Girls 1600
The girls 1600 meter run should be a great opportunity for some of those next tier runners who might not have had a realistic shot to be a top 3 medalists with the elite group of runners assembled in both the 3200 and 5K fields later in the event with a realistic shot to medal and even win a race on Saturday night at Viera.
One of the top performers in the race based on recent cross country performances would be Viera's own in Addison Elwell as she is coming off an All-State 14th place finish of 19:20 as freshman in the 4A girls state cross country race. And it appears that Elwell is more of a middle distance geared runner as well, so will be very intriguing to see what kinda of initial mile time she can put down to build into her spring track season.
Jessica Boyanich of The King's Academy has the fastest personal best in the field at 5:16 from two years ago as a sophomore, while had a season best of 5:33 as a junior so will be interesting to see if she doubles back from the 800 earlier or scratches out of one of the two races that she is entered in.
The host school Viera could potentially go 1-2 in the race between their star ninth grader Elwell and one of their experienced veteran racers in senior Isabella Narvaez, who owns the second fastest PR in the field behind only Boyanich at 5:21.85 from her sophomore year. Narvaez was a district champion in the 1600 meter run last spring and finished fourth at her regional meet and just missing out on state qualifying as an at-large.
Two other runners that could compete for the win and certainly medal with a top 3 finish in the 1600 meter after strong cross country seasons include South Fork freshman Emerson Brinn and Satellite sophomore Mackenzie Thompson.
Brinn came over to South Fork from The Pine School and became a reliable #2 runner behind their front runner Addison Boyer including breaking 19 minutes for 5K at their district meet with a 18:52 PR. She ultimately finished 24th in the 3A State race. Last spring while at The Pine School, she showed her athleticism in competing in the sprints, hurdles, pole vault, and sometimes running distance races as well.
Meanwhile, Thompson after running the 21 minute range last for cross country really made some strides following a track season in which she lowered her 1600 meter time all the way down to 5:28. She translated that to a stellar cross country season including 20 minutes in 5 of her races including an 19:34 personal best and was consistently one of the top finishers for the Satellite girls.
Similar to Boyanich, Lucia Castillo-Rios could be potentially doubling back from the 800 meter run as a top seed or scratching out of one race. Castillo-Rios was a state qualifier in 3A in the 1600 meter run last spring and owns a 5:23 personal best in the event.
Another South Florida runner in the girls 1600 that could be a contender is Spanish River junior Katelyn Dadorf, who became her squad's #1 runner this past cross country season after running 5:34 for 1600 meters last spring and translated that to a 19:35 5K best this fall which came in her best race of the season at the 3A Region 4 Meet.