FACA All-Star Meet Summary

It was cold, it was muddy, it was cold! But what a way to end the season. The FACA Senior All Star meet in Tallahassee was enjoyable for both runners and spectators. The course at Apalachee Regional Park was laid out in a way that allowed onlookers a view from several points in the race. Runners commented after the race, that the course was fun, and easy. At the same time, there was a slight air of sadness as this would be the final cross country meet for these runners as high school students. Holly Stanton from Fort Walton Beach High School stated, "I was thinking, this is my last race, I should really push it. But I also just wanted to have fun." Many of them were still uncertain where they would be attending college, but one thing for sure, they wanted to continue running.

There were 4 boys and 4 girls teams comprised of 8 members each, representing each of the 4 regions across the state. Past rivalries were put aside as members of teams across their respective regions, worked together. "It was a little hilly, but it was fun," some of the girls stated after the race. The cold temperatures played a small part on performance, but the major obstacle was the mud. Rain the night before and the morning of the race made for extremely slippery conditions. "You were sliding on every turn, so you were slowing down on every turn," Luc Lawrence from Fort Walton Beach High School commented. Other runners stated it was like ice skating around the course.

The region 1 team took home the winning trophy in both the girls and boys races. The 1st place girls runner was Jana Stolting of Maclay, who just missed the course record running a time of 18:12. Overall girls team scores placed Region 3 in 4th place with 77 points, Region 4 in 3rd place with 64 points. Region 2 was the runner up team with 55 points and Region 1 had 27 points.

The boys top runner, Sean Rynning of Lyman, crossed the line in 16:07. Region 1 had 4 members in the top 5 giving them the 1st place win with only 18 points. In 2nd place was Region 3 with 58 points. Region 4 took 3rd with 76 points and with 79 points was Region 2 in 4th place.

Good luck to all the seniors!