Tallahassee high school cross-country opens with wins by Liliana Lewis, Jackson Yarbrough

I suppose that if you want to know when high school cross-country season begins in Florida, you can look on the Florida High School Athletic Association calendar. I usually go by nature--if the beautyberries are ripe, it's time for cross-country. There were ripe beautyberries in Tallahassee on Saturday morning, 21 August 2021, but a more positive sign that high school cross-country season was under way was the racing in Southwood at Florida State University School. Seven schools had teams there for the second annual Florida State University School Cross-Country Invitational. Wakulla High and Maclay School split the team titles, with Wakulla taking the girls' 5K. Led by sophomore Liliana Lewis' 21:20 win, the Wakulla War Eagles took first in the team standings with 28 points. In the boys' race, the Maclay Marauders scored a mathematically unbeatable 23 points, while Maclay senior Jackson Yarbrough edged Marauder junior Carter Rothell for first, both runners clocked in 19:00.

Clara Alford and Liliana Lewis

The girls raced first, leaving the starting line at 8:00 AM. There was quite a bit of jockeying for the lead in the first mile. Liliana Lewis of Wakulla led for a while, then a trio of Maclay runners took over--frosh Kassidy Moninger, eighth-grader Caroline Couch, and frosh Payton Thumm. Two kilometers into the race, though, Lewis was in front to stay. By the three kilometer mark, the Maclay girls had fallen off the pace, and the vanguard was Lewis with Wakulla senior Clara Alford a few steps back.


"I was really hoping she was right behind me," said Lewis, always conscious of team scoring.


Alford remained close, but Lewis remained in first. They took the top two places for Wakulla, with Lewis first in 21:20 and Alford second in 21:24.


"I wanted to get into the 20s, but I was happy with my time," said Lewis.

Kassidy Moninger and Niya Colman

Moninger of Maclay was third in 21:36, while Florida State junior Niya Colman took fourth in 21:42.


Wakulla's five scorers all finished in the top ten. After Lewis and Alford, War Eagles sophomore Taylor Pfeifer was seventh in 22:45, senior Marina Whitsell was eighth in 23:08, and sophomore Analecia Ferrell tenth in 23:25. That added up to 28 points and the second FSUS Invitational win in two years for the Wakulla girls.


Led by Kassidy Moninger's third-place finish, Maclay was second with 50 points. Host Florida State University School and Community Christian each scored 82 points, tying for third. Niya Coleman (4th, 21:42) was the first FSUS finisher and junior Teresa Meli (9th, 23:12) the top runner for Community Christian.


2021 FSUS Invitational High School Girls' 5K Team Standings

1. 28, Wakulla
2. 50, Maclay
3. 82, Florida State University
3. 82, Community Christian
5. 112, Lincoln
6. NTS, Godby

Top Ten Athletes, 2021 FSUS Invitational High School Girls' 5K

1. 21:19.43, Liliana Lewis (Wakulla) 10
2. 21:23.05, Clara Alford (Wakulla) 12
3. 21:35.25, Kassidy Moninger (Maclay) 9
4. 21:41.29, Niya Coleman (Florida State University) 11
5. 22:27.00, Payton Thumm (Maclay) 9
6. 22:28.69, Caroline Couch (Maclay) 8
7. 22:44.76, Taylor Pfeifer (Wakulla) 10
8. 23:07.59, Marina Whitsell (Wakulla) 12
9. 23:11.62, Teresa Meli (Community Christian) 11
10. 23:24.27, Analecia Ferrell (Wakulla) 10

There were two hairpin turns on the 5K course at the FSUS Invitational. The second of those comes in the final hundred meters of the race. Some athlete slowed down to negotiate the turn. Others grabbed a fence post to help them swing around. A few slipped on the grass and fell before getting back to their feet and charging for the finish line.


In the boys' 5K, the lead runners ran past the final turn.

Jackson Yarbrough

Maclay senior Jackson Yarbrough, second in the state last year in class 1A boys' cross-country, entered the race still recovering from a summer bout of mononucleosis. Nevertheless, Yarbrough set the pace for most of the first half of the 5K, holding off a variety of challengers. Late in the race, Yarbrough was part of lead pack that included Maclay juniors Carter Rothell, Clayton Knox, and Lucas Mauch, as well as Wakulla junior Jaden Callaghan. The tempo increased. Yarbrough and Rothell were left behind. Then the leaders blew by the final turn.


Everyone shouted for the errant runners to return, but before they turned around Yarbrough and Rothell made the final turn and motored toward the finish. Yarbrough was slightly ahead as the two crossed the line in 19:00. Knox was third in 19:09 and Mauch fourth in 19:11, just ahead of Callaghan's fifth-place 19:12.


Maclay took the top four places, then the Marauder's completed their team score when their fifth runner, senior Lawrence Bishop, came across the line fifteenth in 20:48. That gave the Maclay boys 23 points and the team title. For the second year in a row, Wakulla was runner-up in the team standings, this time with 38 points. Lincoln and FSUS each scored 81 points, but Lincoln took third on the tiebreaker.


2021 FSUS Invitational High School Boys' 5K Team Standings

1. 23, Maclay
2. 38, Wakulla
3. 81, Lincoln
4. 81, Florida State University
5. NTS, Godby
   NTS, Rickards
   NTS, Community Christian

Top Ten Athletes, 2021 FSUS Invitational High School Boys' 5K

1. 18:59.55, Jackson Yarbrough (Maclay) 12
2. 18:59.78, Carter Rothell (Maclay) 11
3. 19:08.23, Clayton Knox (Maclay) 11
4. 19:10.62, Lucas Mauch (Maclay) 11
5. 19:11.21, Jaden Callaghan (Wakulla) 11
6. 19:20.99, Donnie Pitts (Wakulla) 12
7. 19:52.71, ShiQuel Tucker (Godby) 11
8. 19:56.00, Enijah Thomas (Rickards) 10
9. 20:11.73, Joseph Wiedeman (Wakulla) 11
10. 20:22.42, Shawn Peckham (Wakulla) 12

It didn't take long for Charlotte Sikes to get into the lead of the middle school girls' 3K at the FSU Invitational. Once in the lead, she stayed there. Sikes won the race in 13:03, a 24-second improvement on her time in the 2020 race and twelve seconds faster than last year's winning time. Maclay seventh-grader Ellie Mazziotta took second in 13:43 and Leah Boutwell, a Florida State seventh-grader, was third in 13:50.

Charlotte Sikes

Maclay's scoring runners all finished in the top ten, with Mazziotta joined by sixth-grader Mary Price (4th, 14:05), seventh-grader Aurora Earlywine (5th, 14:10), seventh-grader Lily Bell (7th, 14:26), and eighth-grader Mae Deison (8th, 14:35). Those five gave the Marauders a perfect fifteen-point score and the team title. Community Leadership Academy took second with 40 points. CLA's top runners were seventh-graders Ashlynn Naumann (9th, 15:15) and Briley Hanlon (10th, 15:15).


2021 FSUS Invitational Middle School Girls' 3K Team Standings

1. 15, Maclay
2. 40, Community Leadership
3. NTS, Red Hills Running Club
   NTS, Florida State University
   NTS, Community Christian

Top Ten Athletes, 2021 FSUS Invitational Middle School Girls' 3K

1. 13:02.83, Charlotte Sikes (Red Hills Running Club) 6
2. 13:42.02, Ellie Mazziotta (Maclay) 7
3. 13:49.91, Leah Boutwell (Florida State University) 7
4. 14:04.96, Mary Price (Maclay) 6
5. 14:09.44, Aurora Earlywine (Maclay) 7
6. 14:09.73, Ryleigh Gunter (Florida State University) 8
7. 14:25.59, Lilly Bell (Maclay) 7
8. 14:34.82, Mae Deison (Maclay) 8
9. 15:14.17, Ashlyn Naumann (Community Leadership) 7
10. 15:14.56, Briley Hanlon (Community Leadership) 7

Right after the start of the middle school boys' 3K, Wakulla eighth-grader Henry Lewis charged out ahead of the rest of the field. Before the end of the first kilometer, Lewis was overtaken by Luke Meli of Community Christian, another eighth-grader. Meli held his position and won the race in 11:27. Lewis was second in 11:50, almost a minute faster than he had run in the 2020 Invitational. Seventh-grader Randon Manausa of Holy Comforter took third in 12:14.

Luke Meli

Logan Phipps took fourth in 11:25. Phipps, a Maclay sixth-grader, was the first of four Maclay runners in the top ten. The other three were eighth-grader Collins Dixon (7th, 12:33), seventh-grader David Burton (8th, 12:47), and fifth-grader Wesley Seise (10th, 12:54). A few steps behind Seise in 12:54, Maclay seventh-grader Connor Thumm placed eleventh, giving the Marauders 20 points, first place in the middle school boys' team standings, and a sweep of the middle school titles at the Invitational.


Led by Meli, Community Christian was second with 42 points. Community Leadership Academy placed third with 73 points. CLA's first runner was seventh-grader Josiah Stake, seventeenth in 13:52.


Miles and Minutes, LLC of Tallahassee timed and scored the 2021 FSUS Invitational.


2021 FSUS Invitational Middle School Boys' 3K Team Standings

1. 20, Maclay
2. 42, Community Christian
3. 73, Community Leadership
4. NTS, Wakulla
   NTS, Fairview
   NTS, Holy Comforter Episcopal
   NTS, Florida State University

Top Ten Athletes, 2021 FSUS Invitational Middle School Boys' 3K

1. 11:29.61, Luke Meli (Community Christian) 8
2. 11:49.79, Henry Lewis (Wakulla) 8
3. 12:13.58, Randon Manausa (Holy Comforter Episcopal) 7
4. 12:24.06, Logan Phipps (Maclay) 6
5. 12:29.24, Emari Thomas (Fairview) 6
6. 12:29.59, Ethan Nicholson (Fairview) 6
7. 12:32.33, Collins Dickson (Maclay) 8
8. 12:46.79, David Burton (Maclay) 7
9. 12:50.14, Luke Springer (Holy Comforter Episcopal) 8
10. 12:50.93, Wesley Seise (Maclay) 5

Links

• Complete results of the 2021 Florida State University School Invitational
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQM8E3X0T0D0pzibgFYV0m2fWSeupQpI4P2ZnVIKjaQ92QZPM6KeBrUg9OLo61jq_jRkw0v3sWGQlc4/pubhtml
  
  
• More Trouble Afoot! photos of the 2021 Florida State University School Invitational
  
  • HS Girls: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10118292844973883
  • HS Boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10118291892762123
  • MS Girls: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10118291128543623
  • MS Boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10118290278127863
  
  
• Course maps for the 2021 Florida State University School Invitational
  
  • 5K: https://app.box.com/s/nhmvelj3lqdxxzfk7jghwt9hsz0ivu08
  • 3K: https://app.box.com/s/5ezahmwtg9kaa9xvaoe8vl2kgsr5fzku
  
  
• Tallahassee area cross country meets in 2021
  [ COMING SOON! PLEASE CHECK BACK! ]
  
  

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