Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Swift Creek girls and Montford boys end season as champions

For the third year in a row, Leon County Schools ended the middle school cross-country season with a trip to Leon County's championship cross-country course at Apalachee Regional Park. Raa Middle School hosted the championship meet on Wednesday afternoon, 26 September 2012, but it was the Swift Creek girls and the Montford boys that went home with the team trophies. Raa's Audrey Dogan won her third race of the four-meet season, blistering the two-mile course in 12:49 to win the girls' individual championship. In the boys' two-mile race, Matt Cashin of Raa completed a perfect four-of-four season with an 11:49 win.


The girls lined the start just after 6:00 PM. Dogan, coming off a loss at the Everhart Owl Run the previous week, lost no time in taking the lead. Swift Creek's Zoe Sheldon, the 2011 Leon County Schools' champion, trailed closely, followed by Montford's Caroline Grace Brantley. Sheldon and Brantley were still in striking distance of Dogan when the Raa runner took them through the mile in 6:19.  No one was going to stay with Dogan on the second mile, though. Not even pausing to wave "good-bye," Dogan widened the gap, building up a 100-meter lead by the time she crossed the finish line with a winning time of 12:49. Sheldon held off Brantley 13:11 to 13:12 for the runner-up spot, while Ana Wallace of Deerlake placed fourth in 13:33. Finishing fifth in 13:56, Swift Creek's Katie Jones joined her teammate Sheldon in the top ten, as did Swift Creek runners Arianna Neeley (6th, 13:56) and Shayla Nguyen (8th, 14:03). A 15th place, 14:46 by Swift Creek's fifth runner, Asta Hemenway, gave the Wolves a team total of 36 points, good enough for them to successfully defend their 2011 championship. Montford edged out Raa for second, 61 to 63.


Girls Team Standings
  1. Swift Creek, 36
  2. Montford, 61
  3. Raa, 63
  4. Fairview, 85
  5. Deerlake, 134
  6. Cobb, 163

Top Ten Girls
  1. 12:48.76 ~ Audrey Dogan (Raa) 8
  2. 13:10.56 ~ Zoe Sheldon (Swift Creek) 8
  3. 13:11.96 ~ Caroline Grace Brantley (Montford) 6
  4. 13:32.18 ~ Ana Wallace (Deerlake) 7
  5. 13:55.15 ~ Katie Jones (Swift Creek) 8
  6. 13:55.69 ~ Arianna Neeley (Swift Creek) 7
  7. 13:58.64 ~ Clare Keenan (Raa) 6
  8. 14:02.42 ~ Shayla Nguyen (Swift Creek) 7
  9. 14:03.73 ~ Bridget Isenberg (Fairview) 8
  10. 14:09.00 ~ Saige Kemeny (Montford) 6

In 2011, Raa's Evan Francis had gone undefeated through the Leon County Schools' four-meet season. When Raa's Matt Cashin arrived at the starting line at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, 26 September 2012, he was one race away from duplicating Francis's perfect season. For much of the first thousand meters of the race, though, Cashin trailed Matthew Newland of Montford, who led the race going into the Piney Woods section of the course. Cashin took charge in the Piney Woods, establishing a six-second lead on Newland by the mile mark. Newland fell farther back during the second mile, losing his position first to Griffin's Etavious Milton and then to Swift Creek's Stephen Veliz. Veliz overtook Milton to move into second, and then began to close on Cashin. After climbing the Wall, the course's infamous hill, Veliz had pulled to within 15 meters of Cashin. By then the finish line was less than half a mile away, and Cashin began to charge for home, once again widening his lead. Cashin crossed the line first in 11:49, completing an undefeated season.  Veliz was second in 11:57. Griffin outkicked Newland to take third, both runners clocked in 12:08. Newland's fourth-place finish, though, led Montford's total of 56 points, just slightly better than Swift Creek's second-place total of 59, but still a winning score. In third with a score of 68 were the Raa boys, the 2011 champions.


Boys Team Standings
  1. Montford, 56
  2. Swift Creek, 59
  3. Raa, 68
  4. Fairview, 76
  5. Deer Lake, 114
  6. Griffin, 172
  7. Cobb, 191
  8. Fort Braden, 228

Top Ten Boys
  1. 11:48.79 ~ Matthew Cashin (Raa) 8
  2. 11:56.81 ~ Stephen Veliz (Swift Creek) 8
  3. 12:07.43 ~ Etavious Milton (Griffin) 7
  4. 12:08.00 ~ Matthew Newland (Montford) 7
  5. 12:12.85 ~ Jacob Dodson (Raa) 7
  6. 12:14.28 ~ Shane Suchoki (Swift Creek) 8
  7. 12:18.28 ~ Triston Stapp (Fairview) 8
  8. 12:19.27 ~ Xander Gruenewald (Deerlake) 8
  9. 12:24.81 ~ Ricky Mobley (Fairview) 8
  10. 12:25.72 ~ Joseph Jones (Fairview) 7

2012 Leon County Schools
Middle School Cross-Country Season Summary
Girls
MeetTeam ChampIndividual Champ
Tom Brown (Story)
5 Sep 2012		Swift Creek, 5013:34, Audrey Dogan (Raa)
Fort Braden (Story)
12 Sep 2012		Montford, 4813:58, Audrey Dogan (Raa)
Everhart (Story)
20 Sep 2012		Montford, 4613:19, Saige Kemeny (Montford)
Championship (Story)
26 Sep 2012		Swift Creek, 3612:49, Audrey Dogan (Raa)
Boys
MeetTeam ChampIndividual Champ
Tom Brown (Story)
5 Sep 2012		Raa, 5412:17, Matthew Cashin (Raa)
Fort Braden (Story)
12 Sep 2012		Swift Creek, 5412:40, Matthew Cashin (Raa)
Everhart (Story)
20 Sep 2012		Montford, 5612:01, Matthew Cashin (Raa)
Championship (Story)
26 Sep 2012		Montford, 5611:49, Matthew Cashin (Raa)

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Posted by Herb Wills at 10:34 PM
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