4A BOYS
The 4A boys team championship is Buchholz's to capture if they show up and run like they have all season. If they win, it will be their 5th team title. They are led by the #1 and #2 ranked 4A boys in the State, Sr. Gino Palazzolo and Jr. Demetrie Meyers. Palazzola and Meyers are separated by just 1 second this season respectively running 15:01 and 15:02. They have experience and are fast. Palazzolo was 10th last year, Freas 16th, Watson 71st and Sager 117th. They outdistance all of the other 4A teams based upon Regional times by 116 points. If we go by the Team State rankings they have a score of 129. Newsome is the closet team to them with 284. Buchholz has four young men sub-16 and their 5th runner is at 16:15.00. #'s 6 & 7 are at 16:18 and 16:19. They have an Average Time of 15:34.00 and a 1-5Split of 1:14.00.
The squads 3-5 runners are: Jr. Samuel Freas, Sam Stone and Bennett Sager. The #6 and 7 runners are Sr. Calum Watson and So.Brennen Bentley.
Team Contenders: Hagerty, George Steinbrenner, Newsome, Oviedo
This is a tough one. If you go by the State ranking and a virtual 4A meet projection it shows Newsome and Oviedo as the #2 and 3 ranked teams. If we look at the 4A Regional Merge it has Hagerty and George Steinbrenner as the #2 and 3 ranked teams. And it has Hagerty just back of Buchholz by only 7 points. It will all shake out at State Saturday, but it will be interesting to see who is on the podium. The teams are close enough where one or two positions Saturday could determine who is in 2nd or 3rd.
Individual Favorites: Gino Palazzolo (Buchholz), Demetrie Meyers (Buchholz)
Meyers has beaten Palazollo this season but the Sr. Palazollo may have a slight edge in terms of experience. They are ranked#1 and 2 in the 4A rankings and are separated by just 1 second. 15:01 and 15:02 respectively. Palazollo was 10th last year and was the top underclassman in the State meet with the Top 9 being all seniors. Meyers has not run at State. It just may come down to the State performance this Saturday, but it should be interesting to watch the two teammates.
Individual Contenders: Luca Martin (Geroge Steinbrenner), Parker Banzhaf (Vero Beach), Jayden Santos-Gonzalez (Oak Ridge), Branden Witherow (Bloomingdale), Tyler Aguilar (Windtr Park), Zachary Glover (Sickles) and Caden Baker (George Jenkins)
All of the individual contenders above with the exception of Sr. Caden Baker have run sub-15:30 this year. Baker was included as he was the only Top 20 finisher from last year with his 15th place 15:32 and he was the 4A Region 3 champion for the 2nd year in a row. Just over 7 seconds separates Jr. Luca Martin(15:21.20) from Sr. Zachary Glover (15:28.80). In between them are Banzhaf, Santos-Gonzales, Witherow, and Aguilar. The long Finish straight and downhill after the Wall this Saturday should be crowded in the 4A race as they scramble to get on the podium.