Lake City hosted a total of four fast regions on Saturday: 1A Region 1, 2A Region 1 and 2, and 3A Region 1. The eight races brought great competition and many dominating team finishes leading into the state championship week on November 9th.
FHSAA 1A Region 1
Maclay freshman, Ella Porcher, and University Christian School sophomore, Laci Watford, were the lone two athletes sub 20 minutes in this region, cruising to 19:41 and 19:51 finishes. Porcher led her team to an easy win with 23 points over Providence School.
St. Joseph Academy, Baker Senior, Pensacola Christian, Community Christian School, St. Johns Country Day, and Bishop Snyder will join Maclay and Providence up in Tallahassee next week for the 1A state championship.
On the boys side, it was Maclay's Jay Brown cruising to another regional title in a time of 15:59 over St. Johns' Matthew Stratton's 16:19. Based off their season progression, Brown is saving up in his tank to go all out to win a cross country state title and Stratton is fully capable of getting under that 15:50 minute barrier next week. Xander Peacock rounded out the top three individuals with his 16:46 finish to help lead his Blountstown team to a qualifying spot at the state meet.
The Maclay boys were challenged for the team title by Pensacola Christian Academy who finished just nine points shy of first. Bishop Snyder, St. Joseph Academy, St. Johns Country Day, Paxton School, Blountstown, and Community Christian School round out the rest of the qualifying teams from this region.
FHSAA 2A Region 1
One word: Bolles.
Bolles dominated both the girls and the boys races winning with 20 and 25 points, respectively. William Brady, Cole Rutkowski, and Colin Duhnoski completed a 1-3 sweep under 16:35 to secure the win.
Bishop Kenny, Fernandina Beach, Pedro Menedez High School, South Walton, Episcopal School, West Florida Tech, and Pensacola HS join Bolles at the state championship meet next weekend.
On the girls side, much like their district race, Leah Pelham broke up Bolles' attempt to sweep the meet. Jillian Candelino won the individual title in a time of 19:38 with Pelham following behind in 19:42. Layne Rivera, Maxine Montoya, Ella Mickler were the next Bolles athletes to cruise through the line with Patasha Bryan of South Walton breaking up the rest of the Bulldogs.
Bishop Kenny, South Walton, Episcopal School, North Bay Haven, Santa Fe, Paxon, and Pensacola Catholic all had great runs to qualify their top seven to next week's state championship.
FHSAA 2A Region 2
Satellite has their eyes on the prize. Their prize not just being a state title, but a qualifying spot to NXN. They continue to prove their strength and capped off a 19 point regional title win with only two seniors rounding out their top seven.
The Scorpion duo, Gabriel Montague and Justin Wilson, seemed to have more of a laid back effort based on their 15:55 and 15:57 performances to get ready for state and NXR in the upcoming weeks. Gavin O'Brien and Brayden Cheek broke up Satellite's potential sweep with their 15:58 and 16:29 finishes.
Lake Highland, Trinity Prep, Bishop Moore, Cocoa Beach, Astronaut, West Shore, and the Villages will join Satellite next week as they cap off their championship seasons.
On the girls side, Billie Castillo and Riley Jaszczak took the first two places for Titusville with their 18:50 and 19:12 performances. Mackenzie Scordato finished third in a time of 19:31.80 with Keystone Height's Camryn Williams following behind in 19:32.
Lily Henne and Karah White led the Montverde ladies to another regional title, nine points over Satellite.
Trinity Prep, Citrus HS, Titusville, Bishop Moore, Lake Highland, and The Villages will join Montverde and Satellite in Tallahassee with their state qualifying team performances.
FHSAA 3A Region 1
Kambry Smith brought the panhandle talent to Lake City and captured a regional title with a 18:42 performance to continue a strong junior season for Fort Walton Beach.
Reilly Barber, Madison Niederriter, and Ellie Fluman sealed the deal for St. Augustine's team title with their sub 20 minute performances. Ani Veltcheva broke up the group, finishing fourth in a time of 19:22.
St. Augustine won the team title by over 60 points with Ponte Vedra, Leon, Fort Walton Beach, Choctawhatchee, Matanzas, Wakulla, and Ocala Vanguard all qualifying their top seven for the state championship.
On the boys side, University of Florida commit, Lewis Benitez, took the regional win with a time of 16:09 just one second ahead of Pace junior, Francisco Ramirez.
Ramirez was followed by Leon underclassman duo, Jackson Yarbrough and Jake Rogers who will turn on the jets next week on their home course.
Yarbrough and Rogers led the Leon boys to the regional team title over Ponte Vedra with Choctawhatchee, Gainesville, Stanton Prep, Fort Walton Beach, Lincoln, and Ocala Vanguard rounding out the top qualifying teams.