Keneth Pineiro

Conference championships are all about bragging rights for the coming year, and for the 5 Star it’s all about as close to a border war as you can have.  On the south side of the border are all the Volusia county schools, and just to the north the very formidable Flagler county powerhouse of Flagler Palm Coast High School.  A trip down memory lane can’t be complete without talking about the cast of characters that has made this event what it is now.  For Flagler Palm Coast the tradition was started with current Embry Riddle Coach Peter Hopfe, and continues under Coach Dave Halliday proudly counting as its own a cast of who’s who in Florida high school distance runners.  

For the past 10 years the 5 Star Conference Championship has only once left the familiar territory of Deland’s Sperling Sports Complex. In 2011 due to scheduling problems and some differences in opinion on what time would be safest for the runners to actually compete the meet will make a rare trip to the Flagler county fairgrounds for tomorrow’s event.  This meet is all about rivalries, and it is well evidenced when looking at the results since 2000.  In the years since the turn of the century the winning team has only had 2 choices in uniform color, either the green and white of Flagler Palm Coast or the black and orange of Spruce Creek. 

Something old, something new: Deland sophomore Keneth Pineiro, hot off his 16:15, 4th place finish in the New Balance Elite Race at the October8th Hagerty Invitational, set a new course record –17:04--in winning the 5 Star Conference Freshman –Sophomore title. Spruce Creek was the team champion with 37 points.

Orange City University HS coach Lisa Eggert decided to take a chance and schedule something new.  The second year coach boldly decided to host her schools very first cross country meet, and with the support system she has in place with her parents and athletic director she can proudly say it went off without a hitch

After two weekends of racing, it's time to see what our volunteer pollsters think about all of the top performances in the state for both teams and individuals in every state classification. There were plenty of changes and new additions, so get ready everyone!

It is looking to be a PACKED race of thirty teams lining up at the Deland Invitaitonal on Saturday. 

Returning everyone from its talented 2010 girls cross country squad, Hagerty High came into this season with high expectations. Those expectations turned to results at Saturday’s 39th Annual Astronaut Rotary Invitational, as the Huskies won the girls race with 35 points, 32 points better than second-place Cocoa Beach. Hagerty’s boys team – which graduated four of its top eight runners from a season ago -- impressed as well, finishing runner-up (82 points) to Winter Park, which won the event with 63 points.

The Flagler-Palm Coast Boys Track and Field team has won the 5 Star title eight times in the past nine years: 2002, 2003, 2005 (129 points), 2006 (159), 2007 (221), 2008 (203.5), 2009 (245), and 2010 (180.5). During this span they have also finished second in the state (2002), and were twice FHSAA overall champions (2007 and 2009). But like a 300 meter hurdler having survived the (first) 8 hurdles in the prelims, they may find the next eight to be far more formidable.

Unintentional though it is, high school track is often a race within a race. The obvious, of course, is the event, be it the 200 or the 3200; the first won by superior strength and coordination between opposing muscle groups, the second by cardiovascular development. Underlying each is a race toward physical maturity, and while it might be genetically determined, in many places—Florida among them—it is a result of demographics. At what age did the athlete begin school; four, five, or six? And, after he did, was he ever advanced, or retained, a grade(s)?

We reached the business end of the season; it was the time for restructuring. When the races ended, only six teams were left. Or, if you were lucky enough to survive regional downsizing as an independent contractor—and were among the top fifteen runners overall--you got one more week on the job (the “one that got away,” so to speak). Everyone else could go on home; see you in the spring. 

Like a blind man attempting to envision the whole elephant by touch, mid-season cross country invitationals give us a “peek” at what might be at season’s end, but not entirely so. Thus, while the results of the Boys’ Elite Race may have felt like a trunk, it must be remembered that it is the same basic shape of that pachyderm’s tail. In this race, the two front runners, Eduardo Garcia and Phil Duncan, met for the last time before the State Meet, each trying to ride the elephant, rather than be trampled by it.

Another crazy Ralph Epifanio adventure... this time taking him into the heart of Central Florida... eventually. Mount Dora High swept the individual varsity races with Ashley Heitling and Zach McLain taking first.