Jim Ryun Invitational: Wollrath, Salas Soar To Easy Wins on Tough Holloway XC Course Debut

Jim Ryun Invitational
Todd Grasley

On-Site Coverage:

Race Recap

Day two of the 2012 Jim Ryun Invitational kicked off at Holloway Park in Lakeland and the general consensus among runners was that the course was tough with the hills and sand scattered throughout. The times might not have been record shattering, but hey this is Florida, and these runners weren't used to a "real" cross country course. Mike HIll and Chris Kail of Elite Timing had the meet on track and rolling along great. Meet director Paul White described the event as a success and thanked God for the great weather. The racing was great as well as two runners won for another week, while several others had breakthrough performances.



The morning started off with the girls varsity race. A pack of about five girls came through the mile mark including Julie Wollrath, Olympia's Emily Headley, Nikita Shah of Wiregrass Ranch, and Kelly Fahey of Trinity Prep, but during the third mile it became the Julie Wollrath show. The Holy Trinity sophomore separated herself from the pack  and emerged onto the final home stretch with a commanding lead. Wollrath crossed the line in 19:18.60 to win her third race in three attempts. Second place might have come as a suprise to some people. Denae Chapman of Circle Christian was ranked 11th in our virtual meet (goes to show you rankings are for fun). Chapman beat out top five state finishers Nikita Shah (3A - 4th Place), Kelly Fahey (1A - 5th Place), and Emily Headley (4A - 2nd Place) crossing the line in 19:38.00. Last week at Katie Caples, the freshman elected for the varsity race instead of the elite race, and came out victorious. All four will be medal threats at the state meet in November. Wollrath's individual championship helped Holy Trinity edge out runner-up Olympia 59-64.

Highlights: Girls Varsity Race
Interview: Julie Wollrath - Champion




Much like the girls race it was a similar situation on the boys side. Trinity Prep senior Daniel Salas told us last week after his win at the Trinity Prep Invitational he wanted to lead this season by example and for him that meant winning every race possible. At the one mile mark there was a pack of about seven and Salas was just hanging comfortable with the group. After the two mile mark, he decided to pick up the pace, and separate from Travis Nichols of Land O'Lakes, Sam Chandler of St Petersburgh High School, and Alex Brown and Tristan Kattenberg of Holy Trinity. Salas came into the final stretch of the race all alone and cruised to a 16:42.60 victory. He said after the race the course was tough, but he felt good, and thought he could have gone faster. Travis Nichols of Land O'Lakes finished eight seconds back in second. The surprise of this race was Sam Chandler of St. Petersburg. Chandler was seeded 17th on the virtual rankings and ran one of the best races of his career finishing third in 16:53.20. The Holy Trinity duo of Kattenberg and Brown finished fourth and fifth respectively. Holy Trinity placed their top five in the top 34 spots to edge out rival Trinity Prep for the team championship 73-84.

Highlights: Boys Varsity Race
Interview: Daniel Salas - Champion

The junior varsity athletes rounded out the weekend competition. Holy Trinity senior Karina Mann and freshman Stacy Torkelson placed first and second to give the Tigers a near perfect score of twenty points. The boys junior varsity race was dominated by Trinity Prep. The Saints placed their top five in the top seven spots led by individual champion, junior Ryan Hopkins, and third place finisher Parker Place.

Highlights Girls Junior Varsity Race by Dean Headley
Highlights: Boys Junior Varsity Race by Dean Headley
 

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights



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