Regional editor: Ricky Quintana
 
 
Region 2 - Southeast
 
 
AL, DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, KY, TN, VA, WV, DC, PR
 
 
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2004 cross country Week 3 preview Sep 4

Some meets affected by Hurricane Frances threat

by Ricky Quintana, NTN Southeast regional editor

Sept. 4

  • Jacksonville, FL Katie Caples CANCELLED DUE TO HURRICANE FRANCES THREAT

Meet director, Brian Devine of Bishop Kinney, was hoping that there will be a race Saturday. Hurricane Frances, the 6 th hurricane this year, forced the cancellation on Wednesday.

North Florida’s traditional season opener was going to feature some very talented individuals and teams.

What could have been:

Girls

Team
Florida’s girls have made huge improvements in the past 5 years, and Katie Caples will feature some of the best in the state. The top ranked team in the NTN SE Region, Holy Trinity Academy ( Melbourne, FL) is scheduled to make the trek north along Florida’s coastline for it’s official season opener. New #1 runner, Kayla Hale, the 1A state champion as a 7 th grader, will lead the state’s best team. Last year’s number 1, Rebecca Zuhlke and number 2, Chelsey Joiner will try and stay close.

Expect a challenge from hometowners, The Bolles School. They feature two sub 19:00 performers, Amy Beth Gallogly, a top flight swimmer who is focusing on running this year, and Heather Marees. Bishop Kinney transfer Tiaira Harrell should add strength to The Bolles School team that could make waves this year.

Buchholz, coming off a solid performance at last week’s Gainesville Jamboree, Bishop Kinney, Episcopal and Oak Hall will be teams to watch.

Individual

Last year’s 3A state xc runner-up, Kelly Parish ( Ocala, Vanguard), parlayed her xc success into even greater things in track. The junior posted PR’s of 4:57.07 in the mile at the Florida Relays and a 10:50.36 two mile at the Mobile Meet of Champions. She then went on to anchor her team in the 4x 800m(2:13) and claim the 1600m(5:05) and 3200m(11:16) titles at the 3A state track and field championships.
After recently running a three mile time trial in an evenly paced time of 17:10, Parrish will have a great opportunity to take down Robyn DeBenedet’s(Episcopal) course record of 19:09 set at last year’s meet.
Her challengers will include the aforementioned Holy Trinity and The Bolles School runners, plus Mallory Wellman of Bishop Kinney, Maggie Traylor and Laura Steele of Episcopal.

 

Boys

Team

Holy Trinity( Melbourne, FL) lost some of their strength up front when Austin Joiner went down before last week’s meet. They still were able to average a respectable 17:20. Look for faster performances this weekend from their top five.
A good group from Buchholz and Episcopal will be a threat to win the team title. Last week, on a very slow Gainesville Jamboree course, the Bobcats averaged 17:40. Episcopal, the defending 1A state champs, had number 1 runner, Tim McLeod, transfer, but returns the core of their team.

Others who could possibly be in the mix are Wolfson, who has two sub 10 performers in Justin Davis and Marcus Coleman, Flagler Palm Coast, Chiles and Vanguard.

Individuals

The boy’s field is loaded this year with several of the state’s best runner who are gearing up for their first race of the season. Steven Hassen’s 2002 meet record of 15:45.4 could definitely fall this year after withstanding a scare from Tim McLeod’s(Episcopal) 15:49 win last year.
Jeremy Criscione ( Interlachen, FL) finished last year as one of the best and most promising runners in the state. The junior sped to a 10+ second PR at the 2A state 3200mchampionships to finish second in 9:13.06. Criscione was runner-up at this meet last year in a splendid time of 15:57 and should be much improved after a good summer of training.
Flagler Palm Coast’s, Justin Harbor, was the top sophomore in the state last year winning the 4A 3200m state and recording bests of 4:16.77 in the 1600m and 9:18.22 in the 3200m. He should be ready to challenge Criscione.
Joseph Taylor( St. Joseph’s) used a strong kick to win the 1A state championships in the 800m and 1600m in May in solid times of 1:59.43 and 4:21.25. This summer, Taylor posted a victory at the Bridge of Lions 5k in St. Augustine, FL in a time of 15:50. He should be a force this season.

Bishop Kinney’s Chris Mullaney is questionable for this weekend.

 

  • Pensacola, FL Wildcat Invitational

Several teams will gather for this traditionally strong meet. This year, there have been some last minute withdrawals, but the meet should feature some great match-ups nonetheless as teams from FL, GA, TN and AL get their first interstate test.

Boys

Team

Host school Washington has one of the best top three returnees in the NTN SE Region. Eric Mayes and Mitchell Mason both slipped under 16:00 last year and will provide a strong 1-2 punch after recording 9:30 and 9:32 on the track. Stef Ackerman is a strong third man with a best of 16:31. 4:20 1600m runner, Brian Hoover, and 4:32 1600m Pensacola Woodham transfer, Neel Stewart, will be two key players in Washington’s success this year. If they can transfer their track speed to cross country, this may be the strongest 5 in the NTN SE Region.

Mtn Brook (AL) will be on hand to challenge Washington. The 6A State Champs return seven of their top nine.
Other top team entered at press time are Pensacola Catholic(FL), 11th at State 2A in 2003, St Paul’s Episcopal, (Mobile, AL), 3rd at State 5A in AL in 2003, Walton HS(GA), 3rd at State 4A in 2003, and Bolton HS, Memphis, TN, 4th at State in 3A in 2003.

Individuals

GA’s #1 xc runner, Sam Bryfczynski, will be trying to build on last week’s win a the Walton Raiders Stage Races in Gainesville, GA. He’ll get a challenge from the Eric Mayes and Mitchell Mason.

 

Girls

Team

Several girl’s teams will trek to the Florida panhandle in what could be a great team competition. Our Lady of Lourdes( Miami, FL) have added two transfers who may make a big impact this season. Sasha Mera and Jillian Gill, two sub 19:00 performers, will try to step in and lead. Veterans Alexa Arteaga, Katie Brown and Kyla Salles will provide experience and freshman Megan Hoar may surprise for the 4 time state champions.

St. Paul’s, the 5A state runner-ups last year by 6 points, return their top 5 and 6 of their top seven.
2002 Foot Locker finalist(27 th) Tara Lenn returns for her final year. She had a good spring winning the 1600m and 3200m state meet. Her teammate, freshman, Mary Johnston should give them some firepower up front after finishing close seconds to Lenn in xc, and the 1600m and 3200m in track.

Others who could factor in to the team race are Pensacola Catholic, 5th place State 2A in 2003, Choctawhatchee HS, 15th at State in 2003, Pace HS,16th at State in 2003, Gulf Breeze HS,12th at State in 2003, and Walton HS, Georgia,12th at State 4A in 2003.

Individuals

St. Paul teammates Tara Lenn and Mary Johnston are the top two entrants and should get a challenge from Anna Greskovich( Pensacola Catholic, FL) and Lourdes’ top three, whichever order they may be.

 

  • Spartanburg, SC Eye Opener

Some of the best teams in South Carolina will square off in Spartanburg this weekend. Teams from AL and NC will also the trip adding some depth to the otherwise deep fields.  

Boys

Teams

Smith Station head coach, Coach Evilsizer began his program in 1990 and in three years he won the first state team championship in school history. He has not been able to duplicate the feat since. Until possibly this year. Boasting a roster of all underclassmen, Evilsizer believes this is the hardest working group since his 1993 championship team.The youngsters have been logging 70-90 miles per week and are looking forward to the opener. Preliminary results indicate that the summer work has paid off. The trio of Tim English, Jay Moulton and John Neill clocked 15:22, 15:40 and 15:50 times in a mid August road race on a relatively challenging point to point course.

Fort Mill(SC) looks to be their toughest challenge. The 5 th place team at WNCC last week, ran without two of their top runners and a top freshman Kentucky transfer according to Spring valley Head Coach, John Jones. They return their top 7 from the 5 th place finish 3A team.

Individuals

The trio from Smith Station should be in the mix as will Fort Mill ’s top runner, Andrew White, the Northwestern duo of JC Koziel and Brandon Hudgins, Wade Hampton’s FJ Goodwin, Laurens’Will Noble, Spartanburg’s Chris Harding and Hillcrest’s Chris Scanlon.

 

Girls

Team

NTN SE Region #10, Providence High will be looking to build on Aug. 21’s dominating win at the Charlotte Orthopedic Classic at McAlpine Park. The full varsity is expected to run for the first time this season.
Others who could factor in the team race are Spartanburg, 3 rd at last year’s 4A state champs, Dorman, 6 th at last year’ 4A state champs, Greer, last year’s 3A state champs, Northwestern, state runner-ups, and Beaufort, 4 th at state.

Individuals

The girls race should be a barn burner up front. Dorman’s Stephanie Buffo, Northwestern’s Tioyanna Blackmon posted sub 18:15 clockings last year and should vie for the individual title.

 

Southeast Region index

 


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