JACKSONVILLE, FL – This is no ordinary high school cross country race.
Bishop Kenny High School will again play host to one of Florida’s premier invitational meets on Saturday, Sept. 17, in an atypical primetime event under the “Saturday Night Lights.”
Just before dusk, the starter’s pistol will fire to begin an evening of six 5-kilometer races at the Katie Caples Invitational, presented by adidas, The Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute and 1st Place Sports.
The 2011 edition will be the largest yet, with 48 schools registered from throughout the state and more than 1,500 athletes running on Bishop Kenny’s riverfront campus, across the St. Johns River from the picturesque downtown Jacksonville skyline and EverBank Field.
Because of the growth and popularity of the meet, the races will be broken into three divisions for the first time: junior varsity, varsity and elite (limited to the Top 15 entered teams).
The boys’ and girls’ fields are expected to include 19 teams who finished in the Top 10 – and 33 teams who qualified – in their respective classifications at the 2010 FHSAA State Championships, including two defending state champions: Melbourne Holy Trinity (girls 1A) and Winter Park Trinity Prep (boys 1A). In all, scheduled participating teams have won nine state championships in the past three seasons. More than 20 teams committed to attend were ranked in the preseason in their respective classifications in the FACA/flrunners.com Cross Country Poll.
The Katie Caples Invitational is expected to draw schools from the Jacksonville metro area (Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau and Putnam counties) and as far away as the Panhandle, Orlando, Tallahassee, Melbourne, Stuart, Daytona Beach and Gainesville areas to the Bishop Kenny campus for a unique cross country experience under the lights. For a full list of schools, visit the meet webpage on flrunners.com.
The event celebrates the contributions of late Bishop Kenny student-athlete Katie Caples and to raise awareness for organ donation. Spectator admission fees are donated to the Katie Caples Scholarship Foundation.
Race Schedule (all races are five kilometers)
6:25 p.m. – Girls JV Race
6:50 p.m. – Boys JV Race
7:15 p.m. – Girls Varsity Race
7:40 p.m. – Boys Varsity Race
8:05 p.m. – Girls Elite Race
8:30 p.m. – Boys Elite Race
9:00 p.m. – Awards Ceremony
About the Katie Caples
Katie Caples, a member of the 1996-1998 BK cross country and track and field teams, was driving home from a March of Dimes walk in Jacksonville to her home on Amelia Island. As she pulled out from an intersection her car was struck on the driver’s side. After six days of effort, she could not survive the trauma of the accident and passed away on April 24, 1998. Her teammates then, and those now, miss her inspiration but keep her spirit alive through this special race.
The Katie Caples Foundation
Katie’s parents, David and Susan Caples, started a foundation in Katie’s memory in 1998 to provide support to and new initiatives for educational, athletic and other programs that will enrich the well being of middle school and high school students. As an example, each year the Foundation underwrites scholarships for students progressing to higher levels of education. The admission for this race goes entirely to funding those scholarships.
The Katie Ride for Life
When Katie obtained her driver’s license, she elected to be an organ and tissue donor. At the time of her death, Katie gave the gift of life to five people from 9 to 62 years of age through heart, liver, lung and kidney transplants. As many as 100 others were enriched by tissue, bone and cornea donations.
There are more than 88,000 Americans currently on the national organ transplant waiting list with 3,000 listed right here in Florida. Every 13 minutes a new name is added to the list and, unfortunately, every 90 minutes someone dies for the lack of an organ.
As the Katie Foundation became aware of the paucity of organs available for transplant, it elected to take a proactive role in educating Americans about the problem. The Katie Ride for Life is its first initiative. The first ride in April 2005 had 202 cyclists and other participants that raised $35,000 and generated significant public awareness on the issue.
The funds raised will be used to help underwrite a ‘Decision Donation’ education program to target sophomores in high school and encourage them to pledge to be an organ donor when they receive their license an ask their parents to make the commitment when they renew their license.
For more information on The Katie Ride for Life, visit www.katierideforlife.com.
