The varsity girls race at the New World Fall Spectacular on Saturday in Jacksonville could very well see more than a handful of the individuals and teams competing by season's end crowned as state champions in cross country.
Three girls teams who will be vying for the overall team title on Saturday are in the running for state team trophies in their respective classifications between reigning 2-time 4A state champions Buchholz, 2021 3A state champions Ponte Vedra, and 1A top ranked Maclay School.
The Buchholz girls skipped out on racing at the FSU Pre-State Invitational and instead ventured north to Georgia to race at the Alexander Asics Invitational rolling to season best times across the board for their runners. Buchholz almost had their entire top 7 under 20 minutes in Georgia led by Eleanor Whisler at 18:24 and Lucy Voss also under 19 minutes at 18:48.
Their 19:09 team average ranks fifth fastest overall in the state of Florida and first among all 4A schools. They only suffered one graduation loss from their lineup last year albeit a big one in their top runner Kate Drummond, so have been favored all season to achieve a rare 3-peat as state champions at season's end.
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The Ponte Vedra girls will be seeking their first major invitational win of the season after taking having to settle for solid runner-up finishes this season at the Katie Caples Invitational and FSU Pre-State Invitational to 2A favorite and arguably Florida's top ranked squad in Bishop Kenny. Ponte Vedra girls have one of the best top 3's in the state between Lindy White (18:26 season best), Daisy Ross (18:39), and Hilaree Vega (18:49), but have been waiting for two runners to step up in their #4 and #5 runner spots and run in the 19 minute range with Ella McGowan at 20:08 and Sofia Buskhell at 20:14.
This Saturday could be the race to see the Ponte Vedra back end of their scoring five step up to close the gap on the front end and might be needed for them to secure the team win not only this weekend, but definitely needed down the road at the state meet when facing the likes of Dillard and Osceola.
The Maclay School girls were fourth at the FSU Pre-State Invitational behind Bishop Kenny, Ponte Vedra, and Bolles but more importantly the highest finishing 1A squad ahead of the last two state champion teams in 2021 winners Cambridge Christian (5th place) and 2022 winners Oak Hall (10th place). Maclay had a great start to their season at the Cecil Field Summer Classic in late August finishing only 3 points off Bishop Kenny in second place and averaging 19:40 on the course.
Last week, their team was not at full strength at the flrunners.com Invitational with their top runner Caroline Couch racing individually at Great American (34th, 18:12) in North Carolina, but still held their own finishing 8th place in the Race of Champions. With Couch in the lineup, Maclay School would have likely finished at worst third place at the flrunners meet behind only 3A state meet podium squads Dillard and Osceola.
Creekside, Niceville, and Episcopal all raced well at the FSU Pre-State Invitational two weeks ago and will get more one opportunity to tune-up on Saturday at New World before championship season. Creekside and Niceville certainly are going to relish the opportunity to match up against their measuring stick in the 4A classification in the Buchholz girls. Creekside was only one place and 35 points behind Buchholz to start the season at the Cecil Field Summer Classic.
Two Georgia schools in Pope High School and Richmond Hill both boast top 5 team averages on the season under 20 minutes flat and also should hold their own with some of the top ranked Florida teams in the field.
Two superstar sophomores in Alyson Johnson of Creekside and Caroline Couch of Maclay School should push each other and possibly see both go under 18 minutes at New World Fall Spectacular.
Both girls ran sub 11 minutes for 3200 meters last spring with Johnson winning the 4A state title in the event as well as the 1600 meter title running PR's of 10:23 and 4:50 respectively in the post-season, while Couch was the 1A state runner-up in a 10:48 PR at the state meet.
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They opened their season against each other at the Cecil Field Summer Classic and finished close together with Johnson finishing third in 18:45 and Couch taking fourth only four seconds behind in 18:49.
Johnson has enjoyed her best cross country races in her last two meets breaking 18 minutes twice in a victory at Bale N Trail in 17:50 then taking fourth in the elite girls race field at FSU Pre-State in a 17:49 PR.
Couch was sixth place at FSU Pre-State in a time of 18:14 and has ventured out of state twice to compete including last weekend at Great American as well as being Florida's top finisher at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama with a sixth place finishing PR effort of 18:09.
Both runners currently appear to be the front runners to win individual state titles in their respectively classifications with Alyson Johnson in 4A trying to add to the pair she earned on the track as a freshman and Couch attempting to win her first state title as well as lead her squad as well to a team crown too.
Another runner in the field to watch that seems to always race well at Cecil Field including a fifth place finish in her season debut this fall is Rockledge senior Malinda Underwood.
The 3A state outdoor champion last spring in the 3200 has had a fairly uneven season with performances, but last year seemed to turn on the jets when championship season rolled around including two sub 18 minute races at her district and regional meet before finishing third in the 3A state race. A fast time at New World will get her confidence back once again in time for the last few races of the season.
The Roy twins, Mackenzie Roy and Arianna Roy, have been racing well this season after switching schools from Seabreeze to Spruce Creek High School as they have finished 1-2 together in their last 4 invitational races including the select division race at FSU Pre-State Invite. It will be interesting to see how they do finally in a race with runners to chase ahead of them rather than having to do all the pacing duties up front.
Ponte Vedra could see 3 of their runners break into the top 10 individual places with their talented trio of Lindy White, Daisy Ross, and Hilaree Vega all looking to push their season best times further down in the low 18 minute range before their district meet. White ran sub 5 minutes for the 1600 last spring and will be anxious to race at New World this weekend after missing the season opener at the venue for the Cecil Field Summer Classic.
flrunners.com will be on-site at the New World Fall Spectacular with video coverage by Chris Shonk and photo coverage by Cedric Gillette and Nancy Scott.