Workout Wednesday visit with the defending FHSAA 1A state boys' cross country team champions in Indian Rocks Christian.
The workout was the team's first hill workout of the season as they hit a nearby overpass foot bridge on the Pinellas Trail for some uphill and downhill ascent repeats running at a conservative 5K pace. A bonus longer rep at a distance of two thirds of a mile while revving up the pace a little more finished off the workout.
Head coach Bobby LaBrant is a believer in giving his runners workouts to judge pace on feel rather than specific times to hit and this workout was a classic example on why on a sweltering hot afternoon practice on the final day of August.
Despite graduating their front runner in All-State runner Mateo Luna, the 2022 lineup for the Indian Rocks Christian squad appears to much stronger than last year's group returning virtually everyone else from their varsity lineup.
The start of their season could have not been much better than their fourth place team finish in the elite field at the Cecil Field Summer Classic in their first ever trip to the meet and race on the fast course. The team typically picks meets in closer driving distance and not always the most PR friendly courses, so Cecil Field was a rare event choice for a program that certainly is rising in statewide stature to seek next level competition.
Indian Rocks Christian nearly had 5 under 17 minutes in the race with Nicholas Zamora (16:26), Blake Young (16:36), Charles LaBrant (16:42), Jonah Berry (16:55), and Ethan Esposito (17:01) for a stellar opener.
Their team could have had an even better showing against many of the state's best squads at Cecil Field as they were missing one of their top returnees in Aidan Griffin, an All-State 3200 meter finisher from the spring with a 9:39 PR. Nonetheless, the team showing earned them a #6 overall ranking in the state of Florida regardless of classification bumping them up from a #10 preseason ranking.
In the race within the race, Indian Rocks Christian also reaffirmed themselves as the top team in the 1A classification finishing well ahead of other top contending squads in Circle Christian (6th), Cambridge Christian (9th), and Pensacola Christian (22nd) with only last year's 3rd place state meet squad and annual powerhouse contender in Oak Hall School missing from the meet.
After taking the Labor Day weekend off from racing, Indian Rocks Christian will spike it up again this Saturday morning at the Seffner Christian Invitational hosted at Holloway Park in Lakeland. flrunners.com will be on-site with race video and photo coverage.