Weekend in Review: September 10-11, 2010

Summary

Four of Florida's top teams made the trek up to Georgia to compete:  Leon, Chiles, Bartram Trail, and Flagler Palm Coast.

Leon was especially impressive in the Boys Championship race, finishing second (6 points behind Chapel Hill) with 83 points and a 17:03 team average.  They were lead by the one-two of Riley Doherty and John Hazelton (16:33, 16:38).  Will Stanford was their number four on Saturday.

Chiles' girls competed in the 5A Division, rather than the Championship Division in order to take advantage of the cooler, earlier start time.  They walked all over the competition in that weaker division, going 1-2-3-5-10-(11-14) with a 20:06 average.  They would have likely won the Championship division over Lakeside Evans (GA), but it would have been a good battle.  Lily Williams, Carly Thomas, and Jodie McGuff lead the way in 18:56, 19:18, 19:56.

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Summary

It was muddy and it was muggy--not at all the Ed Radice we are used to--but by all accounts it was a very fun and competitive season opener in Tampa.

Armando del Valle lead his Miami Columbus team to a 53 point victory and solidified his claim to being the early season favorite for the "best in Florida" title (according to the poll on the forum) with a 15:38 victory.  David Kilgore of Holy Trinity and Phil Duncan of Boone also dipped under 16 with times of 15:55 and 15:59.

Columbus paced the field with 64 points and a 16:35 team average.  Holy Trinity notched second place with 107 points and a 16:56 average, followed by Belen Jesuit, Dr. Phillips, and Charlotte.

On the girls' side it was a great three-way team battle, with only 6 points separating the top three teams.  Holy Trinity pulled out the win over Lourdes and HB Plant with scores of 81, 86, 87.  Holy Trinity was lead by Julie Wolrath's second place finish of 19:03.

Estero's girls also looked impressive, especially since they found some depth which was the big question mark for them going into the season.  They actually didn't just find a 5... they looked pretty good all the way through seven!  Kacy Smith of Estero was the overall winner in 18:51.

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Embry-Riddle University's men defeated University of Tampa 28-39, with the one-and-only (all-time Florida high school mile leader, FPC alum) Sam Vazquez leading the way in 25:06. 

 

Meanwhile the women of the University of Tampa looked pretty untouchable, scoring 32 points (2-4-6-9-11) and 19:04 team average.

 

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In a low-key local meet down south, Joanna McCoy ran away with a 48 second victory over second-place Kali Benavides (Killian) with a 19:32 showing.  McCoy, a senior from Florida Keys school Coral Shores, doesn't get much attention given the remoteness of her school but she will be a darkhorse at the state meet this year for sure.

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Lakewood Ranch made the trip up to Orlando and their girls, who burst on to the scene in a major way last year, make us alraedy look so much forward to that 3A state championship fight with Chiles in November!

The girls scored a mere 23 points (1-2-4-6-8) with Olivia Ortiz and Kristin Zarrella opening scoring for them in 19:03 and 19:09.  With a 1:19 1-5 split, their team average was 19:42... the lowest of any Florida team so far this season.

Will Bridges of Edgewater was the top boys finisher in 16:21.  And Hagerty beat out Lyman for the team victory 71-85.

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Congratulations, Niceville boys!  You just earned your spot on the flrunners.com Invitational ROC!

The team has made dramatic improvements already, behind hard summer work and thanks in part to the addition freshman Thomas Howell.  Niceville finished with a big 34 point victory--49 points in front of very good Ft. Walton Beach (not at full strength) and 68 points over PK Yonge.  They were lead by Jason Riggs (2nd, 16:44) and Howell (3rd, 16:52) and averaged out to 17:08 for their top five with just a 46 second split--a gap that will likely further close up with a healthy #5 runner.

Patrick Swain of Maclay won overall in 16:34.

For the girls it was Maclay's Stefani Kurgatt way out front in 18:59--winning by almost a minute and a half.  Niceville's girls competed the double victory by eeking out the "W" on their 6th runner after a 48-48 tie through 5 with Ft. Walton Beach.  Behind the 1-2 punch of Sarah Devaux and Ivy Chastain (2nd 20:25, 3rd 20:26), Ft. Walton had the superior 21:16 team average.  But Niceville pulled it out on a tighter pack.

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Not to be outdone by Armando Del Valle, Jimmy Clark battled against Eduardo Garcia of Mandarin and Chris Godwin of Buchholz to come away with a 15:47 win at Ridgeview.  The Creekside senior pulled away during the last mile to earn the 12 second victory.  Garcia finished in 15:59 and Godwin in 16:04.

Bishop Kenny edged out Fernandina Beach 85-89 to win the boys title.  (Editors note:  Wow!  Weird to see Fernandina Beach up there with these classic powerhouses... great job!)  Despite finishing third, Buchholz (112 points) had the top team average time in 17:37.

On the girls' side Brittany Ollinger of Oak Hall took the tape with a 36 second margin of victory over Mandarin's Mary Kate Ponder:  19:10 to 19:46.

The team battle was a great one with Providence School pulling off the narrow victory over Creekside and Mandarin: 82-88-89.  Ollinger's Oak Hall was fourth in 112... with the top four teams all in the 20:40 team average range.

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Cocoa Beach junior Shelby Davidson continued her undefeated 2010 season with an 18:53 win over Vanessa Valentine of Melbourne (19:18).  She helped her girls team take an impressive 47 point victory over Vero Beach, who was lead by Emily Ahrens (19:25) third place finish.  Cocoa Beach looked good, placing their top five in the top 15 with a 20:44 team average.

The Spruce Creek boys edged out Vero Beach 52-57, despite Vero getting out to a fast start with the first and second place finishes of Matthew Salis and Dominic Patrick (17:05, 17:14).  Creek did it courtesy of a tight pack (46 second 1-5 split) with their top five in top 15 placers.

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The Winter Springs girls, lead by Kristen Yocum's 21:04 victory, narrowly defeated Oviedo 41-43. 

Trinity Prep's boys, not running at full-strength, walked away with a 11 point victory over Colonial 30-41.  

TP was lead by Griffin Jaworski and Daniel Salas, who went 2-3 in 16:26-16:27.  Sophomore stud Andres Arroyo of Colonial was the winner in 16:21.

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