BOYS WINNER: Nick Morken - Junior @ Niceville
Niceville junior Nick Morken finished 14th at the 3A Cross Country Finals in 2011 in a time of 16:04.30. During the outdoor track season Morken continued to hone his speed posting a new personal best, 4:23.68 for 1600 meters, to place sixth at the state meet. Over the summer he has put in lots of hill work, mileage, core training, and some swim workouts. The extra work has paid off as the junior won his first race of the year at the Washington Wildcat Invitational dipping under sixteen minutes to get the "W" in 15:55.93. Coach Tom Durrenberger says Morken is starting off 2012 where he left off in 2011.
"Nick is a strong middle distance runner and enjoys running at the front. As it is with his personality, so it goes with his running. I couldn't be happier or prouder. It was terrific for him to break the 1-2 mold. Nick's grandparents were visiting and came to the meet to support him. It just goes to show the strong mental and emotional aspects of competitive running."
Morken beat out some of the Panhandle's top runners to get the victory including teammate Thomas Howell and a strong contingent from Fort Walton Beach including Tim Bulger and Trey LaNasa. The next few weeks will be a little different however. Niceville will head to FLRunners 13 in two weeks and then Pre-State at Appalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee the first week of October. It will be a test for Morken against some of the top runners in 3A and across the state of Florida. Coach Durrenberger says it's all part of the plan that if you want to be the best you have to beat the best.
"We just want to keep working hard and improving his time. If he does, we think he'll earn a top-10 finish.Nobody works harder than Nick. As with Thomas, our biggest challenge is getting him to run his recovery days e-a-s-y. We know Nick is a winner and his finish Saturday highlights that point."
GIRLS WINNER: Alexa Cruz - Freshman @ St. Thomas Aquinas
Alexa Cruz was a well known name coming out of the middle school ranks after finishing third at the Middle School Cross Country Championships and then finishing second in the 3000 and fourth in the 1500 during the outdoor season at the Middle School State Championships. Coming into high school many wonderered where this talented runner would end up. She ultimately chose to run for St. Thomas Aquinas and Coach Trish Butler says she fit in with the team right off the bat.
"When I first met Alexa she had a lot of enthusiasm. I was pleased she wanted to be part of such a fantastic school as well as the cross country program. Our team is very young with two juniors, two sophomores, and two freshman so adding Alex to the mix was an easy transition."
The freshman has become an integral factor for St. Thomas which finished third in 4A in 2011. In the first meet of her high school career Cruz finished second at the University of Miami Greentree Invitational behind teammate Christina Kalis in a time of 19:52.74. Not too bad for your first high school race ever. Coach Butler says she was impressed by that first race.
"On her first race I saw her run through a cramp. She tried to relax herself and didn't panic. That showed me how tough Alexa was."
If that race showed her toughness, what she did at the University of Florida showed the potential that lies in the youngster. Cruz destroyed the field of 274 runners finishing first in 18:52.21 nearly 15 seconds faster than runner-up Amber Johnson, and a minute faster than she ran a week before. Coach Butler says her game plan coming into the race was to stick with her teammate Kalis.
"The game plan going into UF was for Christina and Alexa to get into a good position in the lead pack and work the last mile. Her time and place was a bonus. At Uf we weren’t concerned about the time. Times will come. We just wanted to put ourselves in good position in so in mile three we can start to work."
St. Thomas Aquinas has had great freshman come through their program over the years and they've all played integral roles in the end goal which is to be on the podium in November. Alexa Cruz is one of the top individuals on one of the top teams in 4A. Butler believes when all is said and done Cruz can be a great one.
"Alexa has a great head on her shoulders. She knows what she wants and is willing to put in the hard work and willing to make sacrifices to achieve her goals. Alexa has all of the ideals that it takes to be great, but only time will tell how great.
Alexa's Athlete Profile