Kyra Swart and Patrick Koon soar at the Falcon Invitational

"I haven't run cross-country ever before," said Kyra Swart. "I've been a sprinter, running 200 and 400 meters. Probably my best event though is the 80-meter hurdles."

Ella Holman, Kyra Swart, & Madison Sims

Nevertheless, Swart is getting the hang of the cross-country game. The Deerlake sixth-grader won the girls' 3K at the Falcon Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet on Thursday evening, 26 September 2019, her second win of the season. Swart's time on the three-kilometer course through Tallahassee, Florida's Phipps Park was 12:31. The Swift Creek Wolves were first in the girls' team standings, while the Fairview Falcons were the top boys' team. Fairview sixth-grader Patrick Koon won the boys' 3K, running 10:11.


The girls' ran first in Phipps Park, their race starting just after 6:00 PM. The park was hot, dry, and dusty, the sky bright and cloudless. 700 meters into the race, three runners were well out in front of the rest of the field. Madison Sims, a Fort Braden seventh-grader, was the pacesetter, with Kyra Swart and Deerlake eighth-grader Ella Holman following in her shadow.

Kyra Swart

"We stayed together for a while," said Swart. "But about one mile I picked it up."


Making a move going up the biggest hill on the course, Swart broke away from the other two runners, going on to win by over 50 meters in 12:31. Holman took second in 12:44. Sims held off a late charge by Elizabeth Kessler, a Swift Creek eighth-grader, to take third, 12:49 to 12:51.

Ella Holman

Ava Jones and Natalie Nelson, both of Swift Creek, joined their teammate Kessler in the top ten, eighth-grader Jones sixth in 13:06 and seventh-grader Nelson ninth in 13:25. Seventh-grader Aza Hampton (12th, 13:32) and eighth-grader Naomi Buchanan completed the scoring for Swift Creek, giving the Wolves 44 points and their first victory of the season.


Seventh-grader Aditi Mukhirala placed fifth in 13:05, leading the Montford Mustangs to second in the team standings with 51 points. Swart and Holman's Deerlake Bucks were third in the six-team field with 58 points.

Elizabeth Kessler

2019 Falcon Invitational Girls' Team Scores

1. Swift Creek, 44
2. Montford, 51
3. Deerlake, 58
4. Raa, 97
5. Fairview, 153
6. Fort Braden, 156

Top Ten, 2019 Falcon Invitational Girls' 3K

1. 12:30.55, Kyra Swart (Deerlake) 6
2. 12:43.39, Ella Holman (Deerlake) 8
3. 12:48.94, Madison Sims (Fort Braden) 7
4. 12:50.68, Elizabeth Kessler (Swift Creek) 8
5. 13:04.62, Aditi Mukhirala (Montford) 7
6. 13:05.55, Ava Jones (Swift Creek) 8
7. 13:06.30, Mariona Heartsfield (Montford) 7
8. 13:11.20, Clara Thompson (Montford) 7
9. 13:24.80, Natalie Nelson (Swift Creek) 7
10. 13:25.72, Kennedy Bell (Raa) 6

"I really need to work on not falling off during the second half of the race," said Patrick Koon.

Patrick Koon

It's hard to push the pace when your closest competitor is a phone call behind you. Koon may not have been in a different area code than the rest of the athletes in the boys' 3K, but he did cross the finish line 100 meters ahead of the next runner. Anyway, it's unlikely that the runner-up would have had time to take his call. Koon already had a comfortable lead of 40 meters after the first 800 meters of the race, but immediately behind him, Justin Greenwood and Jackson Rowe were debating second place. A week earlier, Fairview's Greenwood had outkicked Rowe of Montford for the runner-up spot in the boys' 3K at the Mustang Stampede. Since that last meeting of the two eighth-graders, Jackson had won the middle school boys' 3K at the Alligator Lake Invitational in Lake City, Florida on 21 September 2019.


Rowe wasn't ready to challenge Koon, but he did his best to outrun Greenwood. With just under 300 meters left in the race, Rowe was ten meters ahead of Greenwood. But during that final 300 Greenwood made up those ten meters and then added ten of his own to take second in 13:32. Rowe was third in 10:34. In a battle for fourth, Deerlake eighth-grader Brooks Bowden outkicked Drayden Reams, a Raa eighth-grader, 11:09 to 11:10.

Justin Greenwood

Eighth-grader Ranceeson Grace took sixth place for Fairview. Eighth-grader Enijah Thomas (8th, 11:24) also cracked the top ten for the Falcons. Eighth-grader Keno Rivers was the fifth and final scorer for Fairview, coming in thirteenth in 11:44. Rivers' thirteen points gave the Falcons 30 and first place in a seven-team field.

Fairview and Deerlake have been going back and forth during Leon County Schools' 2019 middle school cross-country season, with Deerlake winning the even-numbered meets and Fairview the odd-numbered events. The Falcon Invitational was the fifth meet of the season, so it was Fairview's turn to win. The Deerlake boys were second with 45. Swift Creek was third with 98 point and Montford fourth, also with 98. Seventh-grader Asher Robertson was the top runner for Swift Creek, tenth in 11:31.

Jackon Rowe

Only one middle school cross-country meet remains on the regular season schedule for Leon County Schools, the League Championship at Apalachee Regional Park on Thursday evening, 3 October 2019. The athletes saw ARPXC in the season opener on 29 August 2019. Swart is ready to race on the course again.


"I feel like it has some good uphills and downhills," said Swart. "I could definitely run better now that I know the course."


"I think I can break 10:00," said Koon. "If I can get down to 9:50, I think I'll be competitive at State."

Brooks Bowden & Drayden Reams

2019 Falcon Invitational Boys' Team Scores

1. Fairview, 30
2. Deerlake, 45
3. Swift Creek, 98
4. Montford, 98
5. Raa, 104
6. Fort Braden, 171
7. Griffin, 212

Top Ten, 2019 Falcon Invitational Boys' 3K

1. 10:10.03, Patrick Koon (Fairview) 8
2. 10:31.37, Justin Greenwood (Fairview) 8
3. 10:33.16, Jackson Rowe (Montford) 8
4. 11:08.63, Brooks Bowden (Deerlake) 8
5. 11:09.38, Drayden Reams (Raa) 8
6. 11:16.38, Ranceeson Grace (Fairview) 8
7. 11:16.95, Jonah Blay (Deerlake) 8
8. 11:23.68, Enijah Thomas (Fairview) 8
9. 11:28.54, Cade Swart (Deerlake) 8
10. 11:30.08, Asher Robertson (Swift Creek) 7

Falcon Invitational Champions 2018 - 2019
Girls
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
27 September 2018	Swift Creek, 34	11:27.82, Maya Tang (Deerlake) 8
26 September 2019	Swift Creek, 44	12:30.55, Kyra Swart (Deerlake) 6
Boys
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
27 September 2018	Deerlake, 35	9:49.60, Wyatt Townsend (Deerlake) 8
26 September 2019	Fairview, 30	10:10.03, Patrick Koon (Fairview) 8

Links

• Complete results of the 2019 Falcon Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet via Brian Corbin
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTt0FwwhtqMYAPxnaJXfhNqxJ5iB8d6j7ck799R9GKRFTP7XiE2NW_JZa8SgXg6Wbx9OtEZ0vkeKr5L/pubhtml
  
  
• More photos of the 2019 Falcon Invitational Middle School Cross-Country Meet
  
  • Girls: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10114311895368803
  • Boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10114313252544013
  
  
• The 2019 LCS middle school cross-country season
  
  • ARPXC Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/08/swift-creek-2019.html
    
  • Fort Braden Run https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/09/fort-braden-2019.html
    
  • Everhart Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/09/owl-run-2019.html
    
  • Mustang Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/09/mustang-2019.html
    
  • Falcon Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/09/falcon-2019.html
    
  • 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
  
  
• 2018 story, “Tang and Townsend fly to victory at the Falcon Invitational”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/09/falcon-2018.html
  
  
• Tallahassee area cross country meets in 2019
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/08/tallahassee-xc-2019.html
  
  
• Find your next road race or cross-country run in the Tallahassee region
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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