Good Conditions, Fast Runners Set To Fly In Florida

By Todd Grasley for DyeStat

Cool temperatures at Apalachee Regional Park could make for some eye-opening performances Saturday at the Florida state cross country championships in Tallahassee. 

If a state meet record goes down, the best bet is in the Class 4A girls race. Six girls in the field have gone under 18 minutes, led by 3,200-meter state record holder Parker Valby (17:07.84) and 2018 Foot Locker finalist and North Carolina State commit Alyssa Hendrix. The pair went head to head at the 4A Region 2 meet, with Valby picking up the win. 

The rematch is Saturday. Hendrix was third as a freshman, runner-up as a sophomore, and won the title last year.

Lawton Chiles teammates Alyson Churchill, who won the individual title in 2016, and teammate Caitlin Wilkey, hope they can work together and disrupt the frontrunners. Both were a part of a team that won the 3A championship and qualified for NXN last year.

In 3A, the quest for the girls team title could go to a handful of teams including St. Augustine, Winter Springs, Sunlake, Robinson, or Leon. The individual battle features Valerie Lastra, a Foot Locker finalist and reigning champion, taking on Fort Myers senior Stephanie Ormsby, who ran a PR of 17:46.5 at the FSU Pre-State meet. She’s run sub-18 four times this season and has improved her time by nearly two minutes from a year ago.

While Satellite can make its case for the best boys team in the state of Florida, Belen Jesuit may think differently. The Wolverines seem to be on the podium every year, with 10 state titles since 1995. Frankie Ruiz's squad is looking to win its third consecutive this weekend and has a powerful trio at the top of the line up with Diego Gomez, Adam Magoulas and Javier Vento.

Those three individuals, combined with Lake Wales' Anderson Denton, the state leader in the 5k this season, and Robinson's Ethan Geiger, probably the most consistent runner this year, could produce the fastest of the day.

Only Sukhi Khosla has run under 15 minutes on the Apalachee Regional Park course (14:59.45 at 2015 Pre-State). Denton, who will call FSU his college home, ran 14:57.30 for third place at Great American. His coach. Denton's emphasis this season is on the state meet and the postseason. Geiger, recently committed to the University of Florida,ran 15:22.3 to win the Pre-State meet on Oct. 12. Denton beat Geiger head to head at the 3A Region 2 meet last weekend by 12 seconds.

The 2A girls race is headlined by the Pine Crest girls, the highest ranked team in the state overall. The 2018 NXN qualifiers boast two runners with personal bests under 18 minutes, including two-time NXN finalist Tsion Yared and Brown University commit Emily Faulhaber. Yared is going for her fourth individual cross country state championship. She won the race in 17:26.63 last year, the second-fastest time of her career. Bolles should give Pine Crest a battle for the top spot, but in the end the Panthers are expected to have too much firepower.

On the boys side, coach Doug Butler has another opporunity to demonstrate why he is one of the winningest coaches in Florida state history. He knows how to get the most out of his athletes come November. Butler’s Satellite squad was the top-ranked Sunshine State squad at Great American with a seventh-place showing and is the favorite for the 2A crown. Junior Gabe Montague has a personal best of 15:33.40, seven performances under 16 minutes, and six wins this season.

In Class 1A, the girls team battle could be a repeat of last year’s final between Circle Christian and Oak Hall. These squads are no stranger to the podium and finished 1-2 last year. Sinkenesh Parker and Lauren Jones finished second and third last season, and with Carly McNatt transferring to IMG and not eligible to compete, should be the favorites. Cambridge Christian is also in the mix led by the Friedman and Mayer sisters.

Junious Brown IV of Maclay is a small-school athlete who deserves to be mentioned among the state's best. Brown was seventh as a sophomore and third as a junior at the state meet. His personal best of 15:14.5 from Great American is more than 20 seconds faster than his next closest competitor.