Photos by Victor Arrieta and Steve Andrews coming, along with a story by Bob Thomas. Highlights of the two seeded races below.
Brian Atkinson had a fantastic day to won the race in 15:11 by three seconds. Melbourne upset Belen Jesuit to place as the top Florida boys team in 8th place, Tampa Jesuit was 11th, and Belen Jesuit 12th. Chiles girls were 7th place and Community School Girls 8th place. Erika Fluehr is top Florida girls finisher in 10th place with 18:11.
While no Florida teams advance, Brian Atkinson can move on to the national meet in Portland. This is the first year NXN is accepting individuals as well was teams.
Complete Results
Boys Championship Race
Brian Atkinson wins in 15:11.
Melbourne and Tampa Jesuit both came to NXN Southeast with one main goal beat Belen Jesuit. Florida's teams were not favored to advanced to NXN, but Belen was considered to be hands down the top team in Florida. It was a battle for pride and the two teams both achieved that goal.
Behind Brian Atkinson's outstanding win in 15:11, Melbourne came out as the top team in Florida with an eight place finish at 231 points. Eric Fagan (35th), James Post (48th), Dillon McGee (74th), and Marc Gold (110th) rounded out the scoring for Melbourne.
Connor Revord of Tampa Jesuit was the second Florida finisher with a time of 15:48 and 16th place. Jordan Schilit was next for 34th place 16:06.
For Belen Jesuit, Joseph Dorfman crossed first in 20th place 15:52. Freshman Elliot Clemente was next in 22nd, 15:53. But after that respectable start it was a struggle for the Magis.
Floridians
1 242 BRIAN ATKINSON MELBOURNE DI 15:11 4:53
16 356 CONNOR REVORD TAMPA JESUIT 15:48 5:05
20 53 JOSEPH DORFMAN BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 15:52 5:07
22 52 ELLIOT CLEMENTE BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 15:53 5:07
34 358 JORDON SCHILIT TAMPA JESUIT 16:06 5:11
35 244 ERIK FAGAN MELBOURNE DI 16:07 5:12
48 247 JAMES POST MELBOURNE DI 16:25 5:17
74 246 DILLON MCGEE MELBOURNE DI 16:39 5:22
75 353 BLAKE LOPEZ TAMPA JESUIT 16:39 5:22
78 54 LARRY DURAN BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 16:41 5:23
91 355 JOE PARKER TAMPA JESUIT 16:53 5:26
92 59 BRANDEN MARTINEZ BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 16:53 5:26
94 357 CONNOR RIVARD TAMPA JESUIT 16:55 5:27
102 55 LAZARO FIELDS BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 17:00 5:29
110 245 MARC GOLD MELBOURNE DI 17:04 5:30
113 57 JOSEPH LINDSAY BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 17:05 5:30
114 354 BEN MARTIN TAMPA JESUIT 17:05 5:30
130 359 LOGAN TRIMBLE TAMPA JESUIT 17:19 5:35
132 60 JULIAN REY BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 17:20 5:35
136 251 CALLUM WILSON MELBOURNE DI 17:27 5:37
141 249 JACOB STEWART MELBOURNE DI 17:29 5:38
Girls Championship Race
Both Chiles and Community School of Naples did not have their best days. They each were battling health and injury issues. Jodie McGuff of Chiles was still fighting off a back injury and Community School of Naples' number five runner Vivian Grimes (who struggled last week at state) did not make the trip, she is fighting an iron deficiency.
Chiles girls came through just on top of Community School. The teams were seventh and eight with 162 and 183 points a piece.
Erika Fluehr of Community School was the first Floridian and finished with a new PR in 10th place in 18:11. Her twin sister, Kathryn, was 19th in 18:33. Carly Thomas was the first across the line for Chiles and second for Florida in 17th place 18:28. Lily Williams and Kaia Hampton were next for the Wolfpack in 23rd (18:41) and 25th (18:46) places, respectively. It was a really good performance for Kaia.
Floridians
10 293 ERIKA FLUEHR NAPLES SEAHAWKS RC 18:11 5:52
17 122 CARLY THOMAS CHILES WOLFPACK TC 18:28 5:57
19 294 KATHRYN FLUEHR NAPLES SEAHAWKS RC 18:33 5:58
23 123 LILY WILLIAMS CHILES WOLFPACK TC 18:41 6:01
25 117 KAIA HAMPTON CHILES WOLFPACK TC 18:46 6:03
40 292 TAYLOR BURFIELD NAPLES SEAHAWKS RC 19:02 6:08
47 116 KENDALL ANDREWS CHILES WOLFPACK TC 19:26 6:16
55 291 CHANDLER BURFIELD NAPLES SEAHAWKS RC 19:39 6:20
68 121 STEPHANIE REYNOLDS CHILES WOLFPACK TC 20:15 6:31
78 296 LAUREN RASKAUSKAS NAPLES SEAHAWKS RC 20:59 6:46
82 120 ALEX PEARSON CHILES WOLFPACK TC 21:36 6:57
83 290 HANNAH ALLEN NAPLES SEAHAWKS RC 21:40 6:59
84 119 JODIE MCGUFF CHILES WOLFPACK TC 21:47 7:01
Boys Freshman/Sophomore Race
17 61 NICHOLAS RUIZ BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 18:04 5:49
29 58 MICHAEL MAGOULAS BELEN JESUIT MAGIS 19:23 6:15
Girls Freshman/Sophomore Race
11 363 JESSICA PEARSON UNA-FL-TALLA 24:36 7:56
13 118 EMILY LANE CHILES WOLFPACK TC 25:19 8:09