Meet results and hundreds of photos by Jeff Adams now posted from Saturday's races in Inverness. The cross country season has (unofficially) begun!
Every summer in early July the Citrus Summer Showdown marks the unofficial transition from track & field to cross country! It is a great mid-summer fitness test for many cross country teams in the greater Tampa Bay area. And it's FREE! So this weekend, flrunners.com photographer Jeff Adams will be on site in Inverness to capture the kickoff of the 2009 cross country season in Florida. The Whispering Pines course is a nice off-road and wooded course in beautiful rural Florida. Over the years it has served as a good preview for many teams and featured some great times and top Florida runners both currently in high school and stars from the past. This year rumor has it Ryan Ripley, one of the top high school runners from the early 2000s, will make his return. Ripley has put up some sub-15 minute times during his recent career, so we'll see what he does this weekend. Although I don't have an official entry list, look for teams like Wharton, Land O Lakes, Tampa Jesuit, Citrus, Hernando, and others. Look for folks such as the one and only Lee Stephens, Tyrone Bell, and other former and current Florida Southern College athletes. And the perenial womens race favorite, Pasco-Hernando Community College coach Jackie Waller-Wachtel. The race is organized each year by meet director and founder Milton Lyons (Citrus High and Florida Southern alum) and the Citrus Road Runners. For more information check out CitrusRoadRunners.org. Meet photos will be available here sometime late Saturday or early Sunday.