Skye Williams and Patrick Koon start the LCS middle school cross-country season on top

In Tallahassee, Florida, classes for Leon County middle schools opened on 12 August 2019. The most important part of the 2019-20 school year, though, started on Thursday, 29 August 2019--the first day of Leon County Schools' middle school cross-country season. Competition opened on the east side of town at the Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Invitational, where the Montford girls took first in a field of seven teams. Individual honors also went to the Mustangs, with Montford eighth-grader Skye Williams winning the three-kilometer girls' race in 12:44. In the boys' 3K, Fairview scored 41 to place first among eight teams, while Fairview eighth-grader Patrick Koon posted a winning 10:32.

Skye Williams

Competition commenced at 6:00 PM on the Apalachee Regional Park Championship Cross-Country Course with the girl's 3K. With a kilometer to go in the three-kilometer race, Montford seventh-grader Sophia Youngberg was leading the race. Just a few steps behind, though, were Skye Williams of Montford, Deerlake sixth-grader Kyra Swart, and Swift Creek eighth-grader Elizabeth Kessler. Each of those athletes overtook Youngberg on the way to the finish line, with Williams getting the win in 12:44, Kessler taking second in 12:51, and Swart third in 12:56 Youngberg placed fourth in 13:04.


Montford had three athletes in the top ten, with seventh-grader Aditi Mukhirala (10th, 13:56) joining Williams and Youngberg. But Deerlake also had three in the top ten, with Swart and eighth-graders Ella Holman (5th, 13:17) and Leah Kiros (7th, 13:37). Likewise, the defending champs from Swift Creek also had their own trio in the top ten--Kessler, eight-grader Ava Jones (8th, 13:38), and seventh-grader Natalie Nelson (9th, 13:40). But Montford's next two scorers--seventh-graders Clara Thompson (11th, 13:58) and Mariona Heartsfield (14th, 14:30)--were across the finish line before the fourth athlete of either Deerlake or Swift Creek. The advantage was Montford's, and the Mustangs had 40 points and first place. Swift Creek was second with 50 points, and Deerlake a close third with 55.

Montford Girls

2019 ARPXC Invitational Team Standings, Girls

1. Montford, 40
2. Swift Creek, 50
3. Deerlake, 55
4. Raa, 119
5. Cobb, 150
6. Fairview, 159
7. Fort Braden, 164

Top Ten Girls, 2019 ARPXC Invitational

1. 12:43.44, Skye Williams (Montford) 8
2. 12:50.68, Elizabeth Kessler (Swift Creek) 8
3. 12:55.63, Kyra Swart (Deerlake) 6
4. 13:03.26, Sophia Youngberg (Montford) 7
5. 13:16.54, Ella Holman (Deerlake) 8
6. 13:28.90, Madison Sims (Fort Braden) 7
7. 13:36.37, Leah Kiros (Deerlake) 8
8. 13:37.49, Ava Jones (Swift Creek) 8
9. 13:39.94, Natalie Nelson (Swift Creek) 7
10. 13:55.94, Aditi Mukhirala (Montford) 7

In 2018 a story blew in during the girls' 3K at the APRXC Invitational. Although the girls were able to finish their race, the boys' run was canceled. Fairview's Patrick Koon, who had won the boys' race in 2017, remembered the day of the storm.

Patrick Koon

"Last year the meet was on my birthday," said Koon. "I was bummed out that I didn't get to race on my birthday. But then I saw how Wyatt Townsend dominated the season. And I thought it was good that I didn't get disappointed on my birthday."


The 2019 race was a day in advance of Koon's birthday, but there would be no disappointments. Wyatt Townsend had moved on to high school cross-country, and a cloudless sky promised that there would be no storms. 800 meters into the race, Koon had a twenty-meter lead, with Monford seventh-grader Jackson Rowe running in second. With a kilometer to go Koon had opened a 100-meter gap, and Fairview's Justin Greenwood had pulled even with Rowe. Koon was still leading more than comfortably at the finish line, crossing in a winning 10:32. Greenwood broke away from Rowe to take second in 10:55, while Rowe was third in 11:02. Deerlake eighth-grader Brooks Bowden ran 11:33 to take fourth by inches in a dogfight with Raa eight-grader Drayden Reams (5th, 11:33) and Deerlake eighth-grader Cade Stewart (6th, 11:34).

Jackson Rowe & Justin Greenwood

Fairview put two more runners in the top ten, eighth-graders Enijah Thomas (9th, 12:00) and Ranceeson Grace (10th, 12:04). Then the Falcons waited for their fifth scorer. While they waited, Deerlake's tenth runner finished. But right after that, But right behind him, in 22nd place, Fairview eighth-grader Joshua Osborne came in at 12:38, giving his team 41 points and the ARPXC title--Fairview's first league win since the 2014 championship meet. The Falcon's also ended Deerlake's ten-meet winning streak in LCS competition, a streak that included undefeated seasons in 2017 and 2018.


Deerlake didn't go quietly. Led by Bowden's fourth-place finish, the Bucks were a close second with 46 points. Rowe's Montford Mustangs took third with 89 points.


The middle school cross-country teams of Leon County Schools were scheduled to meet seven days later in the tenth annual Fort Braden Run at Fort Braden Community Park on Thursday, 5 September 2019. The next meet of the season was the Everhart Invitational at Gretchen Everhart School on Thursday, 12 September 2019; then the Mustang Stampede at Montford Middle School on 19 September 2019; the Falcon Invitational at Phipps Park on 26 September 2019, and the LCS Championship Meet at ARPXC on 3 October 2019.


2019 ARPXC Invitational Team Standings, Boys

1. Fairview, 41
2. Deerlake, 46
3. Montford, 89
4. Swift Creek, 103
5. Raa, 122
6. Cobb, 180
7. Fort Braden, 193
8. Griffin, 220

Top Ten Boys, 2019 ARPXC Invitational

1. 10:31.55, Patrick Koon (Fairview) 8
2. 10:54.23, Justin Greenwood (Fairview) 8
3. 11:01.22, Jackson Rowe (Montford) 7
4. 11:32.11, Brooks Bowden (Deerlake) 8
5. 11:32.52, Drayden Reams (Raa) 8
6. 11:33.35, Cade Swart (Deerlake) 8
7. 11:37.01, Asher Robertson (Swift Creek) 7
8. 11:38.00, Neal Porter (Montford) 7
9. 11:59.88, Enijah Thomas (Fairview) 8
10. 12:03.24, Ranceeson Grace (Fairview) 8

Links

• Complete results of the 2019 ARPXC Invitational
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQnyxwBRKKkmHgDXAofHgs1cGJqdIA97HHEiq9kPm56hDITeqppCD53Ik54sUHSTtcc7ZhR4pZRsam-/pubhtml
  
  
• More photos of the 2019 ARPXC Invitational
  
  • Girls:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10114199996694643
    
  • Boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10114200420590153
    
  
  
• The 2019 LCS middle school cross-country season
  
  • ARPXC Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/08/swift-creek-2019.html
    
  • Fort Braden Run [ Coming on 5 September 2019 ]
    
  • Everhart Invitational [ Coming on 12 September 2019 ]
    
  • Mustang Invitational [ Coming on 19 September 2019 ]
    
  • Falcon Invitational [ Coming on 26 September 2019 ]
    
  • LCS Championship [ Coming on 3 October 2019 ]
    
  
  
• Leon County Schools' 2019 middle school cross country schedule
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/06/lcs-xc-2019.html
  
  
• Find your next cross country race on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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