Chloe Molen and Jonathan Kiros lead a Deerlake sweep of the ARPXC Invitational

Leon County Schools opened its middle school cross-country season in Tallahassee, Florida on Thursday evening, 26 August 2021 at Apalachee Regional Park with the ARPXC Invitational. The Deerlake Middle School Bucks won, well, everything. The Deerlake girls placed first in their three-kilometer race, scoring a near perfect 18 points aided by the win of Chloe Molen, a Buck sixth-grader. Molen ran the 3K course in 12:37. Deerlake seventh-grader Jonathan Kiros won the boys' 3K in 11:28, leading his team to a winning score of 49 points in that race.

The leaders at 800 meters

A pair of brief rainshowers had lowered temperatures below 80°F at the Apalachee Regional Park Championship Cross-Country Course, but the summer heat had already begun to return when the girls' 3K started at 6:00 PM. At the 800-meter mark the first six runner in the race were all wearing Deerlake green, and the first of those six was Chloe Molen. It was Molen's first race as a Buck, and she made the most of her debut. Molen opened a gap of the field during the middle kilometer of the race, reaching the two-kilometer mark sixteen seconds before the next runner. Deerlake runners still held the first four positions, with Abbey Griffin, London Mellen, and Kyra Swart leading the pursuit of Molen. However, two Montford seventh-graders-Annabelle Wiktorski and Andi Vilardo--had moved into fifth and sixth, challenging the Deerlake pack.


Over the final kilometer, eighth-graders Griffin and Mellen began to close on Molen. Griffin got to within three seconds of the leader, but Molen was across the line first in 12:37, winning her debut race for Deerlake. Griffin took second in 12:40 and Mellen was third in 12:44. Wiktorski of Montford placed fourth in 12:51, interrupting the procession of Deerlake finishers.

Chloe Molen

But the Deerlake parade resumed, with seventh-grader Kaia Ables fifth in 12:53 and eighth-grader Kyra Swart seventh in 13:21. Their fifth scorer home, the Bucks had a mathematically unbeatable eighteen points and their first win of the season.


Montford was second in the nine-school field, scoring 47 points behind Wiktorski and Vilardo (6th, 12:55). Swift Creek placed third with 97 points, led by their top finisher, eighth-grader Emily Bullough (12th, 13:50).


68 athletes representing nine schools finished the girls' 3K.


2021 ARPXC Invitational Team Standings, Girls

1. 18, Deerlake
2. 47, Montford
3. 97, Swift Creek
4. 110, Cobb
5. 130, Raa
6. 165, Fairview
7. 181, Nims
8. 230, Griffin
9. NTS, Fort Braden

Top Ten Girls, 2021 ARPXC Invitational

1. 12:36.11, Chloe Molen (Deerlake ) 6
2. 12:39.93, Abbey Griffin (Deerlake ) 8
3. 12:43.45, London Mellen (Deerlake ) 8
4. 12:50.83, Annabelle Wiktorski (Montford ) 7
5. 12:52.24, Kaia Ables (Deerlake ) 7
6. 12:54.10, Andi Vilardo (Montford ) 7
7. 13:20.19, Kyra Swart (Deerlake ) 8
8. 13:22.37, Savannah Stanley (Montford ) 7
9. 13:26.08, Honesty Daniel (Deerlake ) 6
10. 13:30.16, Madeline Morris (Deerlake ) 8

Jonathan Kiros is in his second season of cross-country, and his experience showed in his tactics. Kiros ran a patient race in the boys' 3K, running just off the lead for the first half of the race. Early in the second half, he made his move.


"Around the one-mile mark I realized I could pick it up, and I executed," said Kiros.

Asa Swope and Jonathan Kiros

By two kilometers Kiros was in front, a few steps ahead of Swift Creek eighth-grader Asa Swope. Through the woods and up the Wall, the final hill on the course, Kiros opened a gap on Swope.


"I knew all the tangent points on the course," said Kiros. "And used them."

Jonathan Kiros

Kiros crossed the line in 11:28, earning his first win in a Leon County Schools' middle school cross-country race. Swope narrowed Kiros lead during the final 200 meters and finished second in 11:31. Another Swift Creek eighth-grader, Thoren Knispel, was third in 12:01. Jack Koon, a Fairview seventh-grader, moved up two spots during the third kilometer to take fourth in 12:06.


Deerlake seventh-grader Hagen Perdue was eighth in 12:31, giving the Bucks two runners in the top ten. However, Swift Creek, Fairview, and Montford also each had two top-ten finishers.


Deerlake's advantage came outside the top ten, with sixth-grader Tyler Stout eleventh in 12:36, seventh-grader Camden Williams thirteenth in 12:42, and seventh-grader Robert Carver sixteenth in 13:01. With Carver's finish, the Bucks had 49 points and the ARPXC Invitational win.


Fairview, led by Jack Koon, edged Montford for second, 66 to 67. Montford's top finisher was seventh-grader Trent Parsons, fifth in 12:08.


97 athletes representing nine schools finished the boys' 3K at the 2021 ARPXC Invitational. Brian Corbin timed and scored the meet.


2021 ARPXC Invitational Team Standings, Boys

1. 49, Deerlake
2. 66, Fairview
3. 67, Montford
4. 76, Swift Creek
5. 159, Cobb
6. 182, Fort Braden
7. 183, Nims
8. 194, Raa
9. NTS, Griffin

Top Ten Boys, 2021 ARPXC Invitational

1. 11:27.50, Jonathan Kiros (Deerlake ) 7
2. 11:30.26, Asa Swope (Swift Creek ) 8
3. 12:00.73, Thoren Knispel (Swift Creek ) 8
4. 12:05.42, Jack Koon (Fairview ) 7
5. 12:07.88, Trent Parsons (Montford ) 7
6. 12:20.67, Antonio Clements (Cobb ) 7
7. 12:21.52, Celestine Rwamptie (Nims ) 7
8. 12:30.43, Hagen Perdue (Deerlake ) 7
9. 12:33.48, Ethan Nicholson (Fairview ) 7
10. 12:34.76, Gavin Poucher (Montford ) 7

Links

• Complete results of the 2021 ARPXC Invitational
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQiRRQwlOYZggEiSN87qWS_1YF-QgWNCbjy7MoTWFEfasV-G4cvpFyHL_JpWGIJmqhrQJBbpPS2Q98y/pubhtml
  
  
• More Trouble Afoot! photos of the 2021 ARPXC Invitational
  
  • Girls:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10118301265968143
    
  • Boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10118306187660033
    
  
  
• The 2021 LCS middle school cross-country season
  
  • ARPXC Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2021/08/swift-creek-2021.html
    
  • Fort Braden Run [ Coming on 2 September 2021 ]
    
  • Mustang Stampede [ Coming on 7 September 2021 ]
    
  • Everhart Invitational [ Coming on 15 September 2021 ]
    
  • Falcon Invitational [ Coming on 23 September 2021 ]
    
  • Mabry Invitational [ Coming on 1 October 2021 ]
    
  • LCS Championship [ Coming on 7 October 2021 ]
    
  
  
• Leon County Schools' 2021 middle school cross country schedule
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2021/08/lcs-xc-2021.html
  
  
• Find your next cross country race on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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