Chiles harriers Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina and Alyson Churchill sweep the Tannenbaum 6K

East of Tallahassee, Florida on Saturday morning, 21 December 2019, a herd of deer grazed along the Apalachee Regional Park Championship Cross-Country Course in Field Four. Feral hogs also occasionally browse in Field Four, as well as smaller creatures. All the wildlife had moved on by 9:00 AM though, when the athletes in Gulf Winds Track Club's ninth annual Tannenbaum Trail 6K Cross-Country Race charged through Field Four. First to the deer meadow and first to the finish line was a sophomore from the Chiles High cross-country team, Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina, the overall winner in 22:16. Another Chiles harrier, senior Alyson Churchill, took first in the women's standings, placing seventh overall in 24:30.

Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina

Reina was already half a minute ahead of the rest of the field at the two-kilometer mark of the six-kilometer race, a lead that had stretched to nearly a minute by the halfway point. Tallahassee master runner Tony Guillen and Noah Deem, a seventh-grader at Community Leadership Academy, shared the second position during the first half of the race, chasing Aldrovandi-Reina. They were in turn stalked by James Sands. While Aldrovandi-Reina went on to win the race in 22:16, Deem faded and was overtaken by Sands. With 200 meters to go, Sands had nearly pulled even with Guillen. Sands passed Guillen on the homestretch to take second in 23:32. Third overall in 23:36, Guillen was the first master runner in the race. Deem finished fourth in 24:08.

James Sands & Tony Guillen

Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina was already quite familiar with Apalachee Regional Park. He had not only raced there several times during his first two years with the Chiles High cross-country team, but he had also run at ARPXC during 2017 with the Deerlake Middle School cross-country squad. When it comes to experience with the Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Course, though, it would be hard to beat Alyson Churchill, the Tannenbaum women's champ. Churchill first raced at ARPXC in 2014 as a seventh-grader on the Swift Creek Middle School cross-country team. After two years of racing for Swift Creek, she ran cross-country on Lincoln High's team for a year, during which she won the FHSAA class 3A girls' cross-country state championship race on the Apalachee Regional Park course. She followed that up with three years of racing at ARPXC with the Chiles High team, and recently signed to run women's cross-country with the Florida State University Seminoles, who use Apalachee Regional Park as their home course. Churchill had also raced the Tannenbaum before, winning the women's title at the race in 2016.


"I love this race," said Churchill. "It has been a long time since I've been able to run it. I just started training for track and last night I just decided to race."

Alyson Churchill

So Churchill raced. For the first half of the 6K, Leon junior Lilli Unger led the women's field. During the second half, Churchill took over, taking the top women's spot in 24:30. Unger was the women's runner-up, placing twelfth overall in 25:27.


"I think I actually ran even splits," said Churchill. "I felt really good."


Amy Horst was the third woman in the race and eighteenth overall in 26:46. Laura Reina was the first woman master and seventh female finisher, 27th overall in 29:22.

Lilli Unger

105 athletes finished the 2019 Tannenbaum 6K. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed the race.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Tannenbaum Trail Cross-Country Race

1. 22:16, Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina (M, 15)
2. 23:32, James Sands (M, 35)
3. 23:36, Tony Guillen (M, 51)
4. 24:08, Noah Deem (M, 12)
5. 24:24, Jack McDermott (M, 50)
6. 24:27, Paul Guyas (M, 42)
7. 24:38, Dillon Garrett (M, 20)
8. 24:45, Matthias Laywell (M, 21)
9. 25:18, Andrew Wilber (M, 30)
10. 25:20, Duane Evans (M, 52)

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Tannenbaum Trail Cross-Country Race

1. 24:30, Alyson Churchill (F, 17)
2. 25:27, Lilli Unger (F, 17)
3. 26:46, Amy Horst (F, 39)
4. 27:53, Morgan Wilson (F, 15)
5. 28:44, Megan Churchill (F, 17)
6. 29:11, Kaley Ford (F, 25)
7. 29:22, Laura Reina (F, 55)
8. 29:31, Jillian Heddaeus (F, 36)
9. 30:21, Nikky Manausa (F, 38)
10. 30:29, Kelly Whalon (F, 47)

Tannenbaum Trail 6K Champions, 2011 - 2019
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
17 December 2011	19:49, Chris Lake	25:33, Katie Showman	173
15 December 2012	19:35, Kevin Sullivan	21:56, Stefanie Slekis	182
21 December 2013	20:51, Bryan Koon	22:30, Jodie McGuff	76
20 December 2014	20:17, Kyle Harris	25:21, Jillian Heddaeus	149
19 December 2015	20:36, Joseph Garcia	23:30, Katie Sherron	192
17 December 2016	20:30, Josh Andrews	22:33, Alyson Churchill	87
16 December 2017	20:19, Charlie Johnson	22:46, Katie Sherron	112
15 December 2018	18:03*, Charlie Kline	22:29*, Michelle Allen	136
21 December 2019	22:16, Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina	24:30, Alyson Churchill	105
* The 2018 race was shortened to 5,500 meters because of course conditions.

Links

• Complete results of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Tannenbaum Trail 6K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSOuZv6BDH8GT4ko5KLPC1mw8GF4sOVvqqPX4VxZYuW_uAK_FEE2ug55Y3F4-pcdh3sVSjZZEv8xo-K/pubhtml
  
  
• More Trouble Afoot! photos of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2019 Tannenbaum Trail 6K
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10114833175843553
  
  
• 2018 story, “Charlie Kline and Shelly Allen are the 2018 Florida RRCA State Cross-Country Champions”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/12/tannenbaum-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Johnson and Sherron rule the Tannenbaum Trail”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/12/tannenbaum-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Tannenbaum Trail titles for Josh Andrews and Alyson Churchill”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/12/tannenbaum-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Garcia and Sherron take the Tannenbaum”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/12/tannenbaum-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Berry College Viking Kyle Harris wins Tallahassee's Tannenbaum Trail 6K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/12/tannenbaum-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Koon and McGuff traipse the Tannenbaum Trail”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/12/tannenbaum-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Sullivan and Slekis take Tannenbaum for Capital City Runners”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/12/tannenbaum-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Lake and Showman trail no one at Tannenbaum Trail 6K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/12/tannenbaum-2011.html
  
  
• Find another upcoming race named after a tree on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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