Trouble Afoot!: 2009 FHSAA District 1-2A Cross Country Meet

Sunday, November 8, 2009

2009 FHSAA District 1-2A Cross Country Meet

On Saturday 7 November 2009 the 2A high school cross-country runners of FHSAA District 1 converged on Tallahassee's new Apalachee Regional Park Trail for the first round of the state championship series. When the day's running was over, the girls' teams from West Florida, Florida State, South Walton, Wakulla, Pensacola Catholic, and Suwannee had qualified to advance to the Region 1 meet, their next step on the trail to the state championships. Among the boys teams, Pensacola Catholic, West Florida, Arnold, Florida State, Godby, and South Walton earned a spot in the Region 1 meet. For everyone else, the 2009 cross-country season is over.

In the girls' 5K race, West Florida's Jeronda Stringfield, Bria Upshur, and Keyundra McCastle jumped out in front early. They were still leading at the mile, but they were being stalked. At the two-mile mark Stringfield was running in first, but her teammates had dropped back. Alex Weiner of South Walton and Mikayla Hodges of Arnold were now at Stringfield's heels. Running through the woods on the third mile, Weiner broke the race open and went on to win in 20:50. Stringfield outkicked Hodges in the final yard to take second, 21:08 to 21:12. West Florida also took fourth, fifth, and seventh, but had to wait till the 34th runner had crossed the line for their fifth scorer. Nevertheless, West Florida won the district title, outscoring runner-up Florida State 44 to 60.

Pensacola Catholic's Roman Kowalski didn't immediately take the lead in the boy's 5K race, but he was among the leaders early in the race. After the first mile Kowalski seized the front position for himself, but Bay's Gabriel Holguin and Dieumy Duclos of Godby remained in striking distance. Duclos faded, but Holguin shadowed Kowalski to the very end of the race. On the final straight Kowalski continued to hold off Holguin, running 16:42 to win by four seconds. Led by Kowalski's win, Catholic put five scorers in the top fourteen and won the district title with 45 points, well ahead of runner-up West Florida's 84 points.

After the district races, Godby hosted the "Fundracer 5K" open race on the course. Jana Stolting of Maclay ran the most remarkable performance in this third race, finishing second overall in 17:46, breaking her own high school girls' 5K course record at Apalachee Regional Park. Stolting had set the original record for the course earlier this season at the Florida State University Cross-Country Invitational.

The top six teams and top fifteen individuals in each of the district races advance to the Region 1-2A meet, which will be held in conjunction with the Region 1-3A meet at Sunnyhill Farm in Tallahassee on Saturday morning, 14 November 2009. The District 1 qualifiers will be joined at the Region 1 meet by the qualifiers from District 2. The top six teams and top fifteen individuals in each region will earn the right to compete in the state championship meet at Little Everglades Ranch on Saturday, 21 November 2009.

Girls' Team Standings