Manasota Invitational: Muddy Victories for Edwards, Bennett

Manasota Track Club Invitational
Robert Brown

 

On-Site Coverage

Meet Summary by Robert Brown

The rainwater that stood shin deep on parts of the Macintosh Middle School trail on Monday was banished by course workers by Friday evening, but mud was left in its place on long stretches when the starters gun sounded the first time Saturday morning. A challenging course was now downright difficult as shoes would be lost in and legs would be sapped by the miring muck.

It was cool and breezy at dawn as the record number of athletes poured onto the track that served as the tent city. A beautiful 68º cloudless sky greeted the harriers, coaches and fans at the eastern Sarasota campus, as the place was abuzz with talk about the course condition. Soon all the talk would be silenced as the call to action was heard and the line was toed.

Girls Varsity – Emily Edwards Erases the Field!

The Lakewood Ranch Mustangs were pre-race team favorites and Fort Myers’ Emily Edwards was to lead the way individually and neither disappointed. From the gun it was Edwards who by the mile had built a 20 second lead over Kristin Zarrella & Natalie Novack, Lakewood Ranch, Abigayle Weinfeld & Nicole Mis, Lemon Bay, Angelina Grebe Sarasota and Chelsea Manning, Cypress Lake. By the two mile Emily had a minute on the field and was not letting up leaving the field to sort out 2nd place amongst them selves. At the tape Ms. Edwards was 1:26 in front of the next runner and collected her 4th invite title of the year. Zarrella edged out Weinfeld for second with Grebe and Mis rounding out the top five. Lakewood Ranch put 3 in the top ten and all scorers in the top 13 for the win over a very game Lemon Bay. Naples, Seminole and Fort Myers were separated by 22 points for third, fourth and fifth in that order.

Boys Varsity – Tyler Bennett is Boss!

The boys varsity race lived up to it’s billing as a battle royale in 3A region 3. Fort Myers boys were the clear pre-race favorites on the team side and Junior Green Wave standout Bennett was to lead the way individually. The other top boys were in the mix early with Ace Brown & Dean McGregor, Fort Myers, Bobby Ormsby, Cypress Lake, Courtland Bernard, Sarasota and Buddy Gates & Lee Shearer, Naples taking it out hard. It was Bennett in the lead over teammate Brown at the mile in 4:50 followed by Gates, Shearer, Ormsby, McGregor and Bernard in that order. 10:10 minutes in at the 2 mile mark Bennett had built a 10 second lead over teammate Brown with Shearer and Gates hot on Ace’s heels. McGregor held 4th but a surging Bernard was breathing down his neck in 5th. Bennett finish collected his 3rd title of the year over Shearer by 14 seconds. Brown came in third followed by Bernard and McGregor, with only 6 runners getting under 17 minutes. The Green Wave placed 3 in the top 5 and 5 in the top in the top 22, scoring 42 points to take their 4th win this season trailed by Sarasota just 22 back. Naples, Timber Creek and Seminole rounded out the top five.

JV Races – A Wave of Green!

The JV team races were both taken by the Fort Myers hoard. Brian Kerry, Sarasota won the boys JV individual and Jordan Bayley, Seminole took the top girls crown.

Another awesome meet hosted by Sarasota Riverview HS. Kudos to Sarasota Riverview coaches Jason Means and Paul Optiz and his entire staff, Elite Timing & Event Management, and Macintosh MS for use of its amazing campus. Oh, yeah and a special shout out to the oddest collection of trophies that I have ever seen at any meet anywhere, ever.

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