In the Title Hunt...
- Andres Arroyo (Colonial)
- Danny Fernandez (Miami Columbus)
- Nick Diaz (Sunset)
- Keneth Pineiro (Deland)
- Kurt Convey ( Coral Reef)
- Brandon Marquez (Timber Creek)
- Connor Ferrentino ( Orlando Freedom)
Fighting for the Podium...
- Colonial
- Mandarin
- Miami Columbus
- St. Thomas Aquinas
- Plant
Individual Analysis
Before the district championship, Timber Creek freshman Brandon Marquez called Andres Arroyo "in another league." The Colonial senior is the defending 4A state champion and ranked one of the top runners in the nation. If that wasn't bad enough for fellow competitiors, Arroyo seems to be peaking just in time for this weekend. He recently ran a new season best time of 15:12.61 at 4A Region 1 dubbed the Region of Death for its stiff competition. Arroyo's time was thirty-two seconds faster than Keneth Pineiro of Deland and thirty-nine seconds faster than Marquez. The last time Arroyo was on the Apalachee Regional Park course he dismantled a field of the state's top runners regardless of class. Tyler Bennett of Fort Myers who is one of the favorites in 3A was thirteen seconds behind Arroyo. Arroyo's only two losses of the year came at Bale N Trail where he lost to nationally ranked Josh Brickell of Georgia and a 23rd place finish at the prestigious Great American, where he pushed the pedal to the medal for two miles with two nationally ranked leaders before dying on the last mile. He always talks about running his race, his pace, and that is exactly what he will do. Look for him to take off and not look back.
This race will be a battle for second place. A strong contingent of Central Florida runners versus a couple of standouts from South Florida. Brandon Marquez is coming back from some mild injuries and is racing very well. He finished second to Arroyo at district and behind Pineiro and Arroyo at regionals. He is only a freshman, but has been racing at an elite level for years and had great success in the middle school ranks. Most of these guys minus Arroyo met at the flrunners.com Invitational Race of Champions. Coral Reef sophomore Kurt Convey had the highest finish in that race coming in 8th. Convey also is the best returning finisher aside from Arroyo coming into this meet. Second through eighth place graduated, Convey was ninth. He wasn't feeling race at Pre-State, but has bounced back winning districts and finishing third in his regional. Danny Fernandez of Columbus won 4A Region 3 with Sunset's Nick Diaz coming in second. Fernandez also beat Pineiro and Diaz at Pre-State. All of these guys look to factor in the top ten along with Freedom's Connor Ferrentino, 4A Region 3 champion Anthony Deleva of Coral Glades and runner-up Salvador Medrano. 4A Region 2 champion Paul McKenna and runner-up Lars Benner of Newsome have been running well lately as well.
Team Analysis
For the second year in a row Coach Rene Placensia's team is loaded with talent led by Arroyo and a strong group of seniors. Raul Ramirez, John "Ramses" Proffit, and Caleb Licht all factor to place in the top twenty and give the Grenadiers another state championship. The question isn't if they will win, but by how much. Christian Arroyo was the team's number five runner for most of the season, but it looks that role could fall to either Zachary Riegelmayer, Anthony Hurd, or Kyle Decker. I wouldn't be surprised if Colonial took the team title by 50 to 100 points over their nearest competitor unlike last year which was a 23 point win over Miami Columbus. The real battle will be for second place. Mandarin should have four runners in before Plant's top two, but never count out a Coach Boza squad. The Panthers finished third last year and they are hungry for that runner-up spot. The two teams have not gone head to head this year.
More Research