Friday, October 25, 2019

Harriers Ava Flaherty and James Simkins lead the way in 2A District 1

In Florida, the rules for high school cross-country change from year to year, but one thing has been constant since 1975. In order for your team to compete at the State Championship Meet, you need to qualify at the Regional Meet. And in order to get to the Regional Meet, you need to qualify at District. That's why the athletes were assembled east of Tallahassee, Florida at Apalachee Regional Park on Thursday morning, 24 October 2019, for the 2A District 1 Cross-Country Championships. South Walton won the girls' title, led by the first-pace performance of their ace frosh, Ava Flaherty, who posted a winning time of 20:27. West Florida edged South Walton for the title in the boys' race, where Pensacola junior James Simkins took top individual honors in 16:44.

Ava Flaherty
Ava Flaherty

The Apalachee Regional Park Championship Cross-Country Course is a busy place during the season. Earlier in the morning of the 2A District 1 meet, the course had hosted the 3A District 1 races. The next day, the junior college teams of the FCSAA would compete on the course in their state championship meet. On 9 November 2019, the high schools would be back for the State Meet. But at 10:00 AM it was time for the 2A girls of District 1 to take their turn on the course.


By far the fastest in that group was Ava Flaherty. The South Walton frosh won the race in 20:27, a huge improvement over the 21:14 she had posted at ARPXC earlier in the season at the Red Hills Invitational. Skylar Grant, a West Florida Tech senior, took second in 21:01. North Bay Haven's Kyla Faint, a sixth-grader, placed third in 21:17.

Skylar Grant
Skylar Grant

Flaherty was joined in the top ten by her South Walton comrades, juniors Patasha Bryan (5th, 21:49) and Aris Short (6th, 21:51). South Walton also had scoring performances by Seahawk frosh Dafne Lucero, 13th in 22:56, and sophomore Heidi Scali, 14th in 22:59. With Scali's finish, the Seahawk girls had 37 points and were taking home the 2A District 1 team trophy.


Faint's North Bay Haven squad took second with 62 points. Pensacola, led by a tenth place 22:36 by senior Nala Baker, edged Suwannee for third, 122 to 125. Suwannee's top runner was sophomore Nellie Lamb, seventeenth in 23:16.

Kyla Faint
Kyla Faint

For 45 years teams had to go through District to get to Region, but in 2019 the rule was that the top ten teams made the cut. South Walton, North Bay Haven, Pensacola, and Suwannee each quadlified, and so did Pensacola Catholic (5th, 135), West Florida (6th, 137), Santa Fe (7th, 139), Florida State (8th, 164), Bay (9th, 245), and Rutherford (10th, 263). The 2A Region 1 meet is slated for Saturday morning, 2 November 2019, at the Oaks Equestrian Center in Lake City, Florida.


Girls' Team Standings, 2019 FHSAA 2A District 1 Cross-Country Championship
  1. South Walton, 37 *
  2. North Bay Haven, 62 *
  3. Pensacola, 122 *
  4. Suwannee, 125 *
  5. Pensacola Catholic, 135 *
  6. West Florida, 137 *
  7. Santa Fe, 139 *
  8. Florida State, 164 *
  9. Bay, 245 *
  10. Rutherford, 263 *
  11. Marianna, 325
  12. Walton, 358
* Team advances to the 2A Region 1 Championship


Top 15 Girls, 2019 FHSAA 2A District 1 Cross-Country Championship
  1. 20:27.00, Ava Flaherty (South Walton) 9
  2. 21:01.00, Skylar Grant (West Florida) 12
  3. 21:16.90, Kyla Faint (North Bay Haven) 6
  4. 21:26.50, Alexis Dillard (Pensacola Catholic) 10
  5. 21:48.60, Patasha Bryan (South Walton) 11
  6. 21:50.60, Aris Short (South Walton) 11
  7. 22:07.50, Katherine Lundgren (North Bay Haven) 9
  8. 22:20.10, Lakyn Carmichael (North Bay Haven) 9
  9. 22:20.20, Niya Coleman (Florida State) 9
  10. 22:35.10, Nala Baker (Pensacola) 12
  11. 22:45.90, Amaya Jones (Godby) 11
  12. 22:55.00, Ella Phillips (Pensacola) 12
  13. 22:55.40, Dafne Lucero (South Walton) 9
  14. 22:58.20, Heidi Scali (South Walton) 10
  15. 23:00.30, Kara Santorelli (Northview) 9

After the top girls' teams had earned their tickets to Lake City and the Region, it was time for the 2A boys' race. James Simkins led the field out, and he was leading them when they came in. The Pensacola High junior won the race in 16:44. Phillip Gindl, a senior at another Pensacola school, West Florida Tech, took second in 17:03. Jacob Daleo of South Walton placed third in 17:28.

James Simkins
James Simkins

In addition to Daleo's third-place performance, South Walton also got a top-ten finish from junior Chadwick Phillips, who was ninth in 18:46. In West Florida Tech's ledger, Gindl may have been their only runner in the top ten, but the Jaguars got scoring performances from junior Christopher Bissell (14th, 19:03), senior Steven Desposito (16th, 19:05), junior Aidan Lopez (22nd, 19:22), and junior Thomas Gray (24th, 19:26) while South Walton was still waiting for their fourth runner to finish. It was enough to give the West Florida Tech boys a winning score of 70 points and the District title. South Walton was a close second with 74 points.


Pensacola, on a quest for their first trip to the State Meet in the 21st Century, placed third in the team standings with 117 points. West Florida Tech, South Walton, and Pensacola each advanced to the 2A Region 1 meet, as did Northview (4th, 137), Pensacola Catholic (5th, 151), Suwannee (6th, 152), Santa Fe (7th, 164), North Bay Haven (8th, 177), Florida State (9th, 198), and Newberry (10th, 218).

Phillip Gindl
Phillip Gindl

Boys' Team Standings, 2019 FHSAA 2A District 1 Cross-Country Championship
  1. West Florida, 70 *
  2. South Walton, 74 *
  3. Pensacola, 117 *
  4. Northview, 137 *
  5. Pensacola Catholic, 151 *
  6. Suwannee, 152 *
  7. Santa Fe, 164 *
  8. North Bay Haven, 177 *
  9. Florida State, 198 *
  10. Newberry, 218 *
  11. Walton, 314
  12. Marianna, 335
  13. Bay, 338
  14. Rutherford, 411
* Team advances to the 2A Region 1 Championship


Top 15 Boys, 2019 FHSAA 2A District 1 Cross-Country Championship
  1. 16:43.60, James Simkins (Pensacola) 11
  2. 17:02.60, Phillip Gindl (West Florida) 12
  3. 17:27.60, Jacob Daleo (South Walton) 12
  4. 17:48.90, Blake Lofing (Santa Fe) 12
  5. 18:15.80, Jonathan Reyes (Chipley) 10
  6. 18:24.10, Hunter Land (Suwannee) 10
  7. 18:26.80, Russell Young (Pensacola Catholic) 11
  8. 18:34.00, Tyler Reeve (Florida State) 11
  9. 18:45.50, Chadwick Phillips (South Walton) 11
  10. 18:46.40, Donovan Kane (Pensacola) 10
  11. 18:51.80, Shiquel Tucker (Godby) 9
  12. 18:53.10, Gavin Morris (South Walton) 12
  13. 18:55.60, Anecio Torres (Newberry) 12
  14. 19:02.30, Christopher Bissell (West Florida) 11
  15. 19:03.30, Jon Harigel (Northview) 10

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Posted by Herb Wills at 9:35 PM
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