Workout Wednesday visit with the Creekside High School cross country team as their boys team is currently ranked #2 overall in the state of Florida as the 4A favorites currently.
Creekside this weekend heads to the FSU Pre-State Invitational with potentially their only opportunity to match up head to head with the state's top ranked program and nationally ranked Belen Jesuit boys out of 3A. Creekside appears to be the only team right now in the state who could legitimate give Belen Jesuit a scare of defeat.
Creekside has gone undefeated so far this season with signature wins at the Cecil Field Sumer Classic and Katie Caples Invitational with six runners on their roster who have broken 16:30 for 5K including Tanner Simonds (15:47), Mac Williams (16:01), Jack Dravo (16:03), Hudson Finocchio (16:03), Jacob Harvey (16:16), and John Zurn (16:22).
Meanwhile, the Creekside girls have been consistently ranked among the top 10 teams in 4A throughout the season led by a star freshman in Alyson Johnson to put them right in a pack of teams that could finish as high as second at the state meet and outside of the top 10.
The program is separated by boys and girls head coaches and even did different workouts on the same day on the track with the boys squad running 5x1000 meter repeats with 90 seconds recovery, 2 x 800 meter repeats with 30 seconds recovery, and finishing up with 2 x 400 meter repeats at V02max pace.
Meanwhile, the girls squad ran continuous 200 meter repeats with no rest for 12 laps with their fast 200 meter rep followed by a a slower 200 meter rep 10 seconds slower than that pace.
Mandy Yates has been the girls head cross country coach since 2016, while Bernie Barania has stepped into the head coaching role for boys coming over from Orange Park High School after Creekside alumni and prior head coach Cash Tampa moved out of state after the track season.
The cupboard was not left bare for Coach Barania with the vast majority of last year's 4A state cross country runner-up squad on a sixth runner tiebreaker returning and highly motivated to be the last team standing on the podium this fall at the FHSAA State Cross Country Finals in Tallahassee.
It will be the first time racing on the same Apalachee Regional Park course this weekend for the Creekside boys since that painfully close state championship finish one year ago.
