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How does a cross country team define perfection? Is it found in a place, as in “first”? Can it be reflected by a score, such as 15? Could it be claimed in a word, such a “sweep,” or satisfied with repetition, leaving little doubt that it was, and is real? Would long lines of runners, living proof that your success reaches from the present, and into the future, be a metaphor for self-satisfaction? In any of these cases, and along with the support of so many parents, coaches, and (past and present) athletes, Spruce Creek may have arrived at that place where there is little room for doubt that this is about as good as it gets.
Girls’ JV Race
It can be assumed that FHSAA guidelines were not put in place to serve any one school, but if that thought ever were to creep into your mind, this would have been that point in time. Creek so dominated this race that their performances couldn’t help but have a psychological effect on the runners in races to follow.
Standing just shy of the mile mark, in a sunny spot—photographers love sunny spots—with my trusty camera all warmed up (it was not only sunny, but really, really hot), I waited for the first runners in the Girls’ JV Race to emerge from behind the future Eduardo Garcia Service Building. And when they did, I counted the white singlets, all in a neat little row like ducks: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15….The line stretched for over a hundred yards, and would—more or less—repeat itself again and again and again over the course of the afternoon.
Generally, a strong Varsity team is not a predictor of a good JV team; however, the opposite leaves little room for arguments against the depth of a school’s running talent. And when fifteen Spruce Creek JV girls led from start to finish, and they won the race with a minimum fifteen points, it clearly set the stage for the three races to follow, a premonition that couldn’t have been missed by many. And, as the Conference JVG Race turned into a SC workout, there was great joy in Spruceville.
Leading this migration of Hawks was senior Melissa Roberts, completing her first year of cross country.
“Coach Stephon definitely tried to get us to push as hard as we could; whether or not we won, he wanted us to do our best.”
Melissa, who came in to the race with a 21:39.50 personal best (she ran that while finishing 66th in the Hagerty Invitational Elite Girls’ Varsity Race four days earlier), wasn’t quite as fast at Deland’s Sperling Sports Complex.
“It was, like, a 25 degree difference from Saturday. It might be mental, but there’s much more pain when it’s hot…but you have to push through that. I did my best for the situation we had—the heat and the pressure. I didn’t run a PR, but I did the best that I could.
“I’m going to be an alternate for the State Meet, and I hope to run one of the post-season meets, like Nike. I’d also like to run some road races this winter. That way, I hope to be up there for track again this spring. I won the 300 hurdles at the Conference Meet (April 10, 2010), 48.95.”
And after that?
“Hopefully UF or UCF…possibly I can make the times and run for UCF. I will probably major in physical therapy.”
GIRLS’ JV TEAM RESULTS – It was a thrilling race…for second place. Deland (8-11-12-23-24-26-27; 78), led by Cassie Viaggio (16th overall, but eighth in the scoring) in 26:26, jusssst edged New Smyrna Beach by a point (9-10-17-18-25-31-35; 79). The duel, tied at 54, was decided by Deland’s Carissa Pintello’s 24th place finish (28:40) over NSB’s 25th. 80 girls (30 from Spruce Creek) and five teams were reported.
Boys’ JV Race
For all the world, this race began—and nearly ended—pretty much the same as the previous (GJV) race. I was again standing in the meet’s only good “shot spot,” and here came another long line of white SC jerseys; 11 in all. Led by none other than sophomore-rather-be-varsity-runner Brandon Marris, their quest for perfection fell one runner short of fruition; Flagler-Palm Coast’s Thomas Carroll, whose inspired third place finish (19:12), cut the heart out of a Spruce Creek shutout.
What can be said of Marris that hasn’t been said before? He has run five races in as many weeks, with no less than spectacular results. On September 25th he finished second in the Deland Invitational JV Race (155 finishers) in 18:19.21. On October 1st, he finished 28th (out of 449) in that great stampede sometimes referred to as the FLR XI JV White Race (18:22.74). He won the 5 Star Frosh/Sophomore Race on October 12th, outlasting 84 others on Creek’s “Dune Road” (17:59); the Hagerty Invitational JV Race on October 23rd, beating 156 runners (17:36.40); and on October 27th became the 5 Star JV Champion (86 runners) in a time of 18:27.
Marris, in his typical un-Mantle like manner, is an athlete of few words, and when asked to comment on his thrill of victory gave a sobering reply.
“I’d rather run varsity than win.”
JV BOYS’ TEAM RESULTS – Placing seven runners in the top ten (1-2-4-5-6-8-9), Spruce Creek somehow managed to hold on to victory with 18 points. FPC was second with 60 (3-12-13-14-18-26-34), and Seabreeze third (10-11-16-19-20-24-25; 76). 86 runners and six teams appeared in the results.
Girls’ Varsity Race
In the eyes of other 5 Star Conference teams, perhaps the saving grace of this (and the Boys’) Varsity Race, is that each team was limited to an entry list of seven runners. In the early going, as viewed from the vantage point of my favorite spot, here came the first seven, in a nice, neat white line, led by Spruce Creek junior Jocelin Adona. Trailing them was defending 5 Star Champion, Danielle Hagins of Flagler-Palm Coast. “Before the race, all seven of them were ranked ahead of me,” Hagins explained. “I’ve actually been sick the last two, two and a half months. I had mono, then a sinus infection. Then I kept passing out. I had to be cleared by a cardiologist to be able to run. I missed Ponte Vedre (September 25th) and Pre-States (October 15-16).
“My senior year didn’t go as I had hoped. Mono really kicks the crap out of you…that and the lack of sleep.”
The race almost erased all of that misfortune in a tick under 21 minutes.
“I couldn’t let Zoe (Volenec) beat me, not after last year,” Hagins said, referring to her 2009 5 Star win, in 19:59.92. “Last year, it was me, Zoe (second in 20:32.75), and Julia (Schorner, third in 20:38.83) until the two mile. After the three mile, I dropped them.”
This year’s race was nearly a repeat performance.
“I believe I was eighth at the mile, which I passed in 6:28,” Hagins continued. “I passed the #7 girl. I went through two in 13:35. Zoe was #6. I passed her right at the two mile mark.
“The whole race, it was ‘You can catch those girls; break up the sweep!’ The last 500 meters, everyone was cheering for me.
“I wanted my coach (Dave Halliday) to be proud of me. I passed all of them….It was definitely a kick, and my own self-confidence.”
Hagins caught everyone ahead of her except Jocelin Adona (who crossed first in 20:45), and finished second—perhaps a little disappointed—in 20:59.
Spruce Creek’s celebration, however, was both unbridled and fluid. It moved this way and that, never stopping long enough for an interview until after the awards ceremony. My chance came when the crowds cleared to board buses and cars. Then I was surrounded by all seven, and knew how it felt to be tag-teamed by the best Girls’ Varsity XC team in two counties.
“I was hoping one of us would win,” said Adona.
“It felt really good,” added eventual third place finisher, Kaitlyn Kelly (21:01). “We just used each other to push us along.”
“I think that, if we hadn’t been running as a group, I wouldn’t have done that well,” said fifth place finisher Lindsey Sullivan of her 21:11 time. (Lindsey, a freshman, won the October 12th Frosh/Sophomore Meet in 21:58.)
Kaitlyn added, “I think that having all of us in a pack helped us all to keep going. None of us wanted to slow down because we didn’t want to lose the pack.”
“I’m glad to have them as my teammates,” remarked Zoe Volenec (sixth overall in 21:31).
“We couldn’t have done it without our coaches,” clarified Kaitlyn.
“We have the best coaches,” added Jocelin.
“They push us so hard, and (plan) just the right practices,” explained Tori Ehrhardt, who finished fourth in 21:06. “They really believe in us and give us inspirational speeches.”
Faith Strasser (eighth in 22:31): “They’re like our parents; they never give up.”
“They push us so hard; now we know not to give up,” said Lindsey.
“This is the best team I could imagine,” Rainey Tyner (seventh in 22:20), concluded. “We’re all really close. For example, Zoe wrote us all a letter that inspired us to do well, and we did awesome!”
“She sends us goody bags,” came a voice from the gathering gloom. (I began to lose sight of who was speaking as the evening was beginning to turn into night.)
“Who?” I asked.
“Kaitlyn,” several voices responded.
Mat Miller asked, “What?”
“Oh!” exclaimed Rainey, “You guys don’t get those?”
And as afterthought, Kaitlyn added, “Faith makes hearts.”
“And bakes cookies,” was added.
“I make the goody bags,” Kaitlyn spoke up. “They get them in class. They have candy, and little notes that tell them to do well.”
“An office aide walks in with them,” Faith added, “and it makes me feel so good. I feel like I’m part of a team.”
“Oh, and Lindsey brings us ‘Sports Beans,’” Kaitlyn remembered. “Sport Jelly Beans. We call them magic beans, and share them before the race.”
A shuffling of feet comes from out of the darkness. No doubt a parent who is waiting for the interview without end to, well, end.
“Even though this hasn’t been the best season for me (personally), I’m really glad we have such a great team,” confessed Zoe. “I know that, even if I don’t run well, there’s always someone to run well and cheer me up at the end. It’s not just a team, it’s a family.”
“I love them a lot; they make me so happy,” concluded Rainey.
A jingle of the keys by the City Parks Security Guard signaled that the interview was definitely over.
GIRLS’ VARSITY TEAM RESULTS – Because Flagler only ran three girls, guess what? Spruce Creek placed 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 and won with 15. Mainland was second (8-9-15-19-33-35-40) with 84 points, and New Smyrna Beach third with 87 (12-13-16-22-24-28-31). 51 runners and six teams appeared in the results.
Boys’ Varsity Race
Finally breaking with the pattern established thus far, the Flagler-Palm Coast Varsity Boys did not fall behind the Spruce Creek “long white line.” Almost from the onset, FPC’s Ali Sayed “pushed” the pace.
“Right before the mile, I was third behind Ali and my teammate, Andrew Carpenter,” explained Spruce Creek’s Mat Miller. “At the first mile I passed him (Carpenter) and Ali came up and got ahead of me. I was expecting Andrew to come up, but he didn’t.”
“I wasn’t trying to lead, but after Mat ran through the mile in 5:02, I had to follow,” said Sayed. “I wasn’t trying to do all the work, but I’d get a few steps ahead, throw in a surge, then slow down, and he would take the lead.”
It wasn’t the kind of race that he would have chosen to run.
“I had a double stress injury, in the pubis and ischium. Whenever I tried to run, I was running like a ‘shot deer,’” Ali said. “In workouts, it would hurt so bad. I went to a doctor, and he said to rest for two or three weeks, but I took off even longer.”
Spruce Creek senior Mat Miller, on the other hand, was at his best.
“During the first mile I felt that the race was developing around me. In the second mile, I knew that it was between him and me, and that’s when I knew that I had control of the race.”
“He put in a great race,” said Sayed. “He’s more technical and knows what to do. After two miles my legs started to lock. I tried to hang on until the last 600 in the woods, but that’s where he tried to put in a little gap.”
“Around the baseball fields I surged, and when he came up I saw that his form was breaking down, and that he was getting tired,” said Miller. “The last 600 I knew that if I got ahead of him, I had to keep it, or I wasn’t going to win. I let him use everything he had and then kicked.”
Miller finished first in 17:05 and Sayed was second in 17:16. Kyle Kathman slipped in ahead of Carpenter to finish third (17:17).
According to former SC coach Rich Wendt (1979-1999), the last Spruce Creek runner to win the Boys’ Varsity Race was Rob Circelli, on the SC course, in 1989. Back then, the race was three miles long.
“Before today, there’s never been a time when a Spruce Creek runner won both the male and female race in the same year,” he added.
“It feels awesome!” concluded Miller.
“I’m happy for Mat,” said Carpenter, who finished fourth in 17:25. “He deserved to win. He ran a good race, ran smart, and picked up what I couldn’t do.”
“He’s a good friend and a great runner,” said a magnanimous Ali Sayed.
BOYS VARSITY TEAM RESULTS – Spruce Creek placed six runners in the top ten (1-3-4-6-7-10-14), scoring a stingy 21 points. Flagler scored three more top ten places (2-8-9-15-16-19; 50) for second, and Seabreeze “won the bronze” with 92 points (5-18-22-23-24-35-36). 60 boys and nine teams competed.
Footnotes….With all the chip problems in the last few weeks, it was surprising that this meet didn’t have any…perhaps because it didn’t have chips. Unfortunately, it didn’t have electricity either. A power outage didn’t seem to “short out” Deland coaches Jim Lowenstein (and his wife Vicki) or Dale Papineau. They had hand-written results quicker than you can say Spruce Creek swept all four races. Not only that, but complete results were on my computer before I was. Great job guys!