Cross Country To Take Center Stage
September 18th, 2007 Posted in Florida Cross Country, Florida Running, Cross Country, Florida, Florida Sports, High School SportsIt’s the Rodney Dangerfield of fall sports, and one that requires a lot of dedication from athletes. Cross country running, though, will be the center of the universe in Titusville next month. The FLrunners.com cross country meet is slated for Oct. 5 and 6 in the city’s Chain of Lakes Park. Hundreds of high school runners will participate. For more on the event, check out this story at the Florida Today’s Web site.
Here is additional cross country news from around the state:
It appears Naples High is doing well this year. According to the Naples Daily News, Ulises Escobar won the boys race at the Venice Invitational last week after running a record 16:47.
Naples’ Ulises Escobar won the boys meet in a course-record 16 minutes, 47.3 seconds, while Lely’s Amber Imm finished second in the girls race.
Kurt Roeser from Naples previously held the boys course record. Teammate Joseph Hebel was second in 16:50.7, followed by Jeff Marvel in sixth at 17:17.7.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s weekly cross country honor roll, Broward County’s top prep runner this year is Cypress Bay’s Eric Dansky, whose best team is 16:44. Teammate Kevin Bonilla is second best at 17:03. Cypress Bay also holds the top two spots on the girls side, with Emilie Amaro’s 17:49 at the top. She is followed by teammate Mariana Lucena, whose best is a 19:39. Amaro’s 17:49 is impressive, but it doesn’t compare with Wellington junior Ashley Brasovan’s 16:41, which the two-time defending state champ ran last year to post the state’s best girls cross country time.
Orlando Sentinel sportswriter Joe Williams reported in his recent post on the newspaper’s Varsity the Blog that two of Central Florida’s best runners at the moment are (Orlando) Boone’s Brittany Koziara, who set a personal best 18:32 last weekend. According to Williams, (Winter Park) Trinity Prep runner Hanley Rousse ran a 16:39 last weekend at the Astronaut Invitational.
According to this Tampa Tribune story from Monday, (Tampa) Sickles runner Derek Wehunt ran a 15:52 at the Gator Invitational last weekend in Shady Hills to repeat as champion. (Tampa) Jesuit’s Connor Revord was second with a 16:03, and Land ‘O Lakes runner Felix Soto ran a 16:42 to finish third.
For more results, check out Jason Byrne’s weekly roundup at FLrunners.com, part of the MileSplit group that provides some of the state’s best track and field coverage in the spring.
Of course, the biggest cross country story last week was actually a heart-wrenching tragedy, as (Lauderdale Lakes) Boyd Anderson sophomore runner Corey McKenzie died following a Sept. 10 race in Davie when he apparently drowned in a lake. According to the Fort Myers News-Press, he may have been attempting to cool down and might have lost consciousness in the water. Here’s a Miami Herald story on the loss of the 15-year-old honors student. Attention, runners. Here’s how you can help: Instead of flowers, the family has asked for donations to help pay for the funera. Donations can be send to the Coins for Corey Fund at Wachovia Bank, 4101 W. Commercial Blvd., Tamarac, FL 33319.
For more information on cross country, check out last year’s boys and girls state finals results at this Florida High School Activities Association site. And stay tuned for a full report each week and extensive coverage of the FLrunners.com race next month in Titusville.
