I’ve been told many times that I am a borderline hoarder. I keep all kinds of random things that remind me of fun times or cool experiences. During the summer and fall of 1998 I was a huge baseball fanatic. As Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were battling it out to break Roger Maris’ single season home run record I started keeping every newspaper after a homerun was hit. For baseball fans this homerun battle was huge. Though it has only been 14 years, it seems like a different lifetime.
Recently while cleaning my apartment and going through some of my storage containers I stumbled upon my stash of newspapers from that year. It was fun reading through the old papers and reminiscing of that epic chase. But to my surprise there was another treasure hidden in one of these newspapers. It was the Sunday, September 6th 1998 stat column. I noticed in the high school stats there were results from a Gulf Winds Track Club High School XC Invitational at Tom Brown Park. I thought to myself, wow, I wonder if I will recognize any of the names. And as I looked through the list of top 15 finishers, the names came flying off the page.
From 1997 to 2002 no team dominated cross country in Florida like Maclay. The boys were runner up in 97 and then went on to win five championships in a row. The girls won in 97, 98, 99, and 01. And were runner up in 2000 and 2002. Here in this results list were names of great athletes who played a huge roll in creating this legacy.
The boys race was won by brothers Caleb and Josh Connor. Caleb a 1999 graduate. Josh graduated in 2000.
Matt Katz was the 6th place finisher. I have a fond memory of Matt that I use as an example to my athletes. I remember a track meet at Chiles where Matt had to run in the consolation race because of some other obligations later that afternoon. Have any of you ever seen that little disclaimer at meets that reminds you that you can place from the consolation races? Well Matt won the event by putting up the fastest time of the day. So when I hear athletes complain about not getting in the “fast heat” I tell them about how Matt pulled it off.
Finishing in 8th place is a little 7th grader that some of you might have heard of. He was runner up in 2000 and 2001 and finally claimed the individual championship in 2002. He qualified for Footlocker Nationals in 2003 and 2004. His story alone could take up this whole article, but I’m sure you know who I’m talking about, Ryan Deak.
Right behind Ryan in 9th was Thure Caire. Thure (real name Michael) was runner up in 96, 97, and 98. And finished off his career in 99 finishing 3rd at state. I had completely forgot this last guy had run cross country. Danny Pellegrino was a state champion Pole Vaulter and I believe a one time state record holder. And yet here he was in 14th place as a 9th grader. Other Maclay greats in the race were Taylor Drake and Joel Serna. I believe Taylor has moved on to become an officer in the USMC.
In the girls race, Maclay had 8 of the top 15 finishers, led by Elizabeth Wester. I believe she went on to be runner up at state in 1998 or 1999.
Runner-up to Elizabeth was Kara Newell. Kara now coaches at Episcopal, but I remember her as a great athlete at Maclay. She was runner up at state in 2001. Kara also went on to run for FSU. Other Maclay athletes that helped those title teams were Jennifer Emo, Molly Drake, Anne Johnasen, Lilly Keller, Anna Meyers, and Kimmie Low.
There were some other athletes in these results from other area teams and even an ex-girlfriend. Below the results were also some results from Pensacola’s Wildcat Invite. I typed up the results in Racetab and have submitted them to flrunners. This seemingly boring day of cleaning turned into a great trip down memory lane.
The Results
RaceTab 3 by MileSplit Registered to: Chris Sumner, Elite Timing & Event Management
GWTC High School XC Invitational - 9/5/1998 8:31:08 AM
Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL
Varsity Boys 2.5 Mile Run
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Name Yr Team Time
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1 Caleb Connor Maclay School 13:37.00
2 Josh Connor Maclay School 13:41.00
3 Bryan Hendricks Lincoln 13:43.00
4 Justin Andrews Maclay School 13:45.00
5 Taylor Drake Maclay School 13:49.00
6 Matt Katz Maclay School 13:49.00
7 Joel Serna Maclay School 13:50.00
8 Ryan Deak Maclay School 13:52.00
9 Thure Claire Maclay School 14:36.00
10 Morgan Johanson Maclay School 14:50.00
11 Jamaal Wilson Florida High 14:51.00
12 Dusty Metz Maclay School 15:04.00
13 Chris Caleen Lincoln 15:12.00
14 Danny Pellegrino Maclay School 15:20.00
15 Robert Bruggner Florida High 15:30.00
Varsity Boys 2.5 Mile Run Team Scores
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Team Pts
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1 Maclay School 18
2 Florida High 77
3 Lincoln 101
4 Apalachicola 192
Varsity Girls 2.5 Mile Run
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Name Yr Team Time
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1 Elizabeth Wester Maclay School 15:53.00
2 Kara Newell Maclay School 16:10.00
3 Anne Johansen Maclay School 17:07.00
4 Rachel Horne North Florida Christian 17:08.00
5 Nicole Possey North Florida Christian 17:09.00
6 Lily Keller Maclay School 18:29.00
7 Erin McElroy North Florida Christian 18:47.00
8 Anna Meyers Maclay School 18:50.00
9 Ami Pla Florida High 19:19.00
10 Kimmie Low Maclay School 19:27.00
11 Brie Allaman Florida High 19:32.00
12 Lori Spooner Florida High 19:35.00
13 Jennifer Emo Maclay School 19:38.00
14 Kayla Lee Apalachicola 19:39.00
15 Molly Drake Maclay School 19:50.00
Varsity Girls 2.5 Mile Run Team Scores
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Team Pts
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1 Maclay School 20
2 Florida High 71
3 Apalachicola 126
4 Lincoln 140
RaceTab 3 by MileSplit Registered to: Chris Sumner, Elite Timing & Event Management
25th Annual Wildcat Invitational - 9/5/1998 9:14:40 AM
Pensacola, Pensacola, FL
Varsity Girls 3 Mile Run
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Name Yr Team Time
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1 Jenny Devie Fort Walton Beach 19:53.00
2 Katy Devoe Fort Walton Beach 20:41.00
3 Mary Elliot Mountain Brook (Tenn) 20:47.00
4 Amanda Bennett Milton 20:48.00
5 April Turner Hewitt 20:56.00
6 Kay Cosby Bay 20:58.00
7 Beth Reed Hewitt 21:00.00
8 Emily Tanner Mountain Brook (Tenn) 21:03.00
9 Jennifer Whitney Leon 21:05.00
10 Colleen Beck Leon 21:06.00
16 Amy Coburn Leon 22:07.00
28 Zita Magloire Leon 22:52.00
29 Brandi Rook Leon 22:55.00
96 Becky Fortson Leon 29:36.00
Varsity Girls 3 Mile Run Team Scores
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Team Pts
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1 Mountain Brook (Tenn) 81
2 Leon 87
3 Fort Walton Beach 128
4 Hewitt 134
5 Jay 146
6 Washington 147
7 Vestavia Hills 173
8 Gulf Breeze 186
9 Smith Station 186
10 Niceville 213
Varsity Boys 3 Mile Run
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Name Yr Team Time
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1 Phillip Laird Niceville 15:57.00
2 Joe Carmona Smith Station (Ala) 16:03.00
3 Brent Schneider Washington 16:30.00
4 Matt Tellman Smith Station (Ala) 16:40.00
5 Michael Joanos Leon 16:42.00
6 Lars Porter Vestavia Hills 16:43.00
7 Craig Kozial Vestavia Hills 16:52.00
8 Kevin Cooke Houston (Tenn) 16:54.00
9 AJ Wilson Pine Forest 17:00.00
10 Eric Rittsen Niceville 17:02.00
16 Larry Rivers Leon 17:23.00
32 Baker Ervin Leon 18:33.00
58 Clay White Leon 19:32.00
114 Joel Brinson Leon 24:00.00
64 Phillip Miller Leon 23:07.00 (JV Race)
Varsity Boys 3 Mile Run Team Scores
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Team Pts
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1 Houston (Tenn) 58
2 Niceville 79
3 Smith Station 109
4 Vestavia Hills 154
5 Washington 154
6 Pine Forest 166
7 Bolton 180
8 Mountain Brook (Tenn) 192
9 Leon 215