Scouting Report: John A. Ferguson HS Girls

Florida XC 2012: Team Scouting Reports
Todd Grasley

In one of the closest team battles for the 2011 cross country season, the Ferguson Falcons finished second in 4A; just two points behind champion Plant. The Falcons placed four of their top five runners in the top twenty; unfortunately, they lost two of them, Lauren Gonzalez and Natalie Concepcion, to graduation.

Despite the loss of those top two, the Falcons should have more than enough depth to bounce back. Aylwyn Hernandez is the top state meet returnee after finishing 15th a year ago with a time of 19:12.20. Coach Ryan Raposo emphasizes aerobic training first in his summer training and then increases the intensity as the season progresses. Hernandez was a member of the state championship 4x800 meter relay as were returnees Stephanie de la Guarda and Rachel Licea.

Ferguson has six returnees between 11:41 and 12:11 for the 3200m during track season, and seven returnees went sub 5:50 for 1600m, with the top five of those at 5:31 or better. They should have another battle for the 1-2 spots at District and Region with Our Lady of Lourdes Academy (as always), but overall it looks to be another great year for the black and silver!

Coach Raposo Says...

"The girls team is looking fairly good athletically, but for the varsity group mileage wise, they're not quite where I'd like for them to be. We might need to extend our prep-phase training for a couple more weeks than we're used to, but we're also coming off of our most successful track & field season yet, so being a little bit behind won't be devastating towards our season goals this year. Plus, the girls JV is on point more than ever before, so I expect big things from many of them."
 
"We return five girls from last year's varsity state team, plus our only top-tier senior, who was varsity as an underclassman but was boxed out of last year's state team because of our ridiculous depth. After that we have a couple of young  girls who ran very well during track & field and have had good summer conditioning, which should allow the JV group to close the gap behind the varsity squad. With exception to one girl, who has improved drastically this summer, it should be very difficult for the rest of my JV to break into my current top pack."

 
"Our basic teams goals are to try and win County, Conference, District, Region, and shoot for another top three finish at the State Championship. But none of our local goals will be that easy because Lourdes is strong again this year (like every year!) and the State competition will be as strong as it was last year with Plant, St. Thomas, Lourdes, Hagerty, and Olympia. I've ranked enough of these teams over the years to know that on any given day, any one of a few teams could pull it out."

2012 Returner's Top Times

5K XC

John A. Ferguson HS 375
  1) Stephanie de la Guarda   19:06.96 50
  2) Aylwyn Hernandez   19:12.20 54
  3) Emily Hernandez   19:18.48 65
  4) Lauren Gavulic   19:28.68 80
  5) Katrina Santiago   19:46.07 126
  Average Time: 19:22.48 -- Total Time: 1:36:52.39 -- 1-5 Split: 39.11
  6) Rachel Licea   20:15.00 199
  7) Constance Thurmond   22:21.00 788

3200 Meters

11:41.10 Santiago, Katrina Brian Jaeger Elite Classic 2012-04-14
11:42.71   Hernandez, Aylwyn Ferguson Quad Meet: Miami Springs, American, Southwest   2012-03-07
11:52.78 de la Guarda, Stephanie   Ferguson Quad Meet: Killian, Southwest, Palmetto 2012-03-28
12:02.78 Hernandez, Emily West Kendall Championship 2012-02-25
12:10.26 Gavulic, Lauren Belen Tri Meet: Ferguson, Lourdes, Mater 2012-04-10
12:11.80 Licea, Rachel Ferguson Quad Meet: Miami Springs, American, Southwest 2012-03-07

1600 Meters

5:13.29   de la Guarda, Stephanie   FHSAA 4A District 15 2012-04-21
5:22.77 Hernandez, Aylwyn JAF Invitational 2012-04-05
5:25.15 Hernandez, Emily FHSAA 4A Region 4 2012-04-25
5:26.32 Licea, Rachel Belen Tri Meet: Ferguson, Lourdes, Mater   2012-04-10
5:31.95 Santiago, Katrina JAF Invitational 2012-04-05
5:40.45 Gavulic, Lauren Brian Jaeger Elite Classic 2012-04-14
5:49.29 Bernal, Vanessa FHSAA 4A District 15 2012-04-21

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