Our photographers took over 7,000 photos at the 2014 Cross Country Finals in Tallahassee! We wanted to highlight their photos in this Behind The Lens article and say thank you for all their hard work throughout the fall. Check out these awesome images!
Coverage
From sixth graders to seniors, every grade was represented at the 2014 Cross Country Finals. We wondered what the top fifty times were by grade. Take a look at the top seniors how they would have fared, and how they actually placed in their respective classes!
From sixth graders to seniors, every grade was represented at the 2014 Cross Country Finals. We wondered what the top fifty times were by grade. Take a look at the top juniors how they would have fared, and how they actually placed in their respective classes!
From sixth graders to seniors, every grade was represented at the 2014 Cross Country Finals. We wondered what the top fifty times were by grade. Take a look at the top sophomores, how they would have fared, and how they actually placed in their respective classes!
From sixth graders to seniors, every grade was represented at the 2014 Cross Country Finals. We wondered what the top fifty times were by grade. Take a look at the top freshman, how they would have fared and how they actually placed in their respective classes!
Flrunners.com had race video coverage of all 8 races from the FHSAA Cross Country State Finals! Watch them here!
Coach Rick Rothman updates the list of the winningest cross country coaches in the state's history. After both the Holy Trinity boys and girls won their eighth state titles each, Coach Doug Butler remains at the top of the list with 16 total championships in his coaching career. Take a look at who moved up the list after picking up state titles in 2014!
Sukhi Khosla repeats in 15:01. 9th grader Gibbons & 7th grader Yared star for the girls at Florida XC State Meet
4A powerhouses Winter Park and St. Thomas Aquinas are the top two girls teams when you put all classifications together. See where the rest stack up.
When we combine all classifications, the 3A Boys teams rise to the top lead by Chiles and Leon.
In possibly the tightest races of the day, Pine Crest's Tsion Yared won the girls race in 18:18.8 and Joel Lacy of Calvary Christian won the boys race in 15:48.3.
The Class A girls set off third, having to endure the tip of the iceberg that was Saturday morning. Temperatures still hovered in the low 40s. Through the starting chute Evangelical Christian's Sarah Candiano and Calvary Christian's Hannah Brookover paced just in front of an eight-girl group, getting out fast under six minutes for the first split.
The battle of the big schools was a close contest for both boys and girls races. The girls race was the very first race of the chilly morning that saw frost on the ground for six of the eight races run on Saturday.
Can we take a moment and acknowledge just how awesome Leon's Sukhi Khosla is? The Leon senior already set down a sub-15 minute and national top 10 time last week at regionals.
It was a great day of races out at Florida's Cross Country Playground! Check out all of our coverage, dozens of videos including race highights and interviews, THOUSANDS of photos, recaps of EVERY race, ALL results and performances entered, as well as our calculated combined scores! Congratulations to all of our athletes and a special thank you to our coverage team of Jason Byrne, Andy Warrener, Donald Lamb, Teri-Bernhardt-Rodriguez, Cedric Gilette and Norie, Jeremy Danzie and Maria, as well as Kyle Butler!
“The Hill.” These are two short and completely vague words in the English language that, when placed together, do little to describe anything except a crest which rises over flat land. However, if you mention “The Hill” to any of the majority of runners in Florida one distinct and specific image will appear in their mind: Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
A stress fracture to Melbourne senior Julie Wollrath opens up the door for other state title contenders. Can Jessica Taylor and the Openshaw sisters lead Creekside to a team title? On the boy's side, Khosla eyes a state meet record and its doable after his 14:52 at regionals at 14:59 at Pre-State in October. Chiles and Leon duke it out for the fourth and final time with everything on the line.
Run Tsion run. Mama and Papa Yared will be out on the course cheering on their middle child as well as sixth grader Mahdere and older sister Mahlet on Saturday. Can the youngster beat out teammate and 2x defending champion Julia Montgomery for the title or will it be Mackenzie Wilson of Bolles. The Lady Bulldogs are looking for their third straight 2A Cross Country Finals championship and even more hardware to bring back to Jacksonville.
The Holy Trinity girls and boys look to be shoe ins for their 8th respective titles and numbers 15 and 16 as a school. Will they also have the 1A individual champion to go with the team trophies?
Now's your chance to show everyone your knowledge of the sport (or just your powers of prediction)... It's our 2014 XC State Meet Prediction Contest... and you have just two days to enter. Guess correctly and you could be on your way to checking out some sweet concerts from our friends at Live Nation Florida. Ready... set... go!