Friday, September 13, 2019

Skye Williams and Patrick Koon just keep winning at the Everhart Invitational

The Montford Middle School Mustangs were late getting to the 33rd Everhart Invitational Cross-Country Meet. The athletes didn't miss any races that Thursday morning, 12 September 2019, but the Montford bus arrived at Gretchen Everhart School during the National Anthem. Even so, twenty minutes after stepping off the bus, the Mustang girls were on the starting line. Montford eighth-grader Skye Williams won the girls' 3K race in 12:29, with Montford seventh-grader Sophia Youngberg second in 12:46. Their one-two finish helped Montford to a team win with 31 points. The Fairview boys' team took the top two places in their own race, with eighth-grader Patrick Koon taking first in 10:12 and eighth-grader Justin Greenwood second in 10:31. Fairview edged Deerlake for the boys' team title, 39 to 42.

Skye Williams

It was Skye Williams' third and final time racing at the Everhart Invitational. As a sixth-grader, she had finished tenth in the 2017 race, the final year that the Everhart Invitational was contested at two miles. In 2018 the race became a three-kilometer event, and Williams placed fifth. She wasn't behind anyone in 2019, or at least not for long. 400 meters into the race, Williams was leading, a few steps ahead of Deerlake sixth-grader Kyra Swart. Williams had widened the gap by the halfway-point of the race, by which time Sophia Youngberg had moved into third, right behind Swart. Youngberg overtook Swart and began to close on Williams. With 800 meters to go, only two seconds separated the pair of Montford runners.


But no one was going to catch Williams that morning. She ran away from Youngberg on the way to finish line, posting a winning 12:29. Youngberg held off Swart 12:46 to 12:47, taking second. Deerlake eighth-grader Ella Holman was fourth in 13:15.

Montford Girls

Montford put two more athletes in the top ten, with eighth-grader MacKenzie Hulquist fifth in 13:27 and seventh-grader Mariona Heartsfield ninth in 13:35. Eighth-grader Kaitlyn Kristian finished the scoring for the Mustangs, placing fourteenth in 13:59. That gave Montford 31 points, the best score in a field of seven. Swart's Deerlake team was second with 58 points. Swift Creek, team champs in 2018 and 2017, were third with 67 points, led by the sixth-place finish of eighth-grader Elizabeth Kessler (13:31).


2019 Everhart Invitational Team Standings, Girls
  1. Montford, 31
  2. Deerlake, 58
  3. Swift Creek, 67
  4. Raa, 101
  5. Cobb, 140
  6. Fairview, 168
  7. Fort Braden, 182
  8. Griffin, NTS

Top Ten Girls, 2019 Everhart Invitational
  1. 12:28.64, Skye Williams (Montford) 8
  2. 12:45.56, Sophia Youngberg (Montford) 7
  3. 12:46.61, Kyra Swart (Deerlake) 6
  4. 13:14.47, Ella Holman (Deerlake) 8
  5. 13:26.14, MacKenzie Hulquist (Montford) 8
  6. 13:30.31, Elizabeth Kessler (Swift Creek) 8
  7. 13:32.42, Kennedy Bell (Raa) 6
  8. 13:33.50, Aza Hampton (Swift Creek) 7
  9. 13:34.78, Mariona Heartsfield (Montford) 7
  10. 13:35.72, Ava Jones (Swift Creek) 8

"Justin [Greenwood] did amazing," commented Patrick Koon after the boys' 3K. "He ran 10:30."

Patrick Koon

Koon ran fairly well himself, never challenged after first taking the lead 300 meters into the race. By the end of the first kilometer Greenwood had moved into second, while eighth-graders Jackson Rowe of Montford and Drayden Reams of Raa vied for third. Koon was first in 10:12 and Greenwood second in 10:31, both times faster than Wyatt Townsend's winning 10:46 in the 2018 race. Rowe shook off Reams to take third in 11:03. Reams was fourth in 11:09.


The Deerlake Bucks had won the Everhart Invitational boys' team title in both 2017 and 2018. A week before the 2019 race, they had won the Fort Braden Run, outscoring Fairview 32 to 60. The Bucks looked poised to win again at Everhart when they put three runners in the top ten--eighth-graders Brooks Bowden (5th, 11:32), Davis McNeely (6th, 11:36), and Cade Swart (7th, 11:37). But in addition to Koon and Greenwood, Fairview had their own third runner in the top ten, eight-grader Enijah Thomas (8th, 11:38). Eighth-graders Ranceeson Grace (12th, 11:56) and Keno Rivers (16th, 12:09) completed the Falcons' total of 39 points, and the Fairview boys had the team trophy. Deerlake was second with 32. Jackson Rowe and the Montford Mustangs put up 89 points to place third among the eight boys' teams.

Fairview Boys

"I'm continuing my streak of running faster in each race," said Koon


That streak goes back into August, including the Miller Landing Madness 3K (10:47), the Dueling Summits Middle School boys' 3K (10:35), the ARPXC Invitational middle school boys' 3K (10:32), the Fort Braden Run middle school boys' 3K (10:27), and now the Everhart Invitational middle school boys' 3K. Next Thursday, 19 September 2019, Koon takes the streak to the seventh annual Mustang Cross-Country Stampede at Montford Middle School and Skye Williams' home course. Leon County Schools' 2019 middle school cross-country season continues after that with the Falcon Invitational at Phipps Park on 26 September 2019 and the League Championship Meet at Apalachee Regional Park on 3 October 2019.


2019 Everhart Invitational Team Standings, Boys
  1. Fairview, 39
  2. Deerlake, 42
  3. Montford, 89
  4. Swift Creek, 98
  5. Raa, 116
  6. Cobb, 184
  7. Fort Braden, 204
  8. Griffin, 219

Top Ten Boys, 2019 Everhart Invitational
  1. 10:11.98, Patrick Koon (Fairview) 8
  2. 10:30.60, Justin Greenwood (Fairview) 8
  3. 11:02.57, Jackson Rowe (Montford) 8
  4. 11:08.70, Drayden Reams (Raa) 8
  5. 11:31.62, Brooks Bowden (Deerlake) 8
  6. 11:35.54, Davis Mc Neely (Deerlake) 8
  7. 11:36.13, Cade Swart (Deerlake) 8
  8. 11:37.56, Enijah Thomas (Fairview) 8
  9. 11:37.79, Asher Robertson (Swift Creek) 7
  10. 11:42.85, Neal Porter (Montford) 7

Everhart Invitational Champions, 1988 - 2019
DateBoysGirls
12 September 2019Patrick Koon (Fairview) 10:12Skye Williams (Montford) 12:29
13 September 2018Wyatt Townsend (Deerlake) 10:46Maya Tang (Deerlake) 12:16
21 September 2017Ben Kirbo (Montford) 11:41Paige Churchill (Swift Creek) 13:45
22 September 2016Weston Blake (Swift Creek) 11:47Amaya Jones (Raa) 13:51
17 September 2015Spencer Amsellem (Deerlake) 12:17Emily Molen (Deerlake) 12:16
18 September 2014Tavaris King (Griffin) 12:04Lawton Campbell (Deerlake) 12:41
19 September 2013Jacob Dodson (Raa) 11:46Ana Wallace (Deerlake) 13:13
20 September 2012Matthew Cashin (Raa) 12:01Saige Kemeny (Montford) 13:19
22 September 2011Evan Francis (Raa) 11:56Zoe Sheldon (Swift Creek) 13:43
30 September 2010Wil Luca (Raa) 11:41Rebecca Clendinen (Raa) 13:57
1 October 2009Cade Zimmerman (Deerlake) 11:33Cece Williams (Deerlake) 13:26
25 September 2008Will Henderson (Raa) 11:42Cece Williams (Deerlake) 11:56
27 September 2007Will Henderson (Raa) 12:11Carly Thomas (Raa) 12:27
28 September 2006Will Stanford (Raa) 10:59Summer Shepherd (Raa) 12:59
29 September 2005Kurt Dietrich (Swift Creek) 12:07Jana Stolting (Deerlake) 13:26
30 September 2004Graham Hawkes (Cobb) 11:51Mallory Alonzo (Raa) 14:01
2 October 2003Joe Franklin (Griffin) 11:38Charlotte Murrell (Cobb) 14:17
3 October 2002Bryan Miletich (Deerlake) 11:51Julia Bryant (Deerlake) 14:06
4 October 2001Kevin Bryant (Raa) 12:33Karen Devick (Raa) 13:58
4 October 2000Danny Sass (Deerlake) 13:04LaShaunta Arnold (Fairview) 14:50
1 October 1999Logan Wolcott (Raa) 12:52LaShaunta Arnold (Fairview) 14:30
13 October 1998Matt Varn (Swift Creek) 12:31Allie Hunter (Swift Creek) 14:27
1997Anthony Washington (Bellevue) 12:26Allie Hunter (Swift Creek) 15:00
1996
6 October 1995Bryan Hendricks (Cobb) 8:15*Meredith Warren (Raa) 10:36*
6 October 1994Kevin Anderson (Deerlake) 8:10*Meredith Warren (Raa) 9:56*
20 October 1993
20 October 1992Mark Roehl (Raa) 8:40*Brianne Pla (Cobb) 9:33*
22 October 1991Michael Rodriguez (Raa) 8:38*Holly Skinner (Cobb) 10:15*
10 October 1990Tim Bolton (Cobb) 8:44*Christy Weinberger(Bellevue)10:17*
24 May 1990Wayne McDaniel (Raa) 6:58†Cynthia Costin (Griffin) 8:06†
23 May 1989Wayne McDaniel (Raa) 7:09†Tonia Jackson (Nims) 8:13†
10 May 1988Bobby Jessup (Griffin) †Tonia Jackson (Raa) †
* 1-1/2 mile race at Gretchen Everhart School
† 2 km race at Florida State University


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Posted by Herb Wills at 3:41 PM
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2 comments:

  1. Bryan KoonSeptember 13, 2019 at 6:06 PM

    Herb, there’s a link in this post to an article about the Fort Braden race, but it’s not coming up as a viable link (at least on my phone)

    https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/09/fort-braden-2019.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Herb WillsSeptember 13, 2019 at 10:55 PM

      That article will be at that link, but it's not done yet. It needs another hour or so of work.

      Delete

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