returners from the 2015 State Meet (6th, 11th and 13th, respectively), each is one of the five fastest 3K runners this year (3rd, 4th and 5th), and they went 1-2-3 at this year's flrunners.com meet. Ellie struck first with a big win on the Holloway Park course at Jim Ryun in August, but Jacquelyn took the Bay Area regional championship two weeks ago, and Keleigh added to her victory at FLR with a win last week on a lightning-fast Lecanto course. One thing's for sure: the Region 4A-2 meet is about to get a lot, lot faster.
Of course, because this is middle school, you never know who is going to have the race of her life on the day it matters most. Here are some other talented runners to watch:
Paola Bencosme, Miami Elite
Mia Deronda, Unattached
Lindsay James, Maclay School
Alicia Ruiz, Lakeland Runners Club
Jensen Shonk, Liza Jackson
Joey Shonk, Liza Jackson
Kambry Smith, Destin MS