Lion's Roar Kicks off XC at State Meet Course in Tallahassee

The Lion's Roar
Jeff Fields

On-Site Coverage

Race Recap by Coach Jeff Fields

Twenty teams kicked off their 2012 CC season on FSUs home course on Appalachee Parkway in Tallahassee on Sat 8 Sep.  Locals teams to include Leon, Lincoln, and Godby in addition to out of towners like Fort Walton Beach, Loundes (GA), and Land O Lakes took on the tough, slightly updated course, in some very tough (heat and humidity) conditions.  The course will also have some maintenance done to it in preparation for the FSU meet, 3A Region 1, and 3A State Championships later this year.
 
The times reflected the toughness of the course and the weather, but the runners were just as tough and up for the challenge.
 
In the JV/Community race one of FSUs own led the race with a pack of Fort Walton Beach JV runners close behind.  Overall they all seemed to really enjoy the opportunity to run on this true CC course.
 
In the Boys Varsity the competition was tough between Leon, Fort Walton Beach, Land O Lakes, and MacClay with FWB pulling out the win (minus 2 top 5 runners taking the ACT which was also the case for several other schools as well).  For the pollsters and speculators out there you overlooked a top notch 3A team (and their individual runners) in Leon and they will continue to show that on the course.
 
In the Girls Varsity the heat cranked up even more (they ran second) but they still powered through with Loundes top girl coming in first followed closely by MacClay's top girl, and then FWB's new Freshman Emma Rudman with FWB's Rhianna Moller and Ivy Chastain close behind.  Fort Walton Beach took the team title with Loundes coming in second and Leon third.
 
Overall it was a well run meet and a great way to start off the season getting to know this championship course.
 
All the runners, however, do look forward to cooler temps when they return in Oct and Nov.
 
For our part, Fort Walton Beach was grateful to be included and honored to compete with some great teams and will hopefully get invited back next year!  Great job Coach Sumner!
 

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