First meet in the state tournament is all Maclay

On Friday, 4 November 2011, and Saturday, 5 November 2011, Tallahassee hosted no fewer than three high school district championship meet. This isn't as exceptional as it sounds. During the 2010 Florida high school cross-country season, there were eight district championships in each of the four school classifications. This meant that there were 32 district championships for boys, and 32 more for girls. Somehow, the Florida High School Activities Association decided that 64 district titles in cross country wasn't enough, and doubled the number of districts. So now there are 16 districts in each of the four classes, and each of them contest a boys and a girls cross-country championship, for a total of 128 FHSAA district titles in cross country. I'm not sure who is happy about this, but the Trophy Shop in Gainesville comes to mind. They have the FHSAA contract for awards, and could potentially sell a team trophy to the champions and runners-up in this multitude of meets--256 possible sales.


But the folly of the administrators of amateur athletics is not the story of sports. It's all about the achievements of the athletes. The first of the district championships in Tallahassee was the FHSAA District 3-1A meet, hosted by Maclay School on their own athletic fields. The racing opened just after 4:00pm with the girls 5K. Maclay's Stefanie Kurgatt hammered the field, racing to the front as soon as the starting siren sounded. Her final time was 18:16, 17 seconds faster than she had run on the same course in the Maclay All-Comers meet, seven days earlier. Trailing Kurgatt by half a kilometer, Maclay's Kristen Sweeney finished runner-up in 20:29. Including Kurgatt and Sweeney, Maclay put five runners in the top ten to score 21 points, winning the district championship over Aucilla Christian, second with 35 points. Both teams advanced to the 12 November 2011 Region 1-1A championship in Lake City.


Girls' Team Standings

1. Maclay School, 21
2. Aucilla Christian Academy, 35

Girls' Results

1. 18:15.46 ~ Stefanie Kurgatt (Maclay) 11
2. 20:28.81 ~ Kristen Sweeney (Maclay) 11
3. 20:44.17 ~ Taylor Copeland (Aucilla Christian) 8
4. 21:09.27 ~ Elizabeth Santoro (Maclay) 11
5. 21:30.42 ~ Lindsey Poole (Maclay) 9
6. 21:32.35 ~ Meagan Giddens (Aucilla Christian) 8
7. 22:10.32 ~ Camryn Grant (Aucilla Christian) 6
8. 22:10.74 ~ Sarah Tharpe (Aucilla Christian) 8
9. 22:33.45 ~ Aileen Kadzis (John Paul II Catholic) 10
10. 23:30.46 ~ Nicole Heinz (Maclay) 9
11. 23:45.57 ~ Jessica Coates (Maclay) 11
12. 24:16.63 ~ Victoria Hurlbut (John Paul II Catholic) 11
13. 26:05.86 ~ Sarah Hall (Aucilla Christian) 7
14. 26:29.40 ~ Summerlyn Marsh (Aucilla Christian) 7
15. 26:31.33 ~ Sarah James (Aucilla Christian) 9
16. 28:32.00 ~ Julia Mangan (John Paul II Catholic) 12
17. 31:38.04 ~ Natalia Rodriguez (John Paul II Catholic) 12

In the boys' race, Maclay's Travis Covert started off as the pacesetter for the field, but there were more than a few runners willing to keep him company--at least for a little while. Covert quickly shed his pursuers. Around the end of the first kilometer, he shook off North Florida Christian runners Alex Strickland and Charles Venable, leaving only Maclay's James Daughton.Covert opened up a gap on Daughton about halfway through the race, and after that the race was his. His winning time was 17:03, comfortably ahead of Daughton's 17:14. Strickland took third in 17:26, while his teammate Venable was fourth in 17:32. Behind the one-two finish of Covert and Daughton, Maclay took the district title with 25 points. Runner-up North Florida Christian (42 points) and third-place team Aucilla Christian joined Maclay in qualifying for the Region 1 meet in Lake City. For fourth place John Paul II, though, the 2011 cross-country season was over.


Boys' Team Standings

1. Maclay School, 25 points
2. North Florida Christian School, 42
3. Aucilla Christian Academy, 55
4. John Paul II Catholic High School, 109

Boys' Results

1. 17:02.96 ~ Travis Covert (Maclay) 11
2. 17:13.05 ~ James Daughton (Maclay) 10
3. 17:25.85 ~ Alexander Strickland (North Florida Christian) 10
4. 17:31.43 ~ Charles Venable (North Florida Christian) 11
5. 17:48.98 ~ Matthew Antworth (Maclay) 12
6. 17:53.86 ~ Jack Rutledge (Maclay) 10
7. 18:03.48 ~ Jay Finlayson (Aucilla Christian) 11
8. 18:22.66 ~ Braden Mattingly (Aucilla Christian) 10
9. 18:30.02 ~ Gaitlin Nennstiel (Aucilla Christian) 7
10. 18:35.81 ~ Aaron Tenney (North Florida Christian) 10
11. 19:17.20 ~ Dennis Keane (Maclay) 12
12. 19:28.25 ~ Jonathan Strickland (North Florida Christian) 12
13. 19:37.16 ~ Garet Grant (North Florida Christian) 8
14. 19:43.18 ~ Matthew Sweeney (Maclay) 9
15. 19:58.07 ~ Carson Nennstiel (Aucilla Christian) 9
16. 20:04.14 ~ Donald Kinsey (Aucilla Christian) 7
17. 20:42.25 ~ Shelby Collins (North Florida Christian) 10
18. 20:58.86 ~ Timothy Finlayson (Aucilla Christian) 6
19. 21:08.69 ~ Daniel Mangan (John Paul II Catholic) 9
20. 21:23.26 ~ Ricky Finlayson (Aucilla Christian) 9
21. 21:38.38 ~ Michael Fennema (John Paul II Catholic) 9
22. 22:00.02 ~ Alfredo Fernandez (John Paul II Catholic) 11
23. 23:10.89 ~ Jeffrey Tweedle (John Paul II Catholic) 11
24. 23:19.92 ~ Evan Bondi (John Paul II Catholic) 10
25. 23:37.47 ~ Frank DiMarco (John Paul II Catholic) 11
26. 24:14.32 ~ Scott Riles (North Florida Christian) 10
27. 26:10.15 ~ Stephen Fredrickson, Jr. (John Paul II Catholic) 12

Links:

• More photos of the 2011 FHSAA District 3-1A cross-country meet
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101131481409033.3232343.5215641&l=1ac0a3f6ce
  
  
• Map of the Maclay 5K course
  http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e291/sqroot/TroubleAfoot/Maps/Maclay5KCourse.jpg
  
  
• Find your next race in the Tallahassee region on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1