(Photo By Raul Ramirez Sr.)
Meet Summary
On a windy afternoon at Winter Park High School, the Metro area freshmen and sophomore runners took to the Showalter Field course battling the other competitors and the grueling chills from the wind. Both of the races would include fewer runners than a typical meet so entries were unlimited and only the top four from each school would score points for the team with the five, six, and seven runners taking points away from other teams.
The girls began their race and went out at a strong pace. Out in front, almost next to each other, were Olympia’s Emily Headley and Winter Park’s Charlotte Stephens, fighting it out for the lead. Stephens’ original plan was to take off and pick up the pace following the two mile mark but was able to do so earlier as she left Headley right behind in the process. Stephens was the clear winner with her time of 19:28.59 with Headley coming in second in 19:55.14. Stephens’ top finish helped her to lead Winter Park to a narrow victory over Olympia 23-25.
Once all the girls finished, the boys lined up for their race. After a failure with the gun on the original start was fixed, the boys got their race under way. Out in front were Colonial’s Anthony Hurd and Kyle Decker headed the pack along with Edgewater’s Joseph Thrailkill for the first two miles. After two miles, Decker made his move and picked up his pace to help and lead him to a win in 17:02.88. Thrailkill came in second with a time of 17:13.49. Decker’s effort allowed his team to win easily, with a team average of 17:56.90, 30-44 over Edgewater.
With only one month left until the state championships, young competitors now can see where they are positioned and what they have to improve on within the next four and a half weeks.
Complete results and videos (shot via phone)