Girls Preview
North Port is historically a fast course. Last year's race was won by Cardinal Mooney's Addison Dempsey in 17:20.20, the 3rd fastest time for the meet. Three girls will be racing tomorrow that have top 20 times in the meet's history. The meet record holder, Jr. Eliana Black of Cambridge (Christian) School, set the meet record of 17:15.50 in 2022. The #6 girl is Sr. Mackenzie De Lisle of Bishop Verot. The recent Unv. of Florida commit was 2nd to Dempsey last year, running 17:41.83. Jr. Jazlyn Forbes of Oasis was 5th in last year's race with a 17:56.96.
How will tomorrow play out. If the weather continues as it has been, dry, the race should be fast and we may see Black's meet record challenged. Not reflected in the Virtual Meet is the fact that Bishop Verot is entered in the meet. Five weeks into the 2024 season and this is the season opener for Verot and the Virtual meet did not have any times for the Verot runners.
In the individual race, Creekside's Jr. Alyson Johnson and her sister, Fr. Sydney Johnson are entered as individuals. Alyson is a University. of Colorado commit, and arguably the #1 or 2 ranked girl in the state. Johnson is not shy about leading and won at Cecil Field dominating a very talented field. Watch for De Lisle of Verot to go out with Johnson. The question concerning De Lisle is not that she is in shape or not experienced, but one of whether she is competition-sharp and ready for a fast race. Oasis Jr. Jazlyn Forbes ran her PR at North Port last year. She has 3 wins and a 2nd so far this season. Her second was to Fr. Madison Muller of Sarasota Riverview at Lakewood Ranch at the end of August. The girls battled most of the race with Muller getting the win in 19:06.07. Forbes went 19:12.79. The meet record holder Eliana Black is recovering from an illness and may not be a full strength for this week's race, but she is an experienced runner. She can run fast and is always competitive. Watch for Alyson Johnsons' younger sister, Sidney, to be with the leaders. She joins Muller as one of the two very talented freshmen expected to be up front with the leaders. She is only a freshman but is an experienced runner. She was 6th at Cecil Field with an 18:37 in her varsity debut.