By Jesus Batista
Summary of the "King of the Hill" invitational, a race that took place at Tropical Park after 10 years of anticipation.
The invitational brought together some of the greatest runners who have tackled the challenging course. Tropical Park, known for its unique hilly terrain in Miami, provided a stark contrast to the usual neighborhood course at Larry and Penny Park.
In the girls' race, Lourdes' exceptional freshman, Alessandra Perez, stood out as the lone female runner to finish under 20 minutes. With determination, she conquered the hill and surpassed Sabrina Martinez from Riviera Prep, who ran an impressive 20:11 despite her team's incomplete presence. Olivia Rodriguez from the Bobcats secured the third spot with a noteworthy time of 20:28.88. Lourdes dominated the team scores, taking first and third place, accumulating an impressive 29 points. Their seventh-place finisher also secured a spot in the top 25. Congratulations to Coach Aguas and the entire Lourdes team for their achievements.
Moving on to the boys' race, a recent rivalry came to the forefront. Henry Stark, often referred to as the son of Ironman due to his exceptional running abilities, set the pace right from the start. A pack of four runners, including Stark, Pena, Gonzalez, and Romagosa, led the race through the first mile. However, when they encountered the infamous hill, its impact became evident.
Despite the challenges posed by the hill, Stark managed to break away from the group on the downhill stretch, leaving only Pena from Westminster Academy and his rival, Marc Gonzalez, in pursuit. Stark's determination paid off as he crossed the finish line in first place, clocking an impressive time of 15:52, adding another remarkable achievement to his already impressive resume. Jonathan Pena secured the second spot for Westminster Academy with a time of 16:24, closely followed by Mater Lakes' Marc Gonzalez in third place with a time of 16:35.
Overall, it was a fantastic day at Tropical Park, setting the stage for the upcoming Spanish River meet. Congratulations to all the participants for their outstanding performances, and best of luck to everyone in their future races.