Who, exactly, is in charge of designing cross country courses? Is it done by individuals, or delegated to committee? If the latter, I can just imagine the input by different factions:
Coach: “It should be easy to navigate with a golf cart.”
Athletic Director: “Keep it away from any water, or mud for that matter. We don’t want any unfortunate incidents.”
Photographer for the school paper: “Make sure it finishes into the sun, so my photos will come out.”
Senior team captain: “The course should be fast, flat, firm, and with a nice downhill finish; I’m looking for a PR.”
President of the Booster Club: “The finish has to be in front of the concession stand, you know, so no one misses the fact that we’re open for business.”
Parents: “Can you make sure that it isn’t blocked off by those high fences? We want to be able to take photos--with cameras, cell phones or DVD recorders—of our kids.”
School Board member: “Whom shall we name it for?”
Custodian: “Don’t block my refuse container; I have to work to do! You people have no idea how hard it is to keep up around here.”
Football Coach: “Stay off the turf. It’s taken a year to recover from the last one.”
Principal: “I’m sure, if we all work together, it will turn out fine.”
Personally, I think this particular course was about as close to perfection as you can hope for. It was ideal for observing the runners at several different stages of the race: start, finish, and numerous spots in between. And since it had a two-loop configuration, you had two chances to see/photograph every participant. The course—as well as the school property—was scenic, and included just the right combination of level straightaways, little “moguls,” sun and shade, and, with a 300 meter long track finish, it produced a few unexpected “thrills.” (If you don’t follow, check out the finish line sequence in the Girls Varsity photo album.) It can best be described as a “thinking man’s cross country course.”
Without a doubt, “the scholar” in the field turned out to be Colonial’s super-soph, Andres Aroyo. Combining what God gave him, heeding the advice his coaches provided beforehand,
and taking advantage of the aforementioned finish on the Trinity Prep track, he pretty much set this course on fire…in case you’re wondering about the image of the Orange County fire truck among the photos.
Part of an intrepid trio that included Griffin Jaworski and Daniel Salas (both from Trinity Prep), they ran in close formation for 3.05 miles. Once they hit the track, however, Arroyo hit the accelerator. What had been inches of separation became, at the finish line, tens of yards. The order: Arroyo (16:21), Jaworski (16:26) and Salas (16:27).
“My coaches, Mr. Plasencia and Mr.Calhoun, told me to stick with the TP kids the whole race,” explained Arroyo. “I just kind of hoped to finish first,” continued Arroyo, “but at least to stay with the lead pack.
“At the end, I kind of let it go. I passed them in the last 100 meters.”
“He switched to turbo,” contributed Pablo Salas, father of the third place finisher.
Rene Plasencia enriched the conversation.
“He’s a wonderful kid. All my boys are. You can’t ask for a better group…great families, respectful, high character…. That shows in the races. They don’t give up when it gets tough.”
Andres’ performances, especially, never cease to amaze his coaches.
“Every week we say, ‘He’s gotten so fast.’ Then he surprises us even more the next week. TP has five guys averaging under 5:30 (per mile). They’re 21st in the nation. So he beat some of the fastest guys in the state of Florida, and, I’ll tell you, it’s hot out here.
“We’ve had some good kids at Colonial, like Steven Fernandez, who ran 15:35 last year as a senior. Alex Wills was a state champion (2007 4A 3200; 4:18.44). Coach Calhoun and I think Andres has got what it takes. It’s like he doesn’t feel pain. We’ll tell him to go after someone in a race and he does it. We think that, by the time he’s a junior or senior, he’ll be faster than those guys.”
“Faster than those guys” sounds like a description of Winter Park’s Kristen Yocum. By the time the steadily thinning lead pack reached the end of the first loop, she had put herself on cruise control, and then coasted. (Easy for me to say. My last race was in a previous millennium.) Still, this young lady worked hard to win.
“The (Winter Park team’s) pre-race plan was to “just stay together—or at least try to—until two miles, and then see what happens,” she explained. “I’m not really sure (exactly where), but I think we started breaking up at the mile (which she passed in 6:30). It ended up being me, another girl (Kelly Fahey (Trinity Prep), who finished second in 21:34), and two more (Ciara Hopkins of Montverde and Taylor Tubbs of Sebring, third [21:57] and fourth [22:17], respectively).
“It was hard not to be pushed. That’s why my time (21:04) was slower…a good distance from my PR (19:14 last October 17th). We ran last week at a pre-season meet at Edgewater—the Ted Benz Invitational. I didn’t run so well. It was kind of hot, and I guess my mind wasn’t on it…my heart was in it, but not my mind. That was more motivation for today’s race.”
Certainly motivation is a key ingredient to running well, especially in these early season meets. Besides awakening before the chickens, there’s that pre-dawn bus ride. Once “awake,” you do your best to finish the race before the sun finishes you. Just ask freshman Mike Albelo of Colonial. He went out so fast in the Boys JV race that it appeared he was in the wrong section…and he just might have been.
“I’ve never been in the lead.”
It seemed that after establishing a huge lead in the opening mile, he dropped off a bit. Once on the track, however, he again found his stride.
“I was breathing hard, and felt a little tight in my calf, but my team supported me. They were on the side, calling my name and telling me to keep going. I just tried to keep my pace. This race may have moved me up to varsity.”
Mike’s 18:50 was, indeed, 12 seconds faster than the Colonial varsity team’s seventh finisher (19:02), and his time would have tied him with the 17th (out of 70) finisher in that race.
In the Girls JV race, freshman Sydney Carroll, competing for Trinity Prep, did Albelo eight places better. Her winning time of 23:19 would have placed her ninth in the Girls Varsity. She could also be a spokesperson for the benefits of cross training.
“I’m a right midfielder for the CFK Krush, and soccer is my first commitment,” she said after the race. “I won’t be able to train full time with the team until the end of the season.”
(Considering how well things went for her, don’t be surprised if you see a bunch of girls in running shoes dribbling a soccer ball around the course beginning with Monday’s XC practice.)
For most of the race, Sydney had what seemed to be an uncatchable lead. When she entered the track, however, hot on her heels was Danielle Turk of Oviedo. Despite having never run a 5K before—or perhaps because of that lack of prior racing experience--she finished only six seconds behind Carroll.
“I was trying to catch her (Carroll) right before we hit the track. I was—maybe—ten meters back. Next time I’m going to sprint the last .1 and maybe catch her.”
Team Results
Boys Varsity: Trinity Prep (2-3-5-7-13-17-18:30); Colonial (1-6-9-10-15-16-22:41); Winter Springs (8-11-12-24-26-28-32:81)
Girls Varsity: Winter Springs (1-7-9-10-14-21-34:41); Oviedo (5-6-8-11-13-18-30:43); Colonial (4-12-15-20-26-37:77)
Boys JV: Trinity Prep (1-2-3-4-5-9-10-11:19); Deland (7-8-13-14-21-22-27:63); Oviedo (5-12-18-19-24-25:78)
Girls JV: Oviedo (2-3-4-5-8-12:22); Trinity Prep (1-6-10-11-16-23-25:44); Deland (7-9-14-18-19-22-24: 67)