More coverage from 2021 FHSAA State XC Finals
The Bolles girls and their front runner Jillian Candelino entered the state meet as overwhelming favorites to win the FHSAA 2A girls cross country titles on Friday at Apalachee Regional Park. The Bolles girls virtually returned the same group as last year's dominant team champions, while Jillian Candelino ran a 17:36 season-best 5K at the FSU Pre-State Invite and won every race this season except for Pre-State behind only all-time great Caroline Wells.
Coach Tony Ryan's squad at Bolles did what was required of them on race day putting 4 runners among the top 15 places for All-State honors led by race champion Candelino at 17:53 and joined on the podium individually with teammates Elizabeth McClure (8th, 18:54), Hadley Ropp (13th, 19:17), and Ella Mickler (15th, 19:20).
Ninth-grader Estella Bruneau rounded out the team scoring as their fifth finisher in 29th place with a time of 19:43 for a team score of 56 points to put them well ahead of the state runner-up squad from St. Brendan of Miami with 161 points. Bolles had the second-fastest team average of the day among all teams from all classifications at 19:01.
Bolles also broke a tie with HB Plant High School at 12 for most all-time girls' cross country team titles in FHSAA history by claiming state title #13 on Friday. Their head coach Tony Ryan has been the head coach for 9 of those state title victories, while he had three prior titles during his time at Bishop Kenny to tie him with Roy Harrison at Plant High School for most girls cross country team state titles by a coach in Florida.
Candelino was content to run with the field and a pack of challengers for the first loop before taking off and dropping them for a second loop. Despite holding back, Candelino still ran under 18 minutes which was the fourth time this season and the second-fastest time of the day overall at 17:53 behind only 3A state champion and course as well as meet record-breaker Caroline Wells at 16:56. With Candelino's individual title, it was the first time ever that the Bolles girls have swept the team and individual titles in the same state meet.
The only runner that gave a valiant effort to try and stay up with Candelino after she made her move following the "wall" hill was Astronaut freshman Madison Carr. Carr had never run prior to this cross country season but has proven herself to be a natural running talent instantly winning a half dozen races this season including the select division race at the FSU Pre-State Invitational back in October. Carr bested her time from FSU Pre-State Invite (18:39) and all her races this season at the state meet with her runner-up personal best time of 18:22 on Friday.
Another exceptional freshman followed Carr in for third place in Elizabeth Williamson from the Academy of Holy Names. Williamson was a third-place finisher at last year's FLYRA Middle School State Cross Country Championships last November and has made a smooth transition to fairing just as well at the high school level posting a 5K PR time of 18:32 in her third-place state meet finish as a freshman in the 2A race.
A total of eight girls broke 19 minutes in the 2A race, which benefited from the coolest temperatures of the 8 races run at the 2021 FHSAA State Finals being the first race run at 7:30 AM. After the top three finishers including Candelino and the two freshmen Carr and Williamson, Pine Crest sophomore Brooke Hooper (4th, 18:44) held off St. Brendan junior Emma Hencock (5th, 18:46) for top finish by a runner from South Florida.
Trinity Prep's Morgan Cox might have been the biggest surprise among the All-State finishers as the junior dropped 27 seconds off her prior personal best of 19:19 to finish sixth in the 2A race with a PR time of 18:52. Cox had finished fourth in her district and regional races too, so a sixth-place state meet finish was not projected based on her finishes in her most recent two races either.
Calvary Christian's Hailey Howard was the first senior to come across the finish line in seventh place with her first sub 19-minute race ever with a time of 18:53. The twelfth grader from Clearwater celebrated a significant PR drop of 39 seconds from her 19:31 regional meet performance.
The St. Brendan girls had the highest and best team performance by any school from South Florida with their runner-up finish behind the overwhelming favorites from Bolles with a team score of 161 points. Their 19:51 team average for their top 5 scorers helped rank them sixth overall in the full state meet results merge.
Following a strong individual run upfront by Emma Hencock in fifth place, St. Brendan had their next three finishers come thru between places 20 thru 30 in Gabriela Page (20th, 19:31), Kaycie Aquilino (27th, 19:42), and Daniela Alvarez (30th, 19:46). There was a bit of a wait for their fifth runner and final scorer to come in Andrea Andino (109th, 21:30) coming in outside of the top 100, but their front four under 20 minutes at Apalachee was enough to mitigate that and still have a significant point buffer between themselves (161 pts) and third-place squad in Bishop Kenny with 222 points.
It was also a historic moment for the St. Brendan program as it was the first time that they have ever stepped on the podium. With no seniors among the top four finishers, it might not be the last time that we see the St. Brendan girls make another podium appearance.
The Bishop Kenny girls went from third at their regional meet to third at the state meet for their best finish since 2009, which is a positive sign for a program that has won a total of eight past state titles (#3 on all-time list), but the last title was during the 2008 season. The Bishop Kenny girls thrived and relied on pack running this season including a top four at the state meet that finished over a few seconds together in Mary Biagini (41st, 20:07), Kathryn Saunders (42nd, 20:07), Alexis Holmes (44th, 20:10), and Isabella Hutchins (45th, 20:10).
Mount Dora came into the meet projected to finish eighth but ended up finishing much higher in fourth place thanks to having three runners under 20 minutes led by an All-State individual finish by freshman Hannah Douglas in 12th place with a time of 19:15. With only one senior among their varsity lineup, watch out for this squad next year in the 2A state race.
The Bishop Verot girls rounded out the top five teams in the field of 32 as the Fort Myers school was led by freshman Mackenzie De Lisle (16th, 19:20) and junior Julia Reitz (22nd, 19:34) running well into the 19-minute range as De Lisle just missed All-State honors by only five-tenths of a second. She should be back next year with her squad that will only graduate two runners from their top seven to get another opportunity to crack into the top 15 individuals and move her team closer to the podium as well.