This weekend, Okaloosa County teams will spike it out for their county championship title. South Walton High School is also participating from Walton County. The meet will be held at Timberlake, in Fort Walton Beach. The 3.1 mile course is mainly dirt road and offers no view for spectators other than the start and finish. Weather forecast for the weekend looks great. With the dry weather, the course could be very sandy. Any rain between now and Saturday could cause the course to be hard packed along with a few muddy patches.
Reviewing boys’ times over the course of the season, this could be anyone's race. Freshman Thomas Howell is currently ranked number one in the county and 39th in the state. He has been running some fast times for his team with a PR of 15:49 and a second place finish at the Panhandle Championships last week. Niceville also has the number two runner, senior Jason Riggs, who's best time is only three seconds behind his teammate's.
Fort Walton Beach boys currently the number one ranked boys team in the county with five boys ranked in the top ten. They will need to put up quite a fight to hold that spot, especially after Niceville’s win last week. Senior Jake Dearmon is set to lead his team with a season's best time of 15:57 and a new school record under his belt. Sam Ammons, also a senior, had a 25 second PR at the Panhandle Championships and could quite possibly cut his 16:14 time even more making the competition a lot closer.
The remaining six slots in the top ten are all under 16:40 and are all Fort Walton Beach and Niceville runners, with the exception of Choctaw Sophomore David Van Steenbergen, who is ranked sixth with a season best time of 16:34.
The girls’ teams also have Niceville and Fort Walton battling it out. Fort Walton girls are also currently ranked number one, however, Niceville’s current times puts them ahead of that ranking. Fort Walton will need to kick it into the finish to hold onto their number one spot. Marsel Mosley, a sophomore from Niceville, is poised to win the county championship title with a season PR of 18:59. Fort Walton's top runners could take the second and third place spots. Sophomore Ivy Chastain and senior Sarah DeVaux will be ones to watch. Their best times are mere hundredths of a second apart and it could be a photo finish for second place.
The rest of the top ten girls are all under 19:56 and are comprised of Fort Walton Beach and Niceville runners along with Choctaw freshman Sara Steele. Sara is ranked seventh with a season best time of 19:50.
The big question is, will Niceville and Fort Walton battle it out for the county championship title or will one or both teams take it easy and save their stuff for the state series?