Welcome back to another edition of the War Eagle XC newsletter.  The season is starting to wind down and with that, several runners are either breaking their PRs or getting close.  As of right now, it looks as though the weather is going to be favorable for some fast races at Boling Park.  But first, let’s talk about the FSU invitational.

FSU Invitational

I have always been impressed by the FSU’s home XC course at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. As I mentioned in the last edition, this course has the capacity to handle large events and this meet certainly fit the bill. Over two days, 14 different races, ranging from middle school to college, took place on the course (click HERE for detailed results). The course is also slated to host the NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships in November, 2021. A great course and all of the fastest teams in one race made for a great day! For a point of reference, the course is basically an oval and the 5k set up has the runners completing two laps. Each lap consists of a long (approximately three-quarter mile) grassy straightaway with some rolling hills and then it bends and gradually goes downhill into the trees.  In the trees, the runners are moving along a well groomed dirt road that also has some rolling hills. From there, the runners climb a hill that lands them back on the grassy straightaway for their second lap.   

The varsity girls were first up and they were pitted against 24 of the fastest teams in Florida.  The gun sounded and the runners set out on the long grassy straightaway. By the time I first saw the runners at the half mile mark, the leaders, including Madelynne Cadeau, were out in front but the pack had not thinned out all that much. Not too far into the trees, the runners passed the one mile mark and by this time, the leaders started to separate from the pack. Madelynne was running in 7th with a 5:32 mile and she was followed by Sophia Baker in 57th (6:02), Sydney Copeland in 69th (6:04), Carmel Yonas in 78th (6:05), Emma in 83rd (6:06), Caroline Patterson in 101st (6:14), Bella Rhone in 103rd (6:14), Ashley Hunt in 140th (6:22) and Katelyn McLean in 183rd (6:32).  As a team, the War Eagles were in 7th place. Several of our runners improved their positions between the first and second mile. For example, Sophia moved up 15 places, Carmel jumped up 21 spots, and Emma improved by 25. As a result of this strong second mile, we were now in second as a team with Newsome, HB Plant, and Chiles just a few spots back. With a little over a mile to go, we looked as though we were headed for the podium if we could maintain our positions and this is mostly what happened with one exception. Caroline put together a strong finish as she passed 17 other runners in between the two mile mark and the finish. At the finish, Pine Crest, a 2,500 student private school with campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, was first as a team (among their notable alumni are Kelsey Grammer and Ariana Grande) with 66 points as their first five runners were all in the top 30. As mentioned in previous newsletters, private schools have a definite advantage over public schools since enrollment boundaries are only as real as a family’s ability or willingness to pay tuition. Newsome’s top five put together a strong showing after the second mile to shore up second place with 192 points.  As for the War Eagles, we finished third overall with 210 points as Madelynne was 7th (18:01), Sophia 43rd (19:25), Carmel 55th (19:43), Emma 59th (19:48), Caroline 87th (20:13), Sydney 106th (20:31), Bella 139th (20:56), Ashley 169th (21:32) and Katelyn 184th (21:48). Alyssa Hendrix of Riverview HS was the first girl across the line with a time of 17:31.        

The varsity boys were up next and as the large pack thundered by, Brennan Bower was running 16th and Mikey Patterson was in 38th.  The rest of the War Eagles were mixed into a pack of about 250 runners as they made the turn into the trees. Brennan was the first runner on our team to pass the one mile mark at 4:49 and at this point, he was in 15th. Mikey dropped a few spots to 65th but his time was still impressive at 5:01. Harrison Siegel and Joe Pontrelli were once again running together and both passed this mark at 5:09 which was in the mid 90s. Nate Verska was in 125th at 5:15 followed by Mark Martin in 129th at 5:17, Colin McClelland in 156th at 5:22, Sebastian Elisan in 169th at 5:24 and Devin Schmuckal in 226th at 5:38. At this point, we were in 15th place as a team but there were still over two miles left in the race. The runners exited the trees and shortly thereafter passed the two mile mark.  Brennan had improved to 12th (10:00), Mikey moved up 15 spots to 50th (10:25), Joe was 83rd (10:39), Harrison was 95th (10:43), Nate moved up 19 spots to 106 (10:47), Mark was 127th (10:59), Colin was 145th (11:03), Sebastian was 160th (11:08), and Devin was 227th (11:48). The War Eagles had an impressive second mile as the team collectively improved 72 places which now had them in 12th place. The runners were now headed down the long grassy straightaway for the last time before turning into the trees. On the gravel road, it seemed as though we were continually passing other runners and it looked like we would continue to climb in the standings as a team. As the runners appeared from the trees and headed to the finish, Brennan was now in 11th and finished at 15:41. From the two mile mark, Mikey improved 20 places for 30th place, (16:12), Harrison once again turned it on the last mile as he passed 36 runners for a 59th place finish. Joe passed 18 to land in 65th (16:34), Nate was 94th (16:53), Mark was 124th (17:14), Sebastian passed 27 in the last mile to finish 133rd (17:19), Colin was 135th (17:20), and Devin was 226th (18:47).  From mile two to the finish, the team collectively improved 127 spots! This impressive last mile moved the team into 6th place overall as we scored 221 points. As predicted, Belen Jesuit Preparatory won the team title with 111 points. Fun fact: Belen Jesuit’s most notable alumni is probably Fidel Castro. The school was originally located in Havana but moved to Miami after Castro seized control of the Cuban government in 1959. George Steinbrenner HS was second with 174, Nease HS was third with 174, Newsome HS was fourth with 202, and Robinson HS was fifth with 203. As for the individual victor, Ethan Geiger of Robinson HS was first overall with a 15:22.

Both our JV girls and boys would be running in the Varsity A race.  Basically, they would be running against the varsity squads from other high schools. The huge pack sprinted moved down the grassy straightaway and turned into the trees.  At the one one mile mark, the War Eagles were running in the following order: Isabelle Cadeau was 87th (6:50), Paige Sobczak was 123rd (7:02), Ansley Rogers was 128th (7:03) Emily Barnes was 131st (7:04), Pragna Veeravelli was 159th (7:12), Janisha Patil was 160th (7:12), Gabby Zucco was 190th (7:28), and Ruth Ann George was 196th (7:31). Several War Eagles on all of our teams improved their positions from mile one to two but no one made as improvement from one mile to the next as Paige did.  From mile 1 to mile 2 she improved 50 places and was now 73rd. Isabelle was now in 102nd, Emily passed 28 and was running in 103rd, Ansley was 130th, Pragna improved by 28 and was in 131st, Janisha was 157th, Ruth Ann was 189th, and Gabby was 191st. After another lap, War Eagles started to cross the finish line and were led by Paige who passed another 25 for 48th place (22:23). Next to cross the line was Emily in 103rd (23:32), Isabelle in 124th (23:54), Pragna in 129th (23:56), Ansley in 147th (24:11), Janisha in 161st (24:23), Ruth Ann in 180th (25:01), and Gabby in 214th (26:26).  As mentioned earlier, this was a varsity race so we were running against some tough competition. Overall we finished 25th with 529 points. New Smyrna Beach HS won team honors with 196 points while Killian Morgan of Mitchell HS led wire to wire and won with a 19:50.

The JV boys were the last of our teams to take on the course. Pujith Veeravelli was the first War Eagle to the one mile mark at 5:18 and this was good for 38th place. Dylan Brennan was next for the team in 82nd (5:27) and was followed by Chris Willusz in 107th (5:30), Ryan Vaughn in 171st (5:41), Aadi Jain in 190th (5:43), Winston Rothaermel in 296th (6:00), Aryan Battula in 309th (6:02), Andrew Wilson in 326th (6:06) and Harris Garmon in 328th (6:07).  For some reason, Patrick Kukucka's times show that he crossed the one mile mark at 14:20 but I am positive that this was an error in timing and the only time that I think is correct for him is his finishing time. After racing through the trees, Pujith continued to lead the team and he also improved to 24th. Dylan was next in 92nd and was followed by Chris in 99th, Aadi in 177th, Ryan in 185th, Winston in 288th, Aaryan who moved up 17 places to 292nd, Harris who moved up 25 spots to 303rd, and Andrew who was 323rd. After the runners grinded through the last lap and sprinted down the hill to the finish, Pujith crossed first for the team in 40th overall (17:40) and was followed by Dylan who passed 15 in the last mile for 77th place (18:13), Chris in 129th (18:34), Aadi in 167th (18:58), Patrick in 193rd (19:09), Ryan in 235th (19:23), Aryan in 275th (19:50), Harris in 281st (19:55), Winston in 285th (19:58), and Andrew in 325th (20:43).  As a team we finished 23rd (out of 42) with 578 points while Palm Beach Central HS took team honors with 114 and Jared Hammill from Wharton HS won individual honors with a 16:33.  

Our runners put together a strong showing in Florida as 13 runners ran their season’s best time while 9 ran PRs. I have updated the chart at the end of the newsletter to show new season best times and / or new PRs. If a runner’s season best time or PR is in bold, that means they ran that time this past week. I also added a new column to show how many seconds they took of their season best or their PR. If a runner had their season best and their PR, the difference column indicates how much they took off of their PR. In addition to the great times, I want to pass along a few shout outs. First off, the cross country team was well represented at the National Honor Society induction ceremony this week. In addition to academics, there was a service and leadership component required in order to be admitted. These student-athletes should be quite proud of their work inside and outside of the classroom. Lastly, I always enjoy watching the support that all of our teams provide for one another. They always cheer each other on and if they are not running, they are at the finish line and they are at the first people to congratulate their teammates. This was especially evident when Harris crossed the finish line in 19:55. This was the first time that he had finished under 20 minutes and when he crossed the line, the boys varsity looked at the time and cheered loudly for him when they realized he had joined the 19 minute club. That right there made the long drive to Florida worthwhile!   

Area 3 Region 4 and 5 7A Championships

Boling Park in Canton is the site of the regional championships and it will be quite competitive and fast.  For example, four (Lambert, SFHS, Walton, and West Forsyth) of the top five boys 7A ranked teams will line up together on Saturday while five (SFHS, Milton, West Forsyth, Walton and Lambert) of the top ten ranked 7A girls will do battle. The course is also very flat which means very fast.  As of right now, the weather could be a factor as rain is in the forecast and temperatures are going to be in the low 50s. These temperatures might not be great for spectators but they are great for runners, let’s just hope that the rain holds off until the races are done. If so, we could see numerous PRs. No matter what the weather holds, it is likely that our boys and girls varsity teams will contend for the region crown as we are mostly healthy and the summer miles and speed work have been quite evident in the last several races.

Here is the race schedule:

o 8:30 am JV top 10 Girls

o 9:05 am JV top 10 Boys

o 9:40 am Varsity Girls

o 10:15 am Varsity Boys

o 10:50 am JV open Girls

o 11:35 am JV open Boys

o 12:15 pm Awards Ceremony

Finally, the race information did not have anything posted about the cost of entrance but I have been to numerous races on this course and have had to pay every single time so make sure to pack some cash.  That’s it for now, see you at the races!