Maclay teams sweep Lincoln Cross-Country Invitational

The 2012 high school cross-country season continued in Florida's Big Bend on Saturday morning, September 15, as teams returned to Tom Brown Park for yet another annual edition of the Lincoln Cross-Country Invitational meet, hosted by nearby Lincoln High School. Maclay School captured both girls' and boys' team titles at the meet, while Maclay senior Kristin Sweeney ran a 19:52 to win the girls' 5K race and Graceville senior Hunter Potts won the boys' 5K race with a 16:37. 293 athletes competed in the two races.


Running opened at 10:00 AM ET with the girls' race. 114 athletes lunged from the starting line together, but by 800 meters Maclay's Kristin Sweeney was out in front. During the second kilometer Meagan Giddens, a freshman and Taylor County's sole entry, moved into second. Sweeney continued to move away, though, ultimately winning by nearly 200 meters in 19:52. Giddens finished runner-up in 20:47, half a minute ahead of the third-place athlete, Maclay senior Elizabeth Santoro's 21:18. Including Sweeney and Santoro, Maclay put five runners in the top eleven, scoring 40 points--good enough to beat the 50 points scored by runner-up and defending Lincoln Invitational team champion, Wakulla. It was the Maclay girls' first team win at the Lincoln Invitational since 2009. Led by a tenth place 22:50 by senior Naliyah Gilbert, host school Lincoln placed third with 81 points.


Girls' Team Standings, 2012 Lincoln XC Invitational

1. Maclay, 40
2. Wakulla, 50
3. Lincoln, 81
4. Bainbridge, 150
5. Mosley, 157
6. Aucilla Christian, 160
7. Florida State, 170
8. Blountstown, 187
9. Wewahitchka, 192
10. John Paul II Catholic, 235

Top 15 Girls, 2012 Lincoln XC Invitational

1. 19:51.99 ~ Kristin Sweeney (Maclay) 12
2. 20:46.72 ~ Meagan Giddens (Taylor County) 9
3. 21:17.37 ~ Elizabeth Santoro (Maclay) 12
4. 21:32.27 ~ Margaret Wiedeman (Wakulla) 11
5. 21:49.45 ~ Caroline Willis (Maclay) 8
6. 21:53.74 ~ Amber Braswell (Bainbridge) 12
7. 22:10.01 ~ Paige Braswell (Bainbridge) 11
8. 22:19.12 ~ Raychel Gray (Wakulla) 12
9. 22:39.76 ~ Hannah Plazarin (Blountstown) 10
10. 22:49.49 ~ Naliyah Gilbert (Lincoln) 12
11. 22:59.07 ~ Kasey James (Wakulla) 10
12. 23:00.05 ~ Heather Hill (Lincoln) 11
13. 23:00.32 ~ Lydia Wiedeman (Wakulla) 10
14. 23:03.73 ~ Anica Sunshine (Lincoln) 12
15. 23:11.13 ~ Amanda Toothman (Florida State) 10

The boys' race started soon after the last girl had cleared the course. Some excessively optimistic athletes set the early pace, but eventually faded. At two kilometers Chiles junior Cade Zimmerman was in front of a lead group that also included Maclay senior Travis Covert, Lincoln senior Joseph Garcia, and Graceville senior Hunter Potts. Garcia fell back. Potts grabbed the lead. Zimmerman gave chase, leaving Covert behind. With a kilometer to go, Potts had a four-second gap on Zimmerman. Potts and Zimmerman held the top two spots all the way to the finish line, with Potts taking the tile 16:37 to 16:43. Covert slipped under 17 minutes to finish third in 16:59, while Bainbridge sophomore Chase Harris outkicked Garcia for fourth, 17:04 to 17:05. In the team competition, defending champion Maclay put three runners in the top ten with all five of their scorers finishing no farther back than 14th, giving the Marauders 39 points and the championship. Host school Lincoln was a distant second with 60 points, and the out-of-state visitors from Georgia's Bainbridge High School were third with 116.


Boys' Team Standings, 2012 Lincoln XC Invitational

1. Maclay, 39
2. Lincoln, 60
3. Bainbridge, 116
4. Marianna, 140
5. Wakulla, 157
6. Wewahitchka, 196
7. Blountstown, 219
8. North Florida Christian, 238
9. Mosley, 250
10. Florida State, 258
11. Chiles, 267
12. Aucilla Christian, 285
13. Rickards, 307
14. Community Christian School, 383
15. John Paul II Catholic, 431
16. North Bay Haven, 490

Top 15 Boys, 2012 Lincoln XC Invitational

1. 16:36.06 ~ Hunter Potts (Graceville) 12
2. 16:42.49 ~ Cade Zimmerman (Chiles) 11
3. 16:58.17 ~ Travis Covert (Maclay) 12
4. 17:03.94 ~ Chase Harris (Bainbridge) 10
5. 17:04.49 ~ Joseph Garcia (Lincoln) 12
6. 17:08.78 ~ Jack Rutledge (Maclay) 11
7. 17:34.97 ~ Hunter Scott (Lincoln) 10
8. 17:45.44 ~ Jonathan Grisiaffi (Lincoln) 12
9. 18:00.01 ~ Jake Mazziotta (Maclay) 8
10. 18:02.95 ~ Alex Strickland (North Florida Christian) 11
11. 18:05.05 ~ Patrick Cox (Marianna) 12
12. 18:06.38 ~ Cj Barkas (Maclay) 11
13. 18:09.75 ~ Aaron Jane (Mosley) 11
14. 18:14.57 ~ George Gwynn (Maclay) 9
15. 18:20.14 ~ Isaiah McFarland (Marianna) 12

Links:

• Complete results of the 2012 Lincoln Invitation at FLRunners.com
  http://fl.milesplit.com/meets/118066/results/211803
  
  
• More photos of the 2011 Lincoln Invitational girls' race
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102280939151503.3392003.5215641&l=7418e19bc2
  
  
• More photos of the 2012 Lincoln Invitational boys' race (Part 1)
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102280984390843.3392012.5215641&l=d57d9d8e4a
  
  
• More photos of the 2012 Lincoln Invitational boys' race (Part 2)
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102280997674223.3392014.5215641&l=48f347c4a7
  
  
• 2011 story, "Giddens and Slupecki roll in Tom Brown Park"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/09/lincoln-xc-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, "Aucilla and Leon take home trophies from the 2010 Lincoln XC Invite"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/09/lincoln-xc-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, "Kurgatt, Doherty win 2009 Lincoln Cross-Country Invitational"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/09/kurgatt-doherty-win-2009-lincoln-cross.html
  
  
• The full schedule of 2012 cross-country action in the Tallahassee area
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/08/tallahassee-xc-2012.html
  
  
• All kinds of upcoming distance running in the Tallahassee region
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1