Nothing damp about Sheldon and Francis's Owl Run victories

Under 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.


Baseball 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.


In 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 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. 13:43 ~ 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, 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. 11:56 ~ 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
Date	Boys	Girls
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

Links:

• Complete results of the 2011 Gretchen Everhart School Owl Run
  https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1cP0ILKj-sUybxJv1_lK9csDHTXUDgRwuXltwiNL8HBc
  
  
• Photos of the 2011 Gretchen Everhart run
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101036441444883.3211001.5215641&l=2babdea6d5
  
  
• Photos of the 2011 Owl Run middle-school girls' two-mile cross-country race
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101032523940593.3209838.5215641&l=099c93a6ed
  
  
• Photos of the 2011 Owl Run middle-school boys' two-mile cross-country race
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101033480214213.3210110.5215641&l=5f8e8dbf76
  
  
• Fred Deckert's photos of the 2011 Owl Run
  https://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/OwlRun11
  
  
• 2010 story, "Luca and Clendinen conquer the Owl Run"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/09/owl-run-2010.html
  
  
• Get out and run! Find a nearby race on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1