Summary of each regional meet and index of coverage is below. We may receive a few more photo albums, race reports, or feature stories yet... so stay tuned. State meet previews including virtual meets, articles, and more will be posted mid-week.
Looking forward to all of the great races at state on Saturday! And I hope to see everyone there! I waited too long to make my reservations and every hotel in the area is booked... I'm stuck way the heck down in North Tampa! But if anyone wants to go out to eat Friday night in Wesley Chapel let mek now. :-)
FHSAA 1A Region 1
Summary
Maclay's girls have come on really strong the second half of this season and won out convincingly over potent squads from Oak Hall and PK Yonge. Of course it doesn't hurt that they went 1-2 behind the efforts of Jana Stolting (18:20) and Stephanie Kurgatt (18:48), but their top four placed in the top ten. If Community School slips up at state, they are in a good position to upset!
On the boys side, Patrick Swain of Maclay won easily in 16:20. However, it was PK Yonge that is the story of the race. Scoring just 22 points, it seemed to be a controlled excerise in pack racing of PKY. Could they steal the show with an upset next week?
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FHSAA 1A Region 2
Summary
On the girls side, Holy Trinity puts the engines in idle and cruises through to state with the minimal effort necessary as Coach Butler likes to do when he has that luxary. That could really help them next week when all systems are go!
For the boys side of things, it was basically a gentlemen's agreement between the two archrivals of Trinity Prep and Holy Trinity. These two teams have a cut throat history filled with back and forth state champions and even tie-scores at state. This week, just like the Holy Trinity girls did, both teams just ease through knowing there was no reason to beat each other's brains out this week. Both teams have a host of runners who run in the 16-minute or even high-15-minute range, but all cruise controlled it to over-18 times this week. Will be fun to see the gloves off at Dade City!!!
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FHSAA 1A Region 3
Summary
What can you say about the Fluehr twins? They are just a force this year, undefeated... 1-2 in every meet this season. And little looks to stop them at state from doing the same. Erika put up a new PR to finish in second in 17:17 to her sister, who was just off her PR with a 17:01 performance.
Their team has bounced back nicely after earlier in the year it was looking like it would be a down year for CSN. Maclay and Holy Trinity will defiinitely make them work for it next week, so they better be on guard. If Vivian Grimes can run strong like she did last year at state in their three position and their 4 and 5 sail in not too far back in the pack, CSN should walk away with the state title behind just three points up front. But they don't have a ton of room for error.
Community School's boys wont he regional title also, behind the victory of Brent Scott in 16:37.
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FHSAA 1A Region 4
Summary
Miami Country Day girls win easy with 45 points over Westminster Academy's 79.
On the boys side, it was a heartbreaker for Upperroom. They were favored to win the region, but the team only has five runners and no room for error. Two of their runners went down with an injury in the race and so the team will not move on with a no-score. Fortunately, at least their top two qualified as individuals including regional champ Emanual Kent who won in 17:00.
Coverage
FHSAA 2A Region 1
On-Site Race Report by Rese Ammons
The 2A Region 1 course at Sunnyhill Farms in Tallahassee was new this year. Most of the runners had not see it until Friday afternoon. It is a mixture of mostly grassy areas as well as root bound paths through the woods. The weather made for perfect racing conditions.
The early lead in the girls race was taken by Stephanie Strasser. As announcers kept spectators updated throughout the race, her name was repeatedly broadcast as being in the lead. The Fernandina Beach Senior would hold the lead throughout the race crossing the finish line first with a time of 18:17.3. Stephanie placed 3rd at the State Championships last year with a time of 18:17. This year she will participate as an individual. Fernandina Beach placed 7th as a team and only the top 6 teams move on to the State Championships. Bishop Kenny High School would provide both the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Sarah Davis was 2nd with 18:41.5 and Elizabeth Tucker 3rd running a 19:01.8. Bishop Kenny won the Region title taking the #1 spot with 46 points. Just behind them was Bolles High School earning the 2nd place trophy with 49 points. The awards ceremony was prefaced by screams of delight from girls who had just learned from their coaches they earned a spot for the State Championships.
Bishop Kenny would also take top honors for the boys race. Their team secured the Region title with 35 points. Colin Barker, their #1 runner, was 1st to cross the finish line in 16:05.3 followed closely by Michael Wallace in 2nd place just 3 seconds behind the leader running a 16:08.6. Colin, a Senior at Bishop Kenny, took a 4th place spot in the 2008 State Championships with a time of 15:42. Anthony Sullivan, a Senior from Matanzas took the 3rd place finish with a time of 16:18.6. Nease high School took the 2nd place team win with 83 points. Their top runner was Mac Reynolds finishing 5th in 16:40.6. Gabriel Holguin from Bay High School will participate at State as an individual. He finished 4th place running a 16:36.2. Other individual participants include Dieumy Duclos from Godby High School, 16:43.3; Corey Mundy from Clay High School, 16:46.2; Adam Weiner from Ponte Vedra, 16:51.8; and Albert Edwards from FSU, 16:53.6.
Summary
Bishop Kenny squeaks out the win over Bolles 46-49. This is likely a preview of the state championship battle next week, Bolles was ranked #1 and BK #2 in the last FACA poll released this past week.
Through BK pulled it out today, the positions may very well be reversed last week. Bishop Kenny is helped with the strength up front of Sarah Davis (2nd) and Elizabeth Tucker (3rd), but lacks the depth of Bolles. Those extra points may weigh BK down enough at state to swing the title to Bolles. We shall see!!!
No surprise individually, Stephanie Strasser won in 18:17. Next week will likely be the battle of the Stepanie's at the 2A girls race. Stephanie Schappert is the other half of the Stephanies. Both of those girls are fierce competitors and really like to hammer it... that will be fun to watch and it will probably come down to who has the best race strategy or who has the best kick... and both can run a sub 5-minute mile! (though Schappert has the better 800 time, so if Strasser is smart she probably won't let it come down to a kick!) Can't wait!
For the boys, it was all BK. Their 35 poitns and 16:33 team average made a big statement. Colin Barker and Michael Wallace went 1-2 and didn't hammer each other. They have a shot to go 1-2 next week, though they'll definitely need to bring their A-Game! The team is also favored to win the big trophy.
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FHSAA 2A Region 2
Summary
What a great four-way team battle for the girls! I'm willing to bet after the meet everyone was doing their best to count runners but left to wait for official results to know who won! Lake Highland, Titusville, Bishop Moore, and Cocoa Beach were all pretty evenly matched... they finished in that order 52-54-64-71.
Teresa Huff of Titusville High beat out Jessie Prendergast (Lake Highland), Holly Page (Bishop Moore), and Shelby Davidson (Cocoa Beach) 19:21-19:28-19:29-19:35.
Tyler Davidson of Cocoa Beach had another amazing solo performance! He equalled his time on this course from flrunners 10 earlier in the year, but this time he was all alone! His time yesterday was 15:19.10 compared to a 15:19.07 at FLR... pretty consisent! The 2A Boys race is going to be incredible next week!!! Davidson will have plenty of company with Michael Wallace, Colin Barker, and Erick Montoya. Montoya and Wallace beat Davidson at FLR10, but with Davidson running as fast all alone it will be interesting for sure!
Astronaut's boys won the team title behind strong efforts by Seth Rosonina and Tyler Bridges, who finished 3 and 4 with times of 16:25 and 16:26..
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FHSAA 2A Region 3
Summary
Erick Montoya lead his DDD boys of Estero to an easy victory. Montoya's time of 15:46 was relatively uncontested and helped his team earn 53 points and a 16:38 team average. Estero has come on strong this season, but will need all that and more next week to hope to upset Bishop Kenny.
Estero's girls had an even easier time and they look like they will be a force for years to come! They scored just 20 points and their top four are all freshman. Kacy Smith and Aja Curth of Estero went 1-2 with times of 19:09 and 19:40. They are ranked third in the 2A. They'll have a hard time challenging Bolles or BK without quite as much strength up front, but you never know!
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FHSAA 2A Region 4
Summary
I'll admit it... I am a big fan of Stephanie Schappert! Actually, I'm a big fan of both Stephanies. As mentioned earlier, Strasser and Schappert are going to hammer each other next week at state in what could be the best girls race of the day individually. Both are agressive in their style. I'll never get the picture out of my head of Schappert punching the track, getting back up and gutting it out, after getting tripped up for a second time at the state track meet.
Anyway.. back to this race. Schappert ran a close to a PR with her time of 17:54.30 to win by over 30 seconds. She has no doubt been helped this year by new teammate Olivia Fay, who moved in from New England. Fay makes a great training partner and both surely benefit. Fay was third in 18:48.87. Joanna McCoy, often stays far under the radar since she is from the Florida Keys (Coral Shores High School). She should hopefully start to get some attention now. The sophomore was seocnd in 18:25.84... also just off her season best.
Cardinal Gibbons beat out favored Ransom Everglades 79-91 for the girls team title.
On the boys side Tim Hendricks of North Broward Prep took first in 16:00, but then it was all Archbishop McCarthy! They took places 2-3-4-5-14, scoring just 23 poinnts. Their team average was an impressive 16:37 and they upset 4th ranked Ransom Everglades by 21 points.
Ransom may have been laying off a bit this week, as the times of their top two seem a little off their norm. So this battle is likely to be rehashed next week, but with the way Archbishop is running they could end up as high as second at state!
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FHSAA 3A Region 1
On-Site Race Report by Rese Ammons
The 3A Region 1 course at Sunnyhill Farms in Tallahassee was new this year. Most of the runners had not see it until Friday afternoon. It is a mixture of mostly grassy areas as well as root bound paths through the woods. The weather made for perfect racing conditions.
In the girl's race, Lilly Williams, a Sophmore from Chiles High School took an early lead in the first lap. Her teammate, Carly Thomas, also a Sophmore, was not far behind her. It was like watching the district race all over again. Lilly and Carly would repeat last week's race crossing the finish #1 and #2. Lilly had a finish time of 18:29.5 and Carly was just 2 seconds behind her with 18:31.2. There would be a 20 second wait before Pine Forest's Darroneshia Lott would finish, in 3rd place running a 18:51.5. Chiles top 5 girls all finished in the top 20 giving the team the Region title with 34 points. Fort Walton Beach High School secured the 2nd place trophy with 59 points. Their #1 runner, Holly Stanton, finished 6th with a time of 18:59.07. The top 6 teams will advance to the State finals next year along with the top 15 individuals. Pine Forest who was 8th in team standings will send 2 individuals to state: 3rd place Darroneshia Lott (18:31.2) and 4th place finisher Crystal Wachob (18:52.01).
The lead pack in the boys race passed the one mile mark in 4:55. The lead could not be determined yet as the boys were still running in packs. It would thin out as they neared the finish line. Matt Mizereck took the 1st place spot crossing the finish in 15:26.4. The senior from Leon High School won this race last year and went on to take the 2008 State Championship title as well. In 2nd place was Jimmy Clark from Creekside High School with a finish time of 15:28.5. Jimmy will participate at State as an individual. Creekside placed 8th as a team. In 3rd was Riley Doherty (15:47.7) also from Leon. The 1st place team trophy would go to Leon having 4 runners in the top 20 and a total team score of 62 points. Washington would take the 2nd place win with 82 points. Washington's top runner was Peter Frick who was 7th overall running a 16:04.9. Terry Parker High School will send Kamal Koroso to the State meet. The Freshman runner finished 5th with a time of 16:02.3. Other runners going to State as individuals include Brandon Scott from Columbia, 16:03.9; Eric Ochoa from Bantram Trail, 16:06.2; Christopher Haynes from Robert E. Lee, 16:12.1; and Harkeem Tarpley from Choctawhatchee High School, 16:22.2.
Good Luck to everyone next week!
Summary
Certainly no one is surprised with the result in the girls race: Chiles cruises to another victory. The Timberwolves are THE best team in the state and sophomores Lily Williams and Carly Thomas sailed in easily for a 1-2 finish with 18:29 and 18:31. Both have a great chance at sub-18 next week and Chiles may put up one of the lowest team scores and team averages we've seen in a while.
Ft. Walton Beach also looked good though with a solid pack mentality and a 1:10 1-5 split, which is pretty good for a girls team. They finished with 59 points, to Chiles 34. Pine Forest will send two individuals to the state meet: Darroneshia Lott and Crystal Wachob finished 3rd and 4th in 18:51 and 18:52, but despite that showing up front the team slipped to eigth place and will not advance.
Matt Mizereck and Jimmy Clark pounded on each other for all 5000 meters and it came down to Mizereck's just-superior leg speed. The senior from Leon took the win over the junior from Creekside 15:26.48 to 15:28.52. Leon's Riley Dohrety laid down a big new PR of 15:47 as Leon's second man. Will Stanford, Leon's traditional second man is showing signs that he's finally knocking off the cobwebs after losing a lot of his early and middle season training to a nasty illness. Last year he was up with Mizereck, so it was good to see him plunge into the 15s again with a 15:56 performance for fourth place.
With the Riley Doherty maturing into an elite runner in his own right and the re-emerging of Will Stanford, Leon's 1-2 punch has gone to a 1-2-3 slug. The question is will it be enough to match the depth of Belen Jesuit? With their 4-5-6-7 also peaking at the right time definitely looking likely! Coach Wills has done a heck of a job developing the talent there.
This is an amazingly talented region by the way (Region of Death?)... 33 runners under 17-minutes and 79 runners under 18-minutes. That's pretty crazy since 17:00 will win some regional championships.
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FHSAA 3A Region 2
Summary
With good depth, Wiregrass Ranch takes both team titles. Their boys scored 70 points (17:11 average) to beat out George Jenkins by 10. While their girls had Lake Region by 40... 81-121. Matt Schwartz of Land O Lakes and Anne-Marie Blaney of Belleview won the individual title easily with times of 16:28 and 19:05.
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FHSAA 3A Region 3
Summary
Sarah Spann and Katie Russo flipped their usual order, but the result was the same: Ft. Myers girls go 1-2. Spann's 18:44 and Russo's 18:52 though was not enough to earn Ft. Myers the team title. That honor was reserved for the young team at Lakewood Ranch. The top five, made up of four freshmen and one sophomore, scored just 32 points to the 55 of Ft. Myers. Lakewood Ranch was lead by freshman Kristin Zarrella's 19:15 performance.
Charlotte's boys sailed to victory with 47 points to 100 by Ft. Myers. The Tarpon men were lead by Tyler Cardillo who beat out David Tomchinsky of Lemon Bay and Connor Bauer of Sebring for the regional title in 16:24. Bauer will advance solo to state, with his 16:32 performance.
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FHSAA 3A Region 4
Summary
South Fork's girls won easily with 35 points behind the first place finish of freshman Laure Scott (19:56).
Belen Jesuit had no trouble wrapping up another regional championship, scoring just 29 off of a 16:35 team average. Elliot Clemente blazed the way for the Wolverines with a 15:46 finish. The question is will Belen, the 3A championship favorite, be able to fend off the challenges from the 3A region of death: Leon, Pensacola Washington, and Ft. Walton Beach? They usually know how to step up to the challenge and use depth to dismantle opponents in the middle. Let's see if they can pull it off again this year.
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FHSAA 4A Region 1
Melbourne's girls had no trouble winning this one and have crept up into one of the top teams in the state and certainly a state title contender next week. They scored 49, which was 62 points better than Vero Beach's 111. Vanessa Valentine and Rachel Greer gave Mel High strength up front finishing 2-5 in 19:00 and 19:14.
Mary Ann Brown, the freshman from Orange Park, asserted herself as the leader and didn't look back with an 18:37 victory. Look for her to keep them honest at state and push the pace, especially the first mile, this Saturday.
Grace Thomas, who transferred into Vero Beach this year, was not up with Mary Ann Brown where she probably will be at state. Instead, she hung back with Vero Beach's #2 runner Emily Ahrens and paced her teammate to a big new PR of 19:35. Vero Beach had high hopes coming into the year, but have fizzled a bit. The potential is still there to pull something off though with Thomas scoring probably three points or less next week, they'll look to Ahrens to hit another PR, Lauren Lapointe break through and return to last year's form (she ran an 18:33 at state and 18:25 at Footlocker South), and 4-5 to continue to make strides.
Brian Atkinson, fresh off his Duke University commitment announcement, threw down a huge performance at his regional meet at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville. He won big, over 30 seconds in front of teammate Erik Fagan (15:56), with a huge course record--25 seconds faster than the old record held by Jeremy Criscione of UF--with a time of 15:15. His splits were 4:42 and 9:42, according to Ricky Quintana.
The 1-2 finish for Melbourne helped them fight off Lyman by a mere 5 points, 78-83. Sean Rynning was Lyman's number one again this week, finishing fourth with a time of 16:17. Eduardo Garcia dipped under 16 to finish third in 15:57. This region was very strong with 22 runners under 17 minutes and 61 under 18 minutes. Very good squads from Vero Beach, Winter Springs, and Buchholz will have to stay at home, but each had one qualifier at least. The "4A Region of Death" title will go to Region 2, but this one was pretty deadly in its own right!
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FHSAA 4A Region 2
Summary
Winter Park's girls continue to shine and looked great with their 27 points and 19:07 team average. The went 1-2-3 and probably would have finished 1-2-3-4 on a normal day... Olivia Papa, their normal #2, wasn't quite her normal self finishing in 6th place in 19:20. I wish Chiles and Winter Park were in the same classification... Chiles probably would still have the edge but on a good day for WP it could be interesting. Oh well... won't happen but we'll score the virtual meet next week anyway and see how it comes out!
Shelby Hayes of course was WP's #1 and regional champ. Her time of 18:06 was uncontested... winning by almost a full minute. She will be the 4A favorite at State.
Plant looked good also, scoring 95 and 20:01 average. Sarasota Riverview, Wharton, Dr. Phillips, and Timber Creek also advance... while very good teams from Boone and Olympia unfortunately do not. Boone was just one point out of qualifying and Olympia missed out by only five. Every spot counts!!
Dr. Phillips' boys illustrated again very clearly that they are the state's best. And they don't do it with the stud winning the race, they do it with just an amazing pack. Their 1-5 split was 24 seconds, lead by Alex Mund's 5th place 16:01. Their team average was 16:20, but because the region was so strong they still scored 54 points. Interestingly, Novian Middleton who had been their #1 or 2 runner for most of the year (15:32 at flrunners and 15:53 at Prestate) had another off week. He was DP's 7-man yesterday with a time of 17:11, following his 17:05 at district the week before. No word on his status or if he's hurt or what. I'm sure we'll hear on the forum. So if he's back next week it will probably shed another 20 points from their team score.
Most of the other teams in the region share the same general makeup of Dr. Phillips, lacking the state champion type up front but making up for it with great depth. Four other teams also had sub-17 team averages: Winter Park (16:49), Plant (16:52), Boone (16:52), and Chamberlain (16:58). Timber Creek snagged the last qualifying spot of the 4A Region of Death with 184 points over Colonial's 193. So Colonial, Olympia, Countryside, and Sarasota will all sadly stay home, despite having team averages of 17:08, 17:15, 17:18, and 17:19, respectively. That, my friend, is why this region gets its name!
Let's not forget to give the individuals their due. Mark Parrish of Chamberlain, no surprise, won the individual trophy with a time of 15:52. Maybe I'm just out of the loop but the second place finisher is a huge surprise to me... where the heck did this guy come from? Chase Sutton of Seminole ran a 15:56, beating out Boone's top two (Phil Duncan and JL Hines) who were next in 16:01 each.
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FHSAA 4A Region 3
Summary
Isabelle Amaro, sister of twice Footlocker finalist Emilie Amaro, took another victory with the same exact time as last week at district--18:53. Just behind her in 18:58 was her West Broward teammate Chloe Sell. The 1-2 finish was just enough to get West Broward a state berth, taking the sixth qualifying slot.
Spanish River's girls edged out St. Thomas Aquinas 82-83 for the regional championship.
Ryan Pickering lead his John I. Leonard team with a 15:49 victory and teammate Charles Anderson was third in 16:23, but it wasn't quite enough. Park Vista edged them out with their 41 second 1-5 split and won 70-76. Flanagan will send two individuals on to Little Everglades, Corey Freeman (2nd, 16:23) and Courdel Smith (4th, 16:24) looked great but will have to go on without their team.
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FHSAA 4A Region 4
Summary
Lourdes dominated the girls race going 1-2-3-6-7-(9-13) for just 19 points and a 19:37 team average. They were lead by Victoria Villarnovo (18:59), Courtney Filliben (19:09), and Alessandra Vales (19:22). That is a huge win and big PR for Villarnovo --minute faster than at district last week!
Columbus won the boys race easily, behind the 1-2 punch of Armando Del Valle (15:54) and Mark Gulesian (15:59), who scored a combined three points. Columbus' 36 points was 26 better than the 62 of Feruson and 35 better than the 71 of Hialeah-Miami Lakes. The team averages were 16:23, 16:44, and 16:53.
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