5 Star Freshman/Sophomore XC
By Ralph Epifanio
I love this meet. Here, in one tight, two-hour package, is running as it should be: athletic enthusiasm without ego; volunteers that show up without being compelled to do so; seemingly more parents and spectators than competitors; and, with these kids, a bright future without a dark past. Here, too, is cross country without conformity: style, not necessarily dictated by substance; individuality without embarrassment; unabashed pacing by unashamed parents; interviews of kids who don’t know when to keep talking, that, for “color” involves parents who don’t know when to stop; winners without a race strategy, and runners who will never need one; all participating with the same level of commitment. In simple terms, a conference championship on training wheels.
Being held at Spruce Creek—other schools need not apply—since 2007, this is one of those heterogeneous courses that has a little of everything: a fast, roomy start on grass; lots of twists and turns past the various athletic fields (proving, without argument, that XC runs circles around other sports); “the hill,” such as it is, giving the term “being dropped,” more of a literal meaning; narrow, winding, sandy trails through the woods; and a finish on the football field--during band practice—proving, once again, that maybe they can march, but we can run.
Girls’ 5K (for most, anyway)
As photos will illustrate, this year’s course featured a little more sand than usual. While I can’t prove how it got there, I have my suspicions. First, there were all these red t-shirts, emblazoned with “We Run the Beach.” (Seabreeze, in case you’re not from around here, wears red.) Next, there’s that school’s location, about 22 seconds—at a 200 meter pace--from the ocean, and all that fine, white sugar sand. And third, you’d have to go back quite a few years to find a F/S Girls’ Champion that was not from Spruce Creek. So, how did they do it? A dump truck with a bed higher than SC’s chain-link fence? With thousands of those little plastic shovels and sand pails? Or maybe a nocturnal mining operation? (The lake did seem a little larger this year.)
At any rate, teammates from that little red school, Josie Gray and Elizabeth Murray, breezed to a one-two finish in the Girls’ race (as did male teammate Zach Kometas in the Boys’).
“Our coach always tells us to sprint it out in the beginning,” said Gray, “then keep up a good pace. (Here) there’s always that big hill. My friend, Elizabeth—she’s a freshman on the team—pushed me up that hill.”
“We train together, and run the same pace,” added Elizabeth Murray. “We get as close as possible in meets.”
So close, it would seem, that they rather regularly trade finish places.
“So far,” continued Murray, “she’s beaten me at Embry Riddle”-- (on September 22nd; Gray ran 21:47.08 and Murray 21:53.49, finishing 11th and 13th, respectively)—“and here.”
At the September 15th Deland Invitational, Murray finished eighth in 20:39—her best so far-- and Gray 13th in 21:12. Murray also won (overall) at the October 6th Titan Invitational in Orange City, and Gray came in third (20:55).
“(Today) I just wanted to see how I ranked against people my own age,” explained Murray. “A lot of juniors and seniors are faster. This was my big chance. My coaches and my dad helped by motivating me.”
And after this?
“We feel we have a chance to do better in the Conference Championship this year. We have more strength in our freshmen and sophomores, but also our juniors—Cat Baker and Izzy McCloskey--are doing really well.”
“We have some of the top runners in Volusia County,” added first year Seabreeze coach, Debora Diaz. “It’s really exciting. They’re pushing each other, and working well (together). Just about every race, there are two or three girls who set PRs. Plus, our best two runners”—Murray and Gray—“are a freshman and a sophomore. It looks good for our future.”
That could also be said for a team further down the coast: New Smyrna Beach. Leading that team, in this meet at least, is sophomore cross country runner Payton Rajotte. As her mother, Carrie Seifert, explains, Payton’s career began as a result of her softball career taking a different bounce.
“My daughter was an all-star, traveling softball player. She went out for cross country for conditioning. But then her coaches called me after her first race”—she finished third on the varsity, in 23:44, at that September 17, 2011 Katie Caples Invitational--“and asked me ‘How long has she been running?’ I answered, ‘Besides bases? This is her first time.’”
By mid-season that year, at the October 15, 2011 Terrier Invitational, the freshman had moved up to the first spot and PR’d in 21:28.22. After cross country came track—much to the chagrin of her softball coaches—and now a second season of cross country. At (this year’s) FLR XIII Invitational Race, where she finished 36th, she lowered her best to 20:37.40, which according to Payton is a record.
“I broke the all-time New Smyrna Beach school record. The old one was 21:04. I ran 20:37.”
This meet, however, offered Payton a different sort of opportunity.
“I knew that this was my last race in the Freshman/Sophomore meet, so I wanted to push myself the hardest,” Payton said, “and I did really well. It was one of my top times for the year (21:28).
“I thought it was a good course. It’s not my favorite, but I liked it, especially (running through) the woods. Trails are one of my favorite parts of running. At New Smyrna Beach, sometimes we practice on the beach. But this year, we had no beach meets.
“My coach, Stew Edwards, is really inspirational, and has taught me a lot. Last year was his first year, and it was also mine. So we were kind of doing this together. Our whole team is one big happy family. We’re not individuals, but a team family.
“We want to make the Regionals again. Last year was the first time in seven years that our team went to Regionals, and I was a freshman, so it was really cool. I’m hoping that I can go to Regionals every year of my high school career. I love cross country.”
Girls’ Team Championship
Although FPC made a run at it, it was—again—Spruce Creek with 57 points (7-10-12-13-15-16-19). FPC was second with 62 (5-6-11-14-26-39-40), and Orange City third with 97 (4-9-20-30-34-35-48). 82 runners and seven teams scored.
Boys’ 5K
Winning the boys’ race, also with a little sand in his shoes, was 15 year old Seabreeze sophomore, Zach Kometas.
As Zach explains, his was a cometic rise to the top of his running class.
“I started running cross country last year, but only ran one meet”—18:26 at the September 17, 2011 DeLand Invitational—“and (then) got hurt. I ran track, and some road races once in awhile, but it was not like I was training. I’d just go out and run.”
This season, however, things are different, and he has steadily climbed in the overall finishers’ ranks. Back at the DeLand Invitational (September 15th), he finished eighth and lowered his best 5K time to 17:44. At the October 6th Titan Trail Run, he finished second to CJ Westfall in 18:02.6. And here he led everyone in 18:07.
“Once the race started, I knew the guys out front—from Flagler—were going out faster than I could run. So I just started running an even pace. I think they must have slowed down, and I tried to catch them.
“I caught them on the hill, just before going into the woods. (After that) I just ran my race. All of the runners that I passed tried to stay with me, and the guys behind me were (trying) too. I didn’t know how far behind me they were, but started my sprint in the woods, and went all-out on the track.”
Finishing eight seconds behind him was Markell Peck, from Flagler-Palm Coast. As mentioned, Markell led for a good part of the race.
“I tried to get out and help FPC pace the race, get first place,” he explained. “The hill kind of got into my mind and messed me up. It slowed me down. I got passed in the second lap, right at the top of the last hill.
“He got about ten seconds ahead of me. We came out at the fence (opening to the track), and I knew I had to pick it up, but he got the better of me.”
According to Markell, his season is far from over.
“My goal is to hit 17:30. Our (FPC) top 20 are trying to get into the 18s, and we want to win States.”
One of the key runners for that end of season plan could be sophomore Tyler Dinero, who finished fourth overall for FPC.
“This is my first year. I did track the previous year, and my coach asked me to go out for cross country. It’s been really good. I’m like seventh or eighth on the team.
“In this race, I wanted to try and (keep) pace with Markell the whole race. We were leading for the first mile, but at a mile and a half, he dropped me. Then, a little later, someone else (Kometas) passed me. I finished fourth (18:41).”
In between the two FPC runners, in third, was Spruce Creek’s Steven Wofford (18:22).
Boys’ Team Results
Led by Peck and Dinero, FPC placed five runners in the top ten (2-4-6-7-10-35-40) to win with 29 points. Seabreeze (1-9-14-15-17-19-25) was second, beating host SC (3-11-12-13-18-31-34) by one point, 56-57. 88 runners and 8 teams completed the meet results.
Footnotes: As always at this time of year, I have to wonder why, if a championship is decided among teams that reside in Volusia and Flagler Counties, said event does not include all such teams. Conspicuous in their absence, in my mind at least, were representatives of Atlantic, Taylor (Pierson), and Matanzas High Schools. What is a conference, if anything, but the all the member schools within the geographic area that encompasses its boundaries?