The Maclay Marauders make no friends at the Friendly Cross-Country Meet

The Maclay Marauders hosted a middle school cross-country meet on their home course in Tallahassee, Florida on Thursday, 12 September 2019. They invited a few other Tallahassee schools and called it the Friendly Cross-Country Meet. That sounds a lot like when a card sharp suggests a "friendly" wager on a hand of poker. The Maclay harriers performed much like that hypothetical card sharp. The Marauder girls put up a perfect score of fifteen points in their race, while Maclay sixth-grader Lillian Koeppel won that three-kilometer event in 13:18. The Maclay boys won their 3K with a mathematically unbeatable 24 points, but Community Leadership seventh-grader Noah Deem placed first in 11:42, keeping the meet from being a Marauder sweep.

Lillian Koeppel

Florida State University School eighth-grader Leah Keller finished second to Koeppel in the girls' 3K, running 13:33. Community Christian eighth-grader Sarah Kate Costello was third in 13:40.


Neither Florida State nor Community Christian had a full team entered in the race, though, so their runners didn't count in the scoring. Maclay's did. In addition to Koeppel, Maclay had four other top-ten finishers--seventh-graders Payton Thumm (5th, 14:09), Nishi Bhanderi (6th, 14:11), and Kassidy Moninger (9th, 14:56), plus eighth-grader Olivia Bishop (10th, 15:05). No other team had any scorers in the top ten, giving the Maclay girls a perfect fifteen and the win. Community Leadership, led by eighth-grader Emma Stewart (17th, 16:47), was second in the team standings with 50 points.


Team Standings, Maclay's 2019 Friendly Middle School Cross-Country Meet Girls' 3K

1. 15, Maclay
2. 50, Community Leadership

Top Ten Athletes, Maclay's 2019 Friendly Middle School Cross-Country Meet Girls' 3K

1. 13:17.50, Lillian Koeppel (Maclay) 6
2. 13:32.53, Leah Keller (Florida State) 8
3. 13:39.15, Sarah Kate Costello (Community Christian) 8
4. 14:06.45, Morgan Crews (Community Christian) 8
5. 14:08.49, Payton Thumm (Maclay) 7
6. 14:10.12, Nishi Bhanderi (Maclay) 7
7. 14:41.68, Riza Johnson (Community Christian) 8
8. 14:51.86, Madison Payne (Community Christian) 8
9. 14:55.26, Kassidy Moninger (Maclay) 7
10. 15:04.10, Olivia Bishop (Maclay) 8

Noah Deem won the boys' race by well over 100 meters. Maclay seventh-grader Rollins Miller took second in 12:10. Community Christian sixth-grader Luke Meli placed third in 12:22.

Noah Deem

Community Leadership had another top ten finisher in addition to Deem, eighth-grader Nate Hinton, who edged Maclay seventh-grader Robert McAuliffe for fourth, 12:24 to 12:25. But McAuliffe was followed by a Marauder charge--seventh-graders Hayne Miller (6th, 12:35) and Barnes Ray (7th, 12:38), and eighth-grader Charles Rust (8th, 13:17). When Rust crossed the finish line, the Maclay boys had 24 points and the win. Deem's Community Leadership squad was second with 53 points. The Florida State boys were a close third with 55, led by their top finisher, sixth-grader Jake Urban (9th, 13:25).


Four schools sent athletes to Maclay School's 2019 Friendly Middle School Cross-Country Meet. Miles & Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee timed the races.


Team Standings, Maclay's 2019 Friendly Middle School Cross-Country Meet Boys' 3K

1. 24, Maclay
2. 53, Community Leadership
3. 55, Florida State

Top Ten Athletes, Maclay's 2019 Friendly Middle School Cross-Country Meet Boys' 3K

1. 11:41.48, Noah Deem (Community Leadership) 7
2. 12:09.02, Rollins Miller (Maclay) 7
3. 12:21.25, Luke Meli (Community Christian) 6
4. 12:23.03, Nate Hinton (Community Leadership) 8
5. 12:24.89, Robert McAuliffe (Maclay) 7
6. 12:34.93, Hayne Miller (Maclay) 7
7. 12:37.73, Barnes Ray (Maclay) 7
8. 13:16.08, Charles Rust (Maclay) 8
9. 13:24.93, Jake Urban (Florida State) 6
10. 13:29.81, Bryan Meli (Community Christian) 7

Links

• Complete results of Maclay's 2019 Friendly Middle School Cross-Country Meet
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSq-_6paQ7W1_ezSWCF1IxTw1pRySpIj6iBjEjRPGfXYqw-s4O4bd0YSctSsluy9vLfXscvXhPKLgfW/pubhtml
  
  
• Maclay Cross-Country's photos of the 2019 Friendly Cross-Country Meet
  https://www.facebook.com/Maclay-Runners-and-Jumpers-and-Throwers-and-Vaulters-272438522877/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10157876267042878
  
  
• Tallahassee area cross country meets in 2019
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/08/tallahassee-xc-2019.html
  
  
• The Trouble Afoot! calendar of upcoming races on turf, track, and road
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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