Cocoa Beach, FL--On a hot and very humid day Julie Northrup and Lief Thomason both defended their titles as the overall winners of the Space Coast Cross Country Jamboree 5K. Northrup, a junior at Vero Beach High School, conquered the sweltering heat and a hard charging LeeAnn Nawrocki from Cocoa Beach to take the win in 19:41. One of the top returning runners in Class 4A, Northrup improved on her winning time from last year by 26 seconds.
Thomason, who will be attending Florida Southern College this fall, was able to stay a few strides ahead of his former teammate Chris Hamilton of Satellite High to repeat as the race champion with a time of 16:26.
Some of the top adult runners that competed in the race included Cecila Walker, who won the 40 and over age group and is the cross country coach at Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High. David Gierling won the male 40 and over age group in a time of 18:10.
The Jamboree is open to all ages and serves as a preseason event for many of the top high schools runners in the central Florida area. The race is put on by the Cocoa Beach Recreation Department.