The Leon High Lions cross-country squad ventured out of their Tallahassee, Florida lair on Saturday, 18 September 2021, travelling to Panama City for North Bay Haven's fifth annual Buccaneer Bash. Call it a business trip, because the Lions certainly took care of business. First, Leon won the girls' 5K race, putting up a winning 33 points after Lion juniors Lillee Tang and Lily Moore took the first two places in the race, running 19:40 and 19:50. The boys' 5K had a similar outcome. Leon sophomore Patrick Koon won it in 16:10 and Leon junior Jake Rogers placed second in 16:36 while their team score a mathematically unbeatable 26 points.The girls' 5K was scheduled for 8:00 AM, racing on the grounds of the old Bay Dunes Golf Course. Thirteen schools had athletes in the race. Eleven of those schools had entered full teams. The defending champion of the Buccaneer Bash, North Bay Haven junior Lakyn Carmichael, was on the starting line. None of them could touch Lillee Tang or Lily Moore that morning. The two Leon girls were the only runners in the race to go under 20:00 that morning, Tang throwing down a winning 19:40 and Moore going 19:50 on a soggy course. Charlene Elizondo, a junior racing for host school North Bay Haven, placed third in 20:08.
After Tang and Moore, Leon had two more Lions in the top ten. Stella Lewis, a junior, placed sixth in 21:05. Another Leon junior, Mallory Robinson, placed ninth in 21:23. Leon's remaining scorer was frosh Madi Sims, fifteenth in 22:33. Once Sims had finished, the Leon girls had 33 points and first place in the team standings. Elizondo and the North Bay Haven girls placed second with 50 points, just better than the 55 scored by third-place Choctawhatchee. Choctawhatchee's top runner was Chloe Fernander, a senior, fourth in 20:42.
Team Standings, 2021 Buccaneer Bash High School Girls' 5K
- Leon, 33
- North Bay Haven, 50
- Choctawhatchee, 55
- Florida State, 114
- Providence Christian, 123
- Port Saint Joe, 146
- Arnold, 177
- Bay, 233
- Altha, 260
- Rutherford, 294
- Blountstown, 301
Top Ten, 2021 Buccaneer Bash High School Girls' 5K
- 19:40.00, Lillee Tang (Leon) 11
- 19:49.60, Lily Moore (Leon) 11
- 20:07.40, Charleen Elizondo (North Bay Haven) 11
- 20:42.00, Chloe Fernander (Choctawhatchee) 12
- 20:46.40, Kyla Faint (North Bay Haven) 8
- 21:05.00, Stella Lewis (Leon) 11
- 21:15.80, Lakyn Carmichael (North Bay Haven) 11
- 21:19.40, Brylie Kilgore (Choctawhatchee) 11
- 21:22.70, Mallory Robinson (Leon) 11
- 21:23.80, Hannah Jacobs (Providence Christian) 9
The course was no drier for the boys' 5K than it had been for the girls' 5K. If anything, it was a bit sloppier after 98 girls had churned up the wet spots. This doesn't matter to cross-country runners, for whom mud is a kind of baptism. It didn't matter to Patrick Koon, who tore around the 5K circuit in 16:10, taking first by about 130 meters. It was the third win in a row for Koon, following victories at the Cecil Field Summer Classic and the Big Bend Invitational.
Jake Rogers of Leon finished runner-up in 16:36, the only athlete in the boys' race other than Koon to crack 17:00. Kaleb Hollins, a Choctawhatchee junior, placed third in 17:20. In a close battle for third, Arnold junior Eddie Kepran edged Conner Patterson, a Providence Christian senior, 17:27 to 17:29. Kepran had won the boys' 5K in the 2020 Buccaneer Bash.
All five of Leon's scorers placed in the top ten. After Koon and Rogers, Leon sophomore William Springer was sixth in 17:41. Another sophomore, William Winsor, took seventh for Leon in 17:49. Making it four sophomores in Leon's scoring five, Quinn Carrasquila placed tenth in 18:30. The Lions had 26 points, first place among the ten teams in the boys' race, and a sweep of the Buccaneer Bash team titles.
Kaleb Hollins and the Choctawhatchee boys were second with 59 points. Arnold, the 2020 champs, squeaked by North Bay Haven 108 to 110, taking third.
Team Standings, 2021 Buccaneer Bash High School Boys' 5K
- Leon, 26
- Choctawhatchee, 59
- Arnold, 108
- North Bay Haven, 110
- Blountstown, 145
- Providence Christian, 158
- Florida State, 190
- Port Saint Joe, 197
- Wewahitchka, 238
- Marianna, 253
Top Ten, 2021 Buccaneer Bash High School Boys' 5K
- 16:09.70, Patrick Koon (Leon) 10
- 16:35.90, Jake Rogers (Leon) 11
- 17:19.80, Kaleb Hollins (Choctawhatchee) 11
- 17:26.30, Eddie Kepran (Arnold) 11
- 17:28.50, Conner Patterson (Providence Christian) 12
- 17:40.30, William Springer (Leon) 10
- 17:48.10, William Winsor (Leon) 10
- 17:51.10, William Armbruster (Choctawhatchee) 12
- 18:04.70, Matthew Matson (North Bay Haven) 11
- 18:29.20, Quinn Carrasquilla (Leon) 10
| Buccaneer Bash Cross-Country Meet Winners, 2017 - 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| High School Boys | ||
| Date | Team Champ | Individual Champ |
| 26 August 2017 | Choctawhatchee, 33 | 18:05, Blake Turner (Arnold) 12 |
| 25 August 2018 | Arnold, 38 | 18:27, Mason Bennett (Arnold) 12 |
| 24 August 2019 | Niceville, 35 | 14:48, Todd Wendel (Niceville) 11 |
| 3 October 2020 | Arnold, 31 | 18:40, Eddie Kepran (Arnold) 10 |
| 18 September 2021 | Leon, 26 | 16:10, Patrick Koon (Leon) 10 |
| High School Girls | ||
| Date | Team Champ | Individual Champ |
| 26 August 2017 | Choctawhatchee, 46 | 19:53, Marisa Ashley (Arnold) 9 |
| 25 August 2018 | Port Saint Joe, 35 | 25:36, Autumn Kotelman (Port Saint Joe) 10 |
| 24 August 2019 | Niceville, 27 | 16:55, Kambry Smith (Fort Walton Beach) 11 |
| 3 October 2020 | North Bay Haven, 32 | 22:08, Lakyn Carmichael (North Bay Haven) 10 |
| 18 September 2021 | Leon, 33 | 19:40, Lillee Tang (Leon) 11 |
Links
- Complete results, 2021 Buccaneer Bash
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQfuI2G4jFJSt5cidUc-2ifreEGehKaorjFt838MR8moIew_psZiqZODnee10RiiJFoNPv-4MD3lJrp/pubhtml
- 2017 story, “Choctaw sweeps the team titles while Arnold's Ashley and Turner take individual honors at the Buccaneer Bash”
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/08/buccaneer-bash-2017.html
- Find an upcoming Bash in the region on the Trouble Afoot! racing calendar
https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
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