Junious Brown and Ella Porcher lead a Maclay sweep of the Panther Invitational

The event was John Paul II Catholic High School's third annual Panther Invitational Cross-Country Meet. The venue was John Paul II Catholic's home course, on the school's Tallahassee, Florida campus. But the competition that Saturday morning, 8 September 2018, belonged entirely to the Maclay School Marauders. Maclay eighth-grader Ella Porcher won the high school girls' 5K, running a meet record 21:49 and leading her squad to first place in the team standings. The Marauders followed that up by taking the team title in the boys' 5K, led by a 17:30 meet record performance by junior Junious Brown.


Ella Porcher's 21:49 was three seconds better than the previous girls' meet record of 21:52, set at the first Panther Invitational in 2016 by Gianna Forte of Bishop Snyder. The Maclay eighth-grader crossed the finish line 50 meters ahead of the runner-up, Community Christian eighth-grader Sarah Tychsen. A few steps behind Tychsen, Maclay eighth-grader Sofia Paredes took third in 22:07.


Including Porcher and Paredes, Maclay had six runners in the top ten, with the Marauders getting scoring performances from junior Madison Perkins (4th, 23:06), senior Kenzie Mazziotta (6th, 23:23), and seventh-grader Gracie Koeppel (23:36). Porcher, Paredes, Perkins, Mazziotta, and Koeppel logged a score of 21 points for their team, giving Maclay first place. Behind the runner-up performance of Sarah Tychsen, Community Christian was second in the team standings with 40 points. Led by the tenth-place, 24:06 performance of senior Natalie Laywell, host school John Paul II edged Aucilla Christian for third, 93 to 96.


John Paul II Catholic's 2018 Panther Invitational Team Standings, High School Girls

1. Maclay, 21
2. Community Christian, 40
3. John Paul II Catholic, 93
4. Aucilla Christian, 96
5. Lincoln, NTS
   Godby, NTS
   Florida State, NTS
   Rickards, NTS

Top Ten High School Girls, John Paul II Catholic's 2018 Panther Invitational

1. 21:48.93, Ella Porcher (Maclay) 8
2. 22:01.55, Sarah Tychsen (Community Christian) 7
3. 22:06.68, Sofia Paredes (Maclay) 8
4. 23:05.39, Madison Perkins (Maclay) 10
5. 23:13.59, Karis Desotell (Community Christian) 10
6. 23:22.30, Kenzie Mazziotta (Maclay) 12
7. 23:35.22, Gracie Koeppel (Maclay) 7
8. 23:40.82, Lexi Gray (Lincoln) 10
9. 24:02.57, Rachael Stockel (Maclay) 11
10. 24:05.25, Natalie Laywell (John Paul II Catholic) 12

Coming off a win seven days earlier at the Big Bend Invitational, Maclay's Junious Brown made it two in a row at the Panther Invitational, crossing the finish line with a lead of 200 meters. Brown may have demolished the field, but he also demolished the previous course record of 18:17, set in 2017 by Chris Porter of Wakulla. That same Chris Porter, now a senior at Rickards, was also under the old record, finishing runner-up to Brown in 18:16. David Keen, a North Florida Christian junior, placed third in 18:37.


After Keen came a cavalcade of Maclay runners, with senior James McDuffie fourth in 19:45, junior Damien Hundley fifth in 19:54, senior Alfredo Paredes sixth in 19:56, and sophomore Michael Sweeney seventh in 19:59. With that, the Maclay boys had a mathematically unbeatable score of nineteen points and the Panther Invitational team title. Behind Porter, Rickards was second with 60 points. Led by seventh-grader Chris Tychsen, Community Christian was third in the team scoring with 75 points.


Miles and Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee, Florida timed and scored the third annual Panther Invitational.


John Paul II Catholic's 2018 Panther Invitational Team Standings, High School Boys

1. Maclay, 19
2. Rickards, 60
3. Community Christian, 75
4. Aucilla Christian, 103
5. John Paul II Catholic, 107
6. North Florida Christian, NTS
   Godby, NTS
   Florida State, NTS
   Robert Munroe, NTS

Top Ten High School Boys, John Paul II Catholic's 2018 Panther Invitational

1. 17:29.41, Junious Brown IV (Maclay) 11
2. 18:15.87, Christopher Porter (Rickards) 12
3. 18:36.95, David Andrew Keen (North Florida Christian) 11
4. 19:44.22, James McDuffie (Maclay) 12
5. 19:53.04, Damian Hundley (Maclay) 11
6. 19:55.03, Alfredo Paredes (Maclay) 12
7. 19:58.39, Michael Sweeney (Maclay) 10
8. 20:06.14, Malachi Richards (Rickards) 12
9. 20:59.25, Erik Cherashore (Maclay) 9
10. 21:11.49, Amarie Moore (Godby) 10

Panther Invitational Cross-Country Meet Winners, 2016 - 2018
High School Boys
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
9 September 2016	Lincoln, 38	18:18, Gatlin Nennstiel (Aucilla Christian) 12
23 September 2017	Wakulla, 15	18:17, Chris Porter (Wakulla) 11
8 September 2018	Maclay, 19	17:30, Junious Brown IV (Maclay) 11
High School Girls
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
9 September 2016	Florida State, 41	21:52, Gianna Forte (Bishop Snyder) 10
23 September 2017	Community Christian, 29	22:31, Alyssa Langston (Wakulla) 11
8 September 2018	Maclay, 21	21:49, Ella Porcher (Maclay) 8

Links

• Complete results of John Paul II Catholic's 2018 Panther Invitational from Miles & Minutes, LLC
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR_dQNRypJE06O2cbIfNY0R-dSzFIY0cUC9CHzJzn8Hv7XHXE5Zo9YcMMfQLttucxOxgHPea8tNzh-q/pubhtml
  
  
• 2017 story, “The Wakulla boys and the Community Christian girls prevail at the Panther Invitational”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/09/panther-xc-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Seminoles and Trojans triumph at the Panther Cross Country Invitational”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/09/panther-xc-2016.html
  
  
• 2018 Tallahassee Area Cross Country Schedule
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/07/tallahassee-xc-2018.html
  
  
• Upcoming cross country, road, trail, and track races in the Tallahassee region via Trouble Afoot!
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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