Friday, September 23, 2011

Nothing damp about Sheldon and Francis's Owl Run victories

Zoe SheldonUnder cloudy skies and an intermittent drizzle, the Swift Creek Middle School cross-country team scored 35 points to take first in an eight-team field in the girls' race at the 25th annual Owl Run on Thursday morning, 22 September 2011. Zoe Sheldon led the team, taking the individual title in the two-mile event in 13:43. Raa Middle School's Evan Francis was the top finisher in the boys' two-mile race, posting an 11:56, but Montford's cross-country squad slipped by Raa 55 to 56 to take team honors.


Cheyenne Hildinger and Zoe SheldonBaseball may have rain delays, but cross-country runners are made of sterner stuff, and the meet went on as scheduled in spite of the weather. Swift Creek's Cheyenne Hildinger, who had won the Battle at Tom Brown on 7 September 2011 grabbed an early lead. But her Swift Creek teammate--Zoe Sheldon, winner of the previous week's Fort Braden meet--soon pulled even. At the mile mark the two Swift Creek athletes were running side by side. Early in the first mile Sheldon broke away, going on to record a 13:43 win. Meanwhile, Ana Wallace of Deerlake overtook Hildinger to snatch the runner-up spot, 14:01 to 14:04. In addition to Sheldon and Hildinger, Swift Creek also put two other runners in the top ten, Katie Jones (8th, 14:42) and Sydney Aparicia (9th, 14:50). Swift Creek's fifth runner, Lexie McElroy, ran 15:19 to place 14th, giving the team 35 points and the victory. Montford was runner-up with 77 points, just ahead of third place Deerlake with 80. Defending champions Raa were fourth with 86.


Evan FrancisIn the boys' race, Evan Francis of Raa Middle School didn't go right to the front, but took the lead during the first mile. Francis passed the mile mark in 5:47, about four seconds ahead of the second runner, Griffin Middle School's Emanuel Godfrey. Francis widened the gap on the field in the second half of the race, running to victory in 11:56. With 200 meters to go, Deerlake's Austin Dodson had overtaken Godfrey to move into second, but James Dodson of Raa and Adam Wallenfelsz of Montford were right behind them and moving up. Raa's James Dodson charged down the final stretch, beating out Deerlake's Austin Dodson for the runner-up spot, 12:11 to 12:12. Behind them, Wallenfelsz overtook a fading Godfrey for fourth, 12:16 to 12:19. Those or any similar close finishes may very well have decided the team title; Montford took first by a single point over defending champ Raa, 55 to 56. Swift Creek put three runners in the top ten, more than any other team, but couldn't close the deal and ended up third with 67 points.


The Owl Run is the Leon County Schools' oldest cross-country meet, and the penultimate meet of 2011. The season closes on Wednesday, 28 September 2011, with the Leon County Schools' championship meet at Apalachee Regional Park Trail.


Team Standings, Girls
  1. Swift CreekSwift Creek, 35 points
  2. Montford, 77
  3. Deerlake, 80
  4. Raa, 86
  5. Fairview, 127
  6. Cobb, 168
  7. Fort Braden, 271
  8. Griffin, 393

Top Ten Girls
  1. Ana Wallace13:43 ~ Zoe Sheldon (Swift Creek) 7
  2. 14:01 ~ Ana Wallace (Deerlake) 6
  3. 14:04 ~ Cheyenne Hildinger (Swift Creek) 6
  4. 14:07 ~ Audrey Dogan (Raa) 7
  5. 14:26 ~ Olivia Cone (Raa) 7
  6. 14:28 ~ Jewels Kruegar (Montford) 8
  7. 14:32 ~ Alex Wallace (Deerlake) 8
  8. 14:42 ~ Katie Jones (Swift Creek) 7
  9. 14:50 ~ Sydney Aparicia (Swift Creek) 7
  10. 14:56 ~ Grace Lockhart (Cobb) 8

Team Standings,Boys
  1. Montford Middle School Cross-Country teamMontford, 55 points
  2. Raa, 56
  3. Swift Creek, 67
  4. Deerlake, 118
  5. Fairview, 159
  6. Griffin, 165
  7. Cobb, 198
  8. Fort Braden, 468

Top Ten Boys
  1. Alex Holm and Irfan Kovankaya11:56 ~ Evan Francis (Raa) 8
  2. 12:11 ~ James Dodson (Raa) 8
  3. 12:12 ~ Austin Dodson (Deerlake) 8
  4. 12:16 ~ Adam Wallenfelsz (Montford) 8
  5. 12:19 ~ Emanuel Godfrey (Griffin) 8
  6. 12:30 ~ Irfan Kovankaya (Swift Creek) 8
  7. 12:32 ~ Alex Holm (Cobb) 8
  8. 12:38 ~ Aiden Sailor (Montford) 8
  9. 12:45 ~ Troy Monroe (Swift Creek) 8
  10. 12:48 ~ Shane Suchoki (Swift Creek) 7

Owl Run Champions, 1988 - 2010
DateBoysGirls
22 SEP 2011
Evan Francis (Raa) 11:56
Zoe Sheldon (Swift Creek) 13:43
30 SEP 2010
Wil Luca (Raa) 11:41
Rebecca Clendinen (Raa) 13:57
1 OCT 2009
Cade Zimmerman (Deerlake) 11:33
Cece Williams (Deerlake) 13:26
25 SEP 2008
Will Henderson (Raa) 11:42
Cece Williams (Deerlake) 11:56
27 SEP 2007
Will Henderson (Raa) 12:11
Carly Thomas (Raa) 12:27
28 SEP 2006
Will Stanford (Raa) 10:59
Summer Shepherd (Raa) 12:59
29 SEP 2005
Kurt Dietrich (Swift Creek) 12:07
Jana Stolting (Deerlake) 13:26
30 SEP 2004
Graham Hawkes (Cobb) 11:51
Mallory Alonzo (Raa) 14:01
2 OCT 2003
Joe Franklin (Griffin) 11:38
Charlotte Murrell (Cobb) 14:17
2002
Bryan Miletich (Deerlake) 11:51
Julia Bryant (Deerlake) 14:06
2001
Kevin Bryant (Raa) 12:33
Karen Devick (Raa) 13:58
2000
Danny Sass (Deerlake) 13:04
LaShaunta Arnold (Fairview) 14:50
1 OCT 1999
Logan Wolcott (Raa) 12:52
LaShaunta Arnold (Fairview) 14:30
13 OCT 1998
Matt Varn (Swift Creek) 12:31
Allie Hunter (Swift Creek) 14:27
1997
Anthony Washington (Bellevue) 12:26
Allie Hunter (Swift Creek) 15:00
1996


6 OCT 1995
Bryan Hendricks (Cobb) 8:15*
Meredith Warren (Raa) 10:36*
6 OCT 1994
Kevin Anderson (Deerlake) 8:10*
Meredith Warren (Raa) 9:56*
20 OCT 1993


20 OCT 1992
Mark Roehl (Raa) 8:40*
Brianne Pla (Cobb) 9:33*
22 OCT 1991
Michael Rodriguez (Raa) 8:38*
Holly Skinner (Cobb) 10:15*
10 OCT 1990
Tim Bolton (Cobb) 8:44*
Christy Weinberger(Bellevue)10:17*
24 MAY 1990
Wayne McDaniel (Raa) 6:58†Cynthia Costin (Griffin) 8:06†
23 MAY 1989
Wayne McDaniel (Raa) 7:09†
Tonia Jackson (Nims) 8:13†
10 MAY 1988
Bobby Jessup (Griffin) †Tonia Jackson (Raa) †
* 1-1/2 mile race at Gretchen Everhart School
† 2 km race at Florida State University


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2 comments:

  1. Great coverage Herb. I appreciate your work in highlighting youth running in Tallahassee.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Stephen, Herb...SUPER job! As always, I feel like I was there, even though I wasn't able to be. I can't believe there was only 1 point between 1st & 2nd place...very exciting!

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