Swift Creek girls and Montford boys keep winning at the Mustang Invitational

On Wednesday afternoon, 11 September 2013, the middle-school harriers of Leon County Schools visited the campus of Montford Middle School in northeast Tallahassee, Florida. The athletes were there for the first-ever Mustang Cross-Country Invitational.


Competition opened just after 6:10 PM ET with the girls' two-mile run. Montford's Saige Kemeny, victorious at the previous week's Fort Braden Run, set the early pace, shadowed by Ana Wallace and Grace Jackson of Deerlake. Kemeny pushed relentlessly as the runners toured the school grounds, and after a mile Jackson dropped back. It was just Saige Kemeny and Ana Wallace as the race headed into the woods. The gap between the two waxed and waned, but Kemeny couldn't shake Wallace and Wallace couldn't overtake Kemeny. The two were still just seconds apart when the emerged from the woods and started the final charge towards the finish line. It came down to a final kick, with Kemeny edging out Wallace for the win, 13:42, to 13:43. Behind the leaders, Swift Creek runners Emma Romuald and Chase Merrick had been moving up through the field. Coming out of the woods, Romuald and Merrick were third and fourth. Then fourth and third. And third and fourth again. The two sixth-graders continued their fight for third all the way to the finish line where Merrick prevailed over Romuald by less than a second, both runners clocked in 13:57. Montford, Deerlake, and Swift Creek each put three runners in the top ten. But Swift Creek put all five of their scorers in the top twelve, with Asta Hemenway (7th, 14:19), Shayla Nguyen (11th, 14:57), and Arianna Neely (12th, 15:01) joining Merrick and Romuald to give the Wolves 37 points and the team title. Montford placed second with 56 points and Deerlake was third with 66.


2013 Mustang Invitational Team Standings, Girls

1. Swift Creek Middle School, 37
2. Montford Middle School, 56
3. Deerlake Middle School, 66
4. Raa Middle School, 96
5. Fairview Middle School, 113
6. Cobb Middle School, 151

Top Ten Girls, 2013 Mustang Invitational

1. 13:41.52 ~ Saige Kemeny (Montford) 7
2. 13:42.47 ~ Ana Wallace (Deerlake) 8
3. 13:56.13 ~ Chase Merrick (Swift Creek) 6
4. 13:56.74 ~ Emma Romuald (Swift Creek) 6
5. 14:02.20 ~ Grace Jackson (Deerlake) 7
6. 14:03.23 ~ Emily Culley (Montford) 7
7. 14:18.02 ~ Asta Hemenway (Swift Creek) 8
8. 14:18.58 ~ Caitlyn Wilkey (Montford) 6
9. 14:27.26 ~ Madison Rumenik (Raa) 8
10. 14:47.75 ~ Emily Molen (Deerlake) 6

The two-mile race for boys followed at 6:45 PM, right after the end of the girls' race. Seth Kemeny of Montford was up front early, but he was overtaken half a mile into the race by Raa Middle School's Jacob Dodson. Dodson finally shook Kemeny during the second mile, running home to win in 11:56. Kemeny finished runner-up in 12:09. Deerlake's Robert Nowak moved into third late in the first mile, passing Derenzo Williams of Griffin. The two athletes held those positions, with Nowak finishing third in 12:17 and Griffin fourth in 12:30. Kemeny was followed across the finish line by his teammates Tate Wallenfelsz (7th, 12:43), Matthew Newland (13th, 12:55), Daniel Sweeney (14th, 12:57), and Jozsef Rohrbacker (20th, 13:20) giving the Mustangs 56 points and the team championship. Fairview was second with 68 points, while Raa squeaked by Swift Creek to take third, 78 to 82.


105 athletes finished the girls race and 155 finished the boys race. Finish line timing and scoring for the Mustang Invitational were provided by Miles and Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee, Florida.


From the brand new Mustang Invitational, the Leon County Schools' cross-country season moves on to the oldest event in the county, the 26th annual Everhart Invitational at Gretchen Everhart School. The Everhart Invitational is slated for Thursday morning, 19 September 2013.


2013 Mustang Invitational Team Standings, Boys

1. Montford Middle School, 56
2. Fairview Middle School, 68
3. Raa Middle School, 78
4. Swift Creek Middle School, 82
5. Deerlake Middle School, 91
6. Griffin Middle School, 161
7. Cobb Middle School, 190
8. Nims Middle School, 242
9. Fort Braden Middle School, 258

Top Ten Boys, 2013 Mustang Invitational

1. 11:55.86 ~ Jacob Dodson (Raa) 8
2. 12:08.42 ~ Seth Kemeny (Montford) 8
3. 12:16.38 ~ Robert Frank Nowak (Deerlake) 8
4. 12:29.25 ~ Derenzo Williams (Griffin) 8
5. 12:33.62 ~ Benjamin Cole Payne (Swift Creek) 8
6. 12:39.65 ~ Dennis Majano (Swift Creek) 8
7. 12:42.82 ~ Tate Wallenfelsz (Montford) 7
8. 12:43.02 ~ Joseph Jones (Fairview) 8
9. 12:46.94 ~ Tyrese Footman (Fairview) 6
10. 12:49.14 ~ Zachary Smith (Raa) 8

Links

• Complete results of the 2013 Mustang Invitational Cross-Country Meet
  http://fl.milesplit.com/meets/150666/results/258678
  
  
• More photos of the Montford Middle School Mustang Invitational cross-country meet
  
  • girls: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10103535070552123.1073741892.5215641&l=d8a544bb0e
  • boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10103535659776313.1073741893.5215641&l=78dbcb5bcb
  
  
• Meet #1 coverage, "Swift Creek girls and Montford boys win season opener at Fort Braden"
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/09/fort-braden-2013.html
  
  
• Find your next road race or cross-country run in the Tallahassee region
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1