Runners endure an outbreak of good weather at Maclay

On Friday afternoon Coach Gary Droze was out marking the course for the home meet at Maclay.


"We almost canceled the meet due to lack of rain," he apologized. "But I did leave a hose running in the bottom of the holding pond."


Sure enough, there was a sad little puddle, maybe half an inch deep, at one spot in the otherwise dry stormwater retention pond. Fortunately, in spite of the lack of mud, the Maclay All-Comers Cross-Country Championships went on as scheduled on 28 October 2011 in Tallahassee.


The meet opened with the high school girls' race at 4:00PM ET. Stefanie Kurgatt played no games. The Maclay School junior went right to the front, and the only the thing that changed after that was the length of her lead. It grew. By the time Kurgatt had finished the three-loop, five kilometer course around the Maclay athletic fields in 18:33, she was 600 meters ahead of the next runners, Aucilla Christian's Megan Giddens (2nd, 21:07) and Taylor Copeland (3rd, 21:09). After Lindsey Poole ran 21:49 to place sixth for Maclay (fifth in team scoring), Maclay and Aucilla Christian were only one point apart. But Maclay's third runner, Elizabeth Santoro (7th, 22:17), finished ahead of Aucilla Christian's third, Sarah Tharpe (9th, 22:45). The story was the same for the fourth and fifth runners on the two teams, and Maclay took the team title outscoring runner-up Aucilla Christian 43 to 58.


High School Girls Team Standings

1. Maclay School, 43
2. Aucilla Christian Academy, 58
3. Lincoln High School, 62
4. Florida State University School, 82
5. Wakulla High School, 91

Top Ten High School Girls

1. 18:32.25 ~ Stefanie Kurgatt (Maclay)
2. 21:06.02 ~ Megan Giddens (Aucilla Christian)
3. 21:08.98 ~ Taylor Copeland (Aucilla Christian)
4. 21:26.58 ~ Lindsey Toole (Marianna)
5. 21:42.62 ~ Savana Osterbye (Florida State)
6. 21:48.84 ~ Lindsey Poole (Maclay)
7. 22:16.89 ~ Elizabeth Santoro (Maclay)
8. 22:32.59 ~ Naliyah Gilbert (Lincoln)
9. 22:44.52 ~ Sarah Tharpe (Aucilla Christian)
10. 22:49.88 ~ Anica Sunshine (Lincoln)

In the high school boys' race, Maclay's Travis Covert took the pace out hard, leading from the time that the starting siren sounded. Covert was still out front at the halfway point of the 5K race, but Lincoln's Jacob Slupecki was cruising behind him. Slupecki and Covert had finished one-two at the Lincoln Invitational just over a month earlier. Slupecki was the "one." He was the "one" again at Maclay, taking over the race during the second half and crossing the finish line with a winning 17:16. As at the Lincoln Invitational, Covert was "two," clocking 17:24. However, in another similarity to the Lincoln meet, the Maclay team outscored Lincoln to take the team championship. Maclay put five runners in the top ten to total 30 points, while Lincoln placed second with 42.


High School Boys Team Standings

1. Maclay School, 30
2. Lincoln High School, 42
3. Marianna High School, 95
4. Aucilla Christian Academy, 104
5. Wakulla High School, 118
6. Florida State University School, 129
7. North Florida Christian School, 210
8. Godby High School, 233
9. John Paul II Catholic High School, 253

Top Ten High School Boys

1. 17:15.31 ~ Jacob Slupecki (Lincoln)
2. 17:23.56 ~ Travis Covert (Maclay)
3. 17:36.11 ~ Hunter Scott (Lincoln)
4. 17:37.09 ~ Connor Daughton (Maclay)
5. 17:48.05 ~ Jay Finlayson (Aucilla Christian)
6. 17:51.09 ~ Jack Rutledge (Maclay)
7. 17:55.92 ~ Jesse McGowan (Marianna)
8. 18:08.30 ~ Matt Antworth (Maclay)
9. 18:09.73 ~ Jesse Close (Lincoln)
10. 18:20.89 ~ Alex Artecona (Maclay)
    

The middle school athletes, boys and girls, were lumped together in one three-kilometer race, the third and final event of the meet. The race started with a mad dash, but after half a kilometer the leader was Evan Francis, running for the Rams Running Club--a team whose uniforms looked suspiciously similar to those of the 2010 middle school state cross-country champions, Augusta Raa Middle School. Francis went on to dominate the race, winning by close to 200 meters in 11:12. North Florida Christian runners Michael Price and Chase Savery fought it out for second place, with Price prevailing by a fraction of a second. Both runners were clocked in 11:48. Including Francis, the Rams put three runners in the top ten, setting up a team total of 41 points--good enough for the team championship. Hosts Maclay were runners-up with 58.


Middle School Boys Team Standings

1. Rams Running Club, 41
2. Maclay School, 58
3. Holy Comforter, 65
4. Community Christian School, 102
5. Corner Stone Learning Center, 117
6. Florida State University School, 126

Top Ten Middle School Boys

1. 11:11.50 ~ Evan Francis (Rams Running Club)
2. 11:47.17 ~ Michael Price (North Florida Christian)
3. 11:47.47 ~ Chase Savary (North Florida Christian)
4. 12:01.88 ~ Parker Braun (Community Christian)
5. 12:05.50 ~ Jake Mazziotta (Maclay)
6. 12:11.30 ~ Caleb Harris (Grace Christian)
7. 12:15.34 ~ James Dodson (Rams Running Club)
8. 12:19.77 ~ Charlie Lang (Holy Comforter Episcopal)
9. 12:24.53 ~ Zachary Jackson (Corner Stone)
10. 12:24.70 ~ Mathew Cashin (Rams Running Club)

If anyone led the middle school girls' race other than Maclay's Caroline Willis, it was early and briefly. Willis went right to the front and stayed there, winning by over half a minute in 12:19. She was followed across the line by her own teammate, Brittany Scanameo, who placed second in 12:51. In spite of the one-two finish of Maclay's top two runners, it was Holy Comforter that prevailed in the team competition, narrowly defeating Maclay 28 to 29.


Middle School Girls Team Standings

1. Holy Comforter Episcopal School, 28
2. Maclay School, 29

Top Ten Middle School Girls

1. 12:18.81 ~ Caroline Willis (Maclay)
2. 12:50.88 ~ Brittany Scanameo (Maclay)
3. 12:52.23 ~ Katie Whitworth (Holy Comforter)
4. 12:55.84 ~ Molly McCann (Holy Comforter)
5. 13:13.52 ~ Alexandra Wallace (Bucks Running Club)
6. 13:18.67 ~ Ana Wallace (Bucks Running Club)
7. 13:34.64 ~ Grace Jackson (Corner Stone)
8. 13:42.61 ~ Anna Lewis (Maclay)
9. 13:42.81 ~ Georgia Slay (Community Christian)
10. 13:49.11 ~ Rachel Rumana (Holy Comforter)

Links:

• Complete results of the meet at milesplit.com
  http://fl.milesplit.com/meets/99723
  
  
• More photos of the high school girls' race
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101124915122923.3231125.5215641&l=6159a0f063
  
  
• More photos of the high school boys' race
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101125228909093.3231191.5215641&l=3420e2ea72
  
  
• More photos of the middle school race
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101125453813383.3231246.5215641&l=2592252eeb
  
  
• 2010 story, "2010 Maclay All-Comers Cross-Country Championships"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/11/maclay-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, "Muddy at Maclay"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/10/muddy-at-maclay.html
  
  
• Find your next race on mud, sand, or pavement on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1