On-Site Coverage
The Escambia Equestrian Center in Pensacola wasn't just home to horses on Saturday morning. Teams from Northwest Florida, Georgia and Alabama, put their thoroughbred runners on display at the 2012 Gulf Coast Cross Country Stampede. It was a great atmosphere as well as the event boasted t-shirt customization, a Running Wild retail area, a graffiti artist, customized spikes, a dance off, and a designated cool down zone!
High school runners weren't the only athletes in attendance. The college women kicked off the party in the 5k. Paige Rankin of Alabama State took individual honors in a time of 18:52.10 beating Jacksonville State's Kailey Jensen by just over eight seconds (19:00.30). Jacksonville State placed three runners in the top six, but it wasn't strong enough to overtake champion Emory who had six in the top ten winning with 36 points.
The college men added 3k to run the standard 8k distance. Joash Osoro of William Carey came down from Mississippi and dominated the field crossing the line in 25:05.80 to win. Caleb Carmichael, who ran for Running Wild Run, finished second in 26:23.10. Matt Brick of Jacksonville State was third. Lucas Mees of Emory came in fourth as the Eagles took the boys championship to make it a clean sweep in the college team categories.
After the college races, the high school kids took to the course. Alabama came into the Sunshine state and took control of the girls varsity race taking the top five spots led by the states top runner Carmen Carlos. The McGill-Toolen Catholic senior is a multiple state championships in both cross country and track and field and showcased why she is one of the best in the south by dismantling the field in a very impressive time of 18:41.10. Kathryn Lazarchick out of UMS-Wright finished second in 19:08.90. Despite, the great showing by Alabama, it was a Florida school that emerged as team champions. Ivy Chastain (6th) and freshman Emma Rudman (8th) led Fort Walton Beach with 85 points. The team placed their top five in the top twenty-nine spots and had a team average of 20:24.22. Scottsboro out of Alabama was second and Marietta High School out of Georgia was third.
Florida had a great showing in the boys race courtesy of Niceville and Fort Walton Beach. Niceville junior Thomas Howell took the win over Ben Pleak of Marietta and teammate Nick Morken, who won last week over Howell. Howells 15:48.80 was twenty seconds faster than his time at the Washington Wildcat Invitational. Howell and Morken will definitely be a tough duo in 3A and they still have one more year left. So watch out in 2013! While Niceville packs a solid 1-2 punch, another northwest Florida team, Fort Walton Beach does things a little different. The Vikings have cruised through competition by strong pack running. Their top five led by Tim Bulger finished sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth, and eleventh. Their spread was an incredible fifteen seconds with a team average of 16:42. That was enough to beat out Marrieta for the team trophy 41-62.