De la Guarda Gives Ferguson Back-To-Back Titles, Fernandez Helps Columbus Capture Fourth Straight

FHSAA 4A Region 4
Todd Grasley


(Photos by John Calderon)


On-Site Coverage

 

Meet Recap

The weather was cooler than usual according to Coach Ryan Raposo as the first regional meet of 2012 kicked off at Larry and Penny Thompson Park in South Florida. Many of the teams and runners were hoping to continue their season one week longer and advance to the Cross Country Finals in Tallahassee.

The girls race looked to be a battle between Ferguson and Lourdes and it was in the team standings, but some surprises for the individual title. Lourdes top runner Courtney Filliben was out with a fracture in her foot and it caused the team to do some readjusting at the front of their order. Lourdes Brea led the race for the first mile with several runners in her shadow waiting to make their moves. Ferguson's Katrina Santiago passed Brea to lead the second mile. Santiago suffered from some cramps during the final stretch of the race and that gave teammate Stephanie de la Guarda an opening and she seized on the opportunity. De la Guarda finished first in 19:34.36. Santiago was second in 19:53.34. Lourdes senior Molly Price passed teammate Brea who began to fell off and crossed the line in third with a time of 19:57.18. Aylwyn Hernandez who was one of the favorites for Ferguson was fourth with Brea in fifth.

Ferguson's depth proved to be an advantage as the Falcons were able to get their second consecutive regional title with 22 points. Lourdes was second with 43 points. Coral Reef, South Dade, Miami Coral Park, and Coral Gables round out the six teams that will advance to state.




Columbus senior Danny Fernandez was second at regionals last year. His team finished second at state. Needless to say he was tired of finishing second. At the 4A Region 4 championship Fernandez was on a mission. He led the race from the get go and went full throttle to the finish crossing the line in 16:03.72. After that it was a small pack spread out throughout the second half of the race with Sunset's Nick Diaz, Coral Reef's Kurt Convey, and Killian's Fabian Delgado. That is how they finished as well with Diaz coming in at 16:11.79 for a regional runner-up trophy. Convey was third in 16:23.90 while Delgado was fourth with a time of 16:30.07.

Sunset tried to make up ground on Columbus, but the explorers were too strong and too deep. Columbus claimed their fourth straight regional title 33-44 over Sunset. Ferguson, Coral Reef, Varela, and Miami Coral Park all advance to the state meet next weekend.
 

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights