- Complete Results & Coverage
- Video Interviews By Craig Janson
- Photo Album By Craig Janson (496 Photos)
- Photo Album By Darrell Laxton
Chain of Lakes Park has always been a beautiful place to hold a cross country meet, and today was no exception. With clear skies, and a temperature that was more than accommodating for this year’s edition I got out of my car thinking to myself that it was weird that there was so much water in the parking lot. It appeared that someone left the sprinklers on overnight, but in reality Mother Nature had delivered a soaking rain on Friday evening that left much of the course submerged, and the higher ground if you could find it was infested with ants with attitude. None the less this was the hand that 1,178 athletes were dealt for opening day, and they responded with grit and determination that will no doubt have some coaches smiling while others will be reworking longer term plans.
Girls Varsity:
Bryce Seymour has come back home to Hagerty High School, and coach Jay Getty should be smiling after watching this young lady dominate Alligator Alley, along with all other areas of the course in route to a convincing winning time of 18:40.80. After getting out in a relatively comfortable (5:46) for the first mile with Adair Lyden, the recent freshman transfer to Lake Nona in tow Bryce opened the gap during the second mile over her younger competition coming thru in (11:53) leaving all others in her wake. Satellite’s Christina Hamilton opened her cross country career with a time of 20:00.22 finishing third, while teammates Sara Hammond and Nina Li of Merritt Island rounded out the top five with times of 20:08.02 and 20:18.32 respectively. Finishing sixth was Alycia Loriz of Spruce Creek (20:25.59) followed by Hagerty teammates Kerstin Sosa(20:27.42) and Tiffany Gargiulo(20:29.81). Claire Castillo of Titusville was 9th (20:31.10) and the top 10 was rounded out with Hagerty’s Breanna Johnson(20:40.63). In the team title Merritt Island placed four runners in the top fifteen on their way to victory with 73 total points. Second place Hagerty (131) showed well without one of their top ladies, followed by First Academy (193), Spruce Creek(204) and Vero Beach(212) rounding out the top five spots.
Interview: Bryce Seymour
Boys Varsity:
Keneth Pineiro of Deland and Justin Schanze of Oviedo provided a great battle of wills as they stayed almost side by side for the entire 3.1 miles. Both runners hit the mile in stride at 5:09, and Pineiro hit the two mile mark at 10:46 opening a small gap on Schanze, but the gap closed significantly during the final 800 meters with Pineiro winning (16:34.56), Schanze (16:36.97). Xavier Walton of Titusville(16:41.40) was third, followed by John Lindsey of Winter Park(16:53.68), and Burkhardt Helfrich of Boone(17:02.88) rounding out the top five spots. Six thru ten were Anthony O’Neill of University(17:05.17), George Velz of Lake Nona(17:16.38),Benjamin Roberts of Winter Park(17:26.17), Antonio Montalvo of St. Cloud(17:27.14), and Cameron McCutcheon of Lyman rounded out the top 10 in 17:34.15. On the team side it was a close battle between Boone and Lake Nona, but in the end Boone’s two thru four runners pack style finish was just a bit too much for Lake Nona as they got edged out 124-135. Winter Park (144), Timber Creek(178), and Oviedo(206) rounded out the top 5 spots. Brandon Marquez’s initial debut was put on hold as the middle school standout, now at Timber Creek did not run.
Interview: Keneth Pineiro
Girls Junior Varsity:
I preach continuously that JV is the heart and soul of the team, but then again I may be slightly biased since that is the group I am assigned to. The girls JV took to the wet, slippery course as the sun rose higher, and the humidity did nothing but sop the strength of these next generation varsity athletes. Monet Madeux of Merritt Island took the lead from the gun and never looked back as she dominated the field with a time of 23:38.03. Second and third place went to Spruce Creek teammates Leah Glassburn(24:26.79), and Sydney Volenec(24:29.50). Jessica Parker of Merritt Island was 4th(24:30.79), followed by Nora Holihan of Lyman in 5th(24:40.40). The team battle was close with Spruce Creek and Winter Park placing all five of their top runners in the top 21 spots, but for today the Creek rose to the occasion with four in the top 10 to total 45-57 over Winter Park, and Timber Creek, Lyman in a tie for third that ended up in Timber Creek’s possession based on the tiebreaker procedure.
Boys Junior Varsity:
For every varsity runner that enjoys the accolades of being one of their school’s top seven there is at least one JV runner that wants to make you earn your spot. Bryan Capps and Davis Coleman of Boone proved today that they definitely wants to be considered for their teams varsity. Capps took top honors with a time of 18:50.00, followed by his teammate (18:55.00), followed by Lyman’s Jordan Armstrong and Joshua Jacques(19:02.57)(19:11.37), with Wyatt Anderson of Oviedo rounding out the top five in 19:12.61. The Braves of Boone finished the work of their varsity by completing the sweep scoring 50 points over second place Lyman’s 60, and Oviedo’s 62.
For a first week it was everything you could want, minus the ants. A well run meet with special thanks to Coach Canfield and Elite Timing, on a great course that showed it can in fact be slowed by Mother Nature. I am hopeful that for the upcoming FLrunners13 meet that Mother Nature decides to be compassionate, and that the ants have found a new home as fertilizer within the ground. Until then, may your miles be many, your bodies healthy and your lives blessed.