Feeling blue--Ella Porcher and Junious Brown fronted Maclay to a sweep of 1A District 2

And just like that, the 2019 regular season was over, and the post-season for high school cross-country had begun in Florida.


Wednesday, 23 October 2019, didn't seem that long since the days of late August and the first races of the season. Nevertheless, that was the morning that the class 1A cross-country squads of Northeast Florida gathered at Suwannee Country Club near Live Oak, Florida for the first meet of the state championship series, the 1A District 2 Championship. Tallahassee's Maclay Marauders won the first race of the morning, the girls' 5K, with a mathematically unbeatable score of 26, led by the first-place finish of frosh Ella Porcher. Maclay completed their sweep of District 2, winning the boys' 5K with 32 points while their ace, senior Junious Brown, nabbed first in 15:42.


From 2011 to 2018, District 2 had been split into two smaller divisions, District 3 and District 4. For 2019, those two were once again reunited into a competitive unit that included Florida schools from Tallahassee to Jacksonville. Many of those schools had been at Suwannee Country Club earlier in the season, racing in the Live Oak Twilight Invitational, a kind of pre-district. The real thing opened on 23 October 2019 with the high school girls' 5K.

Ella Porcher

At the Twilight Invitational, Ella Porcher had slipped by University Christian sophomore Laci Watford to take first in the girls' race, 19:36 to 19:38. Watford ran faster in the District race, but Porcher ran much faster, crossing the finish line first in 19:16. Watford was second in 19:29. Maclay took the next two places, with frosh Sofia Paredes third in 20:37 and senior Hannah Hosay fourth in 20:44. Eighth-grader Susan Koeppel made it four in the top ten for Maclay, placing ninth in 21:31. Marauder junior Jane-Kathryn Whittington took thirteenth in 22:16, giving the Maclay girls 26 points and the District title.


Jacksonville Providence was second in the team standings with 55 points; eighth-grader Lindy White (6th, 21:05) was first across the line for Providence. Saint Augustine's Saint Joseph Academy scored 90 points for third, led by frosh Ana Whitehouse (7th, 21:09). The top ten teams qualified for the Region 1 Championship so Tallahassee Community Christian (4th, 103), Saint Johns Country Day (5th, 137), Bishop Snyder (6th, 140), Jefferson County (7th, 165), Aucilla Christian (8th, 199), Trinity Christian (9th, 233), and Saint John Paul II Catholic (10th, 304) also advanced.

Girls' Team Standings

1. Maclay, 26*
2. Providence, 55*
3. Saint Joseph, 90*
4. Community Christian, 103*
5. Saint Johns Country Day, 137*
6. Bishop Snyder, 140*
7. Jefferson County, 165*
8. Aucilla Christian, 199*
9. Trinity Christian, 233*
10. Saint John Paul II Catholic, 304*

* Team advances to the 1A Region 1 Championship


Top Ten Girls

1. 19:15.60, Ella Porcher (Maclay) 9
2. 19:28.70, Laci Watford (University Christian) 10
3. 20:36.40, Sofia Paredes (Maclay) 9
4. 20:43.80, Hannah Hosay (Maclay) 12
5. 20:57.40, Morgan Wilson (Community Christian) 10
6. 21:04.50, Lindy White (Providence) 8
7. 21:08.30, Ana Whitehouse (Saint Joseph) 9
8. 21:29.90, Caitlynn Schultz (Providence) 8
9. 21:30.30, Susan Koeppel (Maclay) 8
10. 21:33.20, Sydney Woods (Providence) 9

The meet concluded with the boys' 5K. Continuing the theme of running even faster than at the Live Oak Invitational, Junious Brown broke his own course record, setting a new mark of 15:42 and finishing more than 250 meters ahead of the next runner. Matthew Stratton, a Saint Johns Country Day sophomore, took second in 16:35. Maclay junior Leo Rutledge placed third in 16:59, just ahead of the 17:02 posted by the fourth-place finisher, North Florida Christian senior David Andrew Keen.

Junious Brown

The Maclay boys also had top ten performances from frosh Clayton Knox (7th, 17:32) and junior Michael Sweeney (10th, 17:51). Frosh Carter Rothell completed the scoring for Maclay, placing eleventh in 17:56. With that, the Marauders had 32 points and the District 2 championship.


Led by the eighth-place finish of sophomore Grayson Gully (17:35), Bishop Snyder placed second in the team standings with 80 points. Andrew Fox, a Saint Joseph senior, was the top finisher for his team; they were third with 124 points, just ahead of the 130 scored by fourth-place Saint Johns Country Day. The other squads qualifying for the Region 1 meet were Community Christian (5th, 164), Trinity Christian (6th, 165), Providence (7th, 171), Aucilla Christian (8th, 194), North Florida Christian (9th, 264), and Christ's Church Academy (10th, 278). For the remaining teams in the field, the 2019 season was over.


Miles and Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee, Florida timed and scored the 2019 FHSAA 1A District 2 Championships. Columbia High will host the 1A Region 1 meet at The Oaks Equestrian Center near Lake City, Florida on Saturday morning, 2 November 2019. The top teams at the Regional will advance to the State Championship at the Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Course in Tallahassee, Florida on 9 November 2019.


Boys' Team Standings

1. Maclay, 32*
2. Bishop Snyder, 80*
3. Saint Joseph, 124*
4. Saint Johns Country Day, 130*
5. Community Christian, 164*
6. Trinity Christian, 165*
7. Providence, 171*
8. Aucilla Christian, 194*
9. North Florida Christian, 264*
10. Christs Church Academy, 278*
11. Jefferson County, 307
12. Saint John Paul II Catholic, 322
13. Eagles View, 346
14. University Christian, 404
15. Florida Deaf and Blind, 425
16. Hilliard, 460

* Team advances to the 1A Region 1 Championship


Top Ten Boys

1. 15:41.10, Junious Brown (Maclay) 12
2. 16:34.90, Matthew Stratton (Saint Johns Country Day) 10
3. 16:58.60, Leo Rutledge (Maclay) 11
4. 17:01.30, David Andrew Keen (North Florida Christian) 12
5. 17:09.20, Jacob Kailes (Saint Johns Country Day) 11
6. 17:30.40, Andrew Fox (Saint Joseph) 12
7. 17:32.00, Clayton Knox (Maclay) 9
8. 17:34.70, Grayson Gully (Bishop Snyder) 10
9. 17:47.80, Curtis Judd (Trinity Christian) 12
10. 17:51.00, Michael Sweeney (Maclay) 11

Links

• Complete results of the 2019 FHSAA District 2-1A Cross Country Championships
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTSeeISMIWwxJutTcQCVgMR2q-z9TvPtmbdvYrw7MIledTq7-xbvKwTnV0mKyJI7sINQAnHRx5db5oS/pubhtml
  
  
• 2018 story, “Junious Brown and Ella Porcher key another Maclay sweep of 1A District 3”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/10/fhsaa-district-3-1a-2018.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Milford and Willis lead a Maclay sweep of the individual and team titles in 1A District 3”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/10/fhsaa-district-3-1a-2016.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Caroline Willis and Jake Mazziotta lead a Maclay sweep of District 3-1A”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/10/fhsaa-district-3-1a-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Willis and Rutherford win in District 3-1A; Maclay sweeps the team titles”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/10/fhsaa-district-3-1a-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Championship season opens with District 3-1A and a Maclay sweep”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/11/fhsaa-district-3-1a-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “First meet in the state tournament is all Maclay”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/11/fhsaa-district-3-1a-xc-2011.html
  
  
• 2010 story, “2010 FHSAA District 1-1A Cross-Country Meet”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/11/district-1-1a-xc-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, “2009 FHSAA District 1-1A Cross Country Meet”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/11/2009-fhsaa-district-1-1a-cross-country.html
  
  
• Find an upcoming road or cross-country race in the Tallahassee region
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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