Kelly Davis and Wyatt Townsend win their duels at Dueling Summits

An early-season staple of high school cross-country in Tallahasse, Florida from 2006 to 2019, the annual Dueling Summits Meet was absent from the schedule in 2020, a casualty of COVID-19. But the fixture returned to Phipps Park on Saturday morning, 28 August 2021, drawing over 500 athletes in five races. Chiles senior Kelly Davis took first in the high school girls' 5K with a 21:23, but it was the Wakulla girls who nabbed the team title, scoring 25 points. Wyatt Townsend, a Chiles junior, won the high school boys' 5K in 16:32, leading the Timberwolves to first in the team standings with 20 points.

Kelly Davis

The Phipps Park hills, the "Summits" in the meet's name, hadn't become any less steep during the hiatus since the 2019 event. On the other hand, they hadn't grown any more steep, either. Kelly Davis, meanwhile, had gotten tougher. Davis had run 23:02 in the 2019 Duelling Summits; in 2021 she raced nearly two minutes faster than her sophomore mark, recording a winning 21:23. Another Chiles senior, Ella Hodges, had run 23:23 in the 2019 meet. Hodges improved that to 21:30 in 2021, finishing runner-up to Davis. Similarly, Wakulla senior Clara Alford, third in 22:05, had run 24:01 in 2019.


Wakulla frosh Isabella Laughton was fourth in 22:17 and Wakulla sophomore Liliana Lewis was fifth in 22:21. Wakulla's remaining two scorers also cracked the top ten--senior Marina Whitsell was seventh in 22:53 and sophomore Taylor Pfeifer was eighth in 23:07. With that, the Wakulla girls had 25 points and victory--their first Dueling Summits win in the history of the meet.

Chiles was second in the eleven-team field with 49 points. Lowndes took third with 64 points, led by junior Madison Parker. Parker was eleventh in 23:42.


Team Standings, High School Girls, 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet

1. Wakulla, 25
2. Chiles, 49
3. Lowndes, 64
4. Community Christian, 133
5. Tift County, 140
6. Arnold, 160
7. Thomas County Central, 183
8. Maclay, 206
9. Brookwood, 245
10. Mosley, 284
11. Cairo, 317

Top Ten High School Girls, 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet

1. 21:22.80, Kelly Davis (Chiles) 12
2. 21:29.80, Ella Hodges (Chiles) 12
3. 22:04.60, Clara Alford (Wakulla) 12
4. 22:16.20, Isabella Laughton (Wakulla) 9
5. 22:20.90, Liliana Lewis (Wakulla) 10
6. 22:42.40, Niya Coleman (Florida State University) 11
7. 22:53.00, Marina Whitsell (Wakulla) 12
8. 23:06.70, Taylor Pfeifer (Wakulla) 10
9. 23:14.50, Alyssa Cooper (Chiles) 12
10. 23:33.10, Teresa Meli (Community Christian) 11

Ben Kirbo and Wyatt Townsend have been racing against each other in cross-country for years, going back to at least their middle school days when Kirbo was on the team at Montford and Townsend at Deerlake. By the 2021 Dueling Summits meet, though, both were running for the same team, Chiles High, where Kirbo was a senior and Townsend the junior. Townsend may have been a year behind Kirbo in school, but at Dueling Summits he was nearly a hundred meters ahead of Kirbo in the high school boys' 5K, winning the race in 16:32. Kirbo placed second in 16:50. Another Chiles senior, Filippo Reina, took third in 17:26. Reina has also been racing Townsend and Kirbo since middle school.


The remaining Chiles scorers also cracked the top ten--Timberwolf sophomore Jackson Rowe was sixh in 17:50 and junior Owen Franklin was eighth in 18:22. The first five Timberwolves totaled a mathematically unbeatable 20 points, giving Chiles first place in the seventeen-team field. It was the fourth win in the last five Dueling Summits meets for the Chiles boys.


Traveling to Tallahassee from Valdosta, Georgia, Lowndes High took second with 57 points. Lowndes put two runners in the top ten, but the fastest of those was senior Matthew Herndon, fifth in 17:50. Wakulla came from the next county south to take third with 126 points. Wakulla's top runner was Jaden Callaghan, a junior, seventeenth in 19:25.


Team Standings, High School Boys, 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet

1. Chiles, 20
2. Lowndes, 57
3. Wakulla, 126
4. Mosley, 176
5. Arnold, 178
6. Leon, 196
7. Florida, 219
8. Tift County, 224
9. Bainbridge, 240
10. Maclay, 282
11. Thomas County Central, 291
12. Rickards, 334
13. Cairo, 336
14. Brookwood, 338
15. St. John Paul II Catholic, 364
16. Marianna, 436
17. Grace Christian, 437

Top Ten High School Boys, 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet

1. 16:31.60, Wyatt Townsend (Chiles) 11
2. 16:49.50, Ben Kirbo (Chiles) 12
3. 17:25.90, Filippo Reina (Chiles) 12
4. 17:43.50, Eddie Kepran (Arnold) 11
5. 17:49.50, Matthew Herndon (Lowndes) 12
6. 17:49.50, Jackson Rowe (Chiles) 10
7. 17:52.70, Eli Holbrook (Mosley) 12
8. 18:21.70, Owen Franklin (Chiles) 11
9. 18:36.60, Aaron Munger (Lowndes) 11
10. 18:53.90, Landon Watts (Bainbridge) 12

Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet High School Winners 2006 - 2021
Girls
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
16 September 2006	Maclay, 23	20:44, Laura Hempel (Rickards)
10 September 2007	Maclay, 18	20:36, Jana Stolting (Maclay)
15 September 2008	Maclay, 39	20:18, Jana Stolting (Maclay)
14 September 2009	Maclay, 43	21:05, Stefanie Kurgatt (Maclay)
2 October 2010	West Florida Tech, 27	19:23, Stefanie Kurgatt (Maclay)
8 October 2011	Lincoln, 49	21:16, Savana Osterbye (FSUS)
2012	No meet held in 2012
31 August 2013	Leon, 27	20:35, Madison Harris (Wakulla)
6 September 2014	Leon, 44	21:09, Haleigh Martin (Wakulla)
29 August 2015	Fort Walton Beach, 24	21:16, Caroline Willis (Maclay)
27 August 2016	Chiles, 40	18:47, Alyson Churchill (Lincoln)
26 August 2017	Chiles, 80	18:29, Elizabeth Funderburk (Colquitt County)
25 August 2018	Chiles, 27	19:42, Abigail Schrobilgen (Chiles) 12
24 August 2019	Chiles, 39	18:52, Alyson Churchill (Chiles) 12
28 August 2021	Wakulla, 25	21:23, Kelly Davis (Chiles) 12
Boys
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
16 September 2006	Lincoln, 42	16:56, Joseph Franklin (Godby)
10 September 2007	Maclay, 23	17:18, Whitney Strickland (NFCS)
15 September 2008	Niceville, 36	17:02, Whitney Strickland (NFCS)
14 September 2009	Maclay, 47	17:27, Patrick Swain (Maclay)
2 October 2010	Lincoln, 52	16:10, Jacob Slupecki (Lincoln)
8 October 2011	Lincoln, 63	16:55, Stanley Linton (Wakulla)
2012	No meet held in 2012
31 August 2013	Leon, 34	16:47, Sukhi Khosla (Leon)
6 September 2014	Leon, 15	16:42, Sukhi Khosla (Leon)
29 August 2015	Leon, 52	16:38, Adam Wallenfelsz (Leon)
27 August 2016	Chiles, 32	16:44, Michael Phillips (Chiles)
26 August 2017	Chiles, 23	16:42, Michael Phillips (Chiles)
25 August 2018	Chiles, 32	17:01, Connor Phillips (Chiles) 12
24 August 2019	Leon, 28	17:11, Jackson Yarbrough (Leon) 10
28 August 2021	Chiles, 20	16:32, Wyatt Townsend (Chiles) 11

Montford Middle School opened their cross-country season on Thursday, 26 August 2021, at the Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Invitational. Eighth-grader Annabelle Wiktorski raced with the Montford team that evening. Less than 48 hours later, Wiktorski had traded her Montford uniform for a Red Hills Running Club kit and was racing in the middle school girls' 3K at Dueling Summits. The change of colors didn't slow her down; Wiktorski won the Dueling Summits race in 12:21. Another Red Hills Runner, fifth-grader Charlotte Sikes, finished runner-up in 12:27. Sikes had won the middle school girls' race at the FSUS Invitational a week earlier. Andi Vilardo of Red Hills placed third in 12:45. Like Wiktorski, seventh-grader Vilardo had raced in the ARPXC Inivtational on Thursday, competing for Montford.


Haley Heitmeyer, another Montford seventh-grader competing for Red Hills, placed fourth in 13:04. Sixth-grader Chloe Molen, who had won the ARPXC Invitational for Deerlake, took fifth for Red Hills in 13:13. Having swept the top five, the Red Hills girls won the team title with a perfect score of 15.


Maclay seventh-grader Ellie Mazziotta was sixth in 13:15, leading her team to second place with 48 points. Trinity Catholic was third in the seven-team field with 102 points. Trinity's top runner was sixth-grader Danielle Sasso, nineteenth in 15:34.


Team Standings, Middle School Girls, 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet

1. Red Hills Running Club, 15
2. Maclay, 48
3. Trinity Catholic, 102
4. Lowndes Runners, 110
5. Thomas County, 120
6. Cornerstone, 142
7. Whigham, 182

Top Ten Middle School Girls, 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet

1. 12:20.60, Annabelle Wiktorski (Red Hills Running Club) 7
2. 12:26.40, Charlotte Sikes (Red Hills Running Club) 5
3. 12:44.20, Andi Vilardo (Red Hills Running Club) 7
4. 13:03.20, Haley Heitmeyer (Red Hills Running Club) 7
5. 13:12.90, Chloe Molen (Red Hills Running Club) 6
6. 13:14.30, Ellie Mazziotta (Maclay) 7
7. 13:17.60, Leah Boutwell (Florida State University) 7
8. 13:26.40, Savannah Stanley (Red Hills Running Club) 7
9. 13:37.60, Sarah Puckett (Lowndes Runners) 7
10. 14:01.70, Mae Deison (Maclay) 8

Bainbridge, Georgia's Grace Christian Academy didn't have a full middle school boys' team to Dueling Summits, but they did have Walker Elrod. The eighth-grader won the boys' 3K race by over half a minute, running 10:38. Wesley Warren, a seventh-grader from Brookwood in Thomasville, Georgia, outkicked Community Christian eighth-grader Luke Meli for second, 11:12 to 11:13.


Community Christian eighth-grader Charles Wilson also made it into the top ten for the Chargers, placing eighth in 11:52. Community Christian's remaining three scorers were eighth-grader Benjamin Reeves (15th, 12:17), sixth-grader Landon Reeves (29th, 12:57), and eighth-grader Jeremy Collier (35th, 12:21). That gave Community Christian 65 points and first place among thirteen teams of middle school boys.


Maclay was second with 90 points behind the Marauder seventh-grader David Barton, fourteenth in 12:17. Brookwood, led by Wesley Warren, scored 108 points for third.


Team Standings, Middle School Boys, 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet

1. Community Christian, 65
2. Maclay, 90
3. Brookwood, 108
4. Trinity Catholic, 121
5. Holy Comforter Episcopal, 122
6. Thomas County, 144
7. Lowndes Runners, 175
8. Marianna, 189
9. Falcon Track Club, 208
10. Bainbridge, 257
11. Whigham, 288
12. Christ Classical, 305
13. Cornerstone, 320

Top Ten Middle School Boys, 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet

1. 10:37.10, Walker Elrod (Grace Christian) 8
2. 11:11.70, Wesley Warren (Brookwood) 7
3. 11:12.80, Luke Meli (Community Christian) 8
4. 11:23.80, Henry Lewis (Unattached) 8
5. 11:38.50, Ethan Burnett (Valwood) 8
6. 11:43.00, Mark Moore (Trinity Catholic) 8
7. 11:45.10, James Mogg (Trinity Catholic) 6
8. 11:51.40, Charles Wilson (Community Christian) 8
9. 12:01.00, Randon Manausa (Holy Comforter Episcopal) 7
10. 12:03.50, Maxwell Wester (Marianna) 7

Links

• Complete results of the 2021 Dueling Summits Cross-Country Meet
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRtV45rqL7WaUNuYhSoy5BJjMF-fTk4SiEhsAYDUa5yJEMJLP5CoGKgYLI8k38zNkHE1JemG6MHf08Q/pubhtml
  
  
• 2019 story, “Jackson Yarbrough and Alyson Churchill were the winning duo at Dueling Summits”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/08/cougar-xc-2019.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Chiles sweeps, Phillips repeats, and Funderburk sets a record at the Cougar Challenge”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/08/cougar-xc-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Alyson Churchill meets the Challenge, runs 18:47”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/08/cougar-xc-2016.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Leon and Khosla repeat at Cougar Challenge”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/09/cougar-xc-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Harris and Khosla take on all challengers at the Challenge”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/09/cougar-xc-2013.html
  
  
• 2010 story, “The 2010 Cougar Challenge belongs to Kurgatt and Slupecki”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/10/cougar-xc-2010.html
  
  
• 2009 story, “Cougar Challenge opens cross-country season in Tallahassee”
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/09/cougar-challenge-opens-cross-country.html
  
  
• Choose an upcoming race in the region from the selection on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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