Charlotte Sikes and Caio Zacchi each pick up a third conference win at the Mustang Stampede

The middle school harriers of Leon County Schools were at Montford Middle School on Tuesday, 6 September 2022, for the tenth annual Mustang Stampede Cross-Country Meet. Deerlake swept the team titles, with the girls putting up a winning 28 points and the boys' squad scoring 49. But the individual titles went to other school--Swift Creek sixth-grader Charlotte Sikes won the girls' 3K in 12:29, and Nims eighth-grader Caio Zacchi took first in the boys' 3K with a 10:55.

Charlotte Sikes

The meet opened at 6:00 PM with the start of the girls' 3K. A few seconds later, Charlotte Sikes was leading the field around the grounds of Montford. Haley Heitmeyer, a Montford eighth-grader, led the pursuit for most of the race, but no one was ever close enough to challenge Sikes; the Swift Creek sixth-grader had a lead of more than 80 meters when she crossed the finish line first in 12:29. Deerlake eighth-grader Kaia Ables passed Heitmeyer on the homestretch to take second in 12:47. Heitmeyer was third in 12:49.


Including Ables, all of the Deerlake scorers were in the top ten. Sixth-grader Emma-Claire Tanenbaum was fourth in 13:19, seventh-grader Chloe Molen was fifth in 13:23, seventh-grader Katie Webb was eighth in 14:20, and sixth-grader Yujeong Lee was ninth in 14:21. That gave the Deerlake girls 28 points and first place in the eight-team field. It was the fourth year in a row that the Buck girls had won the Mustang Stampede.

Haley Heitmeyer leading Kaia Ables

Heitmeyer and the Montford girls put up 41 points to place second in the team standings. Sikes and Swift Creek edged the Raa girls for third, 92 to 95.


2022 Mustang Stampede Team Standings, Girls

1. Deerlake, 28
2. Montford, 41
3. Swift Creek, 92
4. Raa, 95
5. Cobb, 130
6. Fairview, 166
7. Nims, 212
8. Griffin, 231
9. Fort Braden, NTS
   Woodville, NTS

Top 10 Girls, 2022 Montford Mustang Stampede 3K

1. 12:28.86, Charlotte Sikes (Swift Creek) 6
2. 12:46.90, Kaia Ables (Deerlake) 8
3. 12:48.95, Haley Heitmeyer (Montford) 8
4. 13:18.75, Emma-Claire Tanenbaum (Deerlake) 6
5. 13:22.25, Chloe Molen (Deerlake) 7
6. 13:31.22, Savannah Stanley (Montford) 8
7. 13:34.33, Andi Vilardo (Montford) 8
8. 14:19.69, Katie Webb (Deerlake) 7
9. 14:20.89, Yujeong Lee (Deerlake) 6
10. 14:21.37, Andrea Jimenez (Montford) 6

By the end of the first kilometer of the boys' 3K, Caio Zacchi, wearing Nims Middle School black, was the clear leader. A trio of eighth-graders were a few seconds back--Jack Koon of Fairview, Jonathan Kiros of Deerlake, and Gavin Poucher of Montford. During the second kilometer Koon pulled away from Kiros and Poucher, but lost a few more steps to Zacchi. Zacchi maintained his lead through the final kilometer, finishing first in 10:55. Koon was second in 11:03. Kiros dropped Poucher on the homestretch to take third, 11:07 to 11:11.

Caio Zacchi

Ten schools had boys' teams in the Mustang Stampede, the most ever in the ten-year history of the annual meet. Montford, the host school, were defending champions; the Mustangs put Gavin Poucher and eighth-grader Trent Parsons (7th, 11:40) in the top ten. But Deerlake also had two runners in the top ten, Kiros and and sixth-grader Jack Hassell (6th, 11:37). Sixth-grader Nicholas Hassell (11th, 12:24) and eighth-graders Hagen Perdue (13th, 12:25) and Camden Williams (16th, 12:45) complete Deerlake's scoring, giving the Bucks 49 points and first place--their school's fifth Mustang Stampede boys' team title in the last six years.


Poucher and Montford tallied 58 points to take second. Koon and Fairview placed third with 89 points.

Jack Koon, Gavin Poucher, Jonathan Kiros

With the Mustang Stampede in the books, the fourth meet on the schedule of Leon County Schools' 202s middle school cross-country season is the Everhart Invitational at Gretchen Everhart School on Wednesday morning, 14 September 2022. The season coninues with the Falcon Invitational at the North Florida Fairgrounds on 22 September 2025, the Mabry Invitational at the FSU Rec Sportsplex on 30 September 2022, and the LCS League Championship Meet at Apalachee Regional Park on 5 October 2025.


2022 Mustang Stampede Team Standings, Boys

1. Deerlake, 49
2. Montford, 58
3. Fairview, 89
4. Raa, 116
5. Swift Creek, 124
6. Cobb, 152
7. Nims, 214
8. Fort Braden, 215
9. Griffin, 232
10. Woodville, 293

Top 10 Boys, 2022 Montford Mustang Stampede 3K

1. 10:54.82, Caio Zacchi (Nims) 8
2. 11:02.28, Jack Koon (Fairview) 8
3. 11:06.99, Jonathan Kiros (Deerlake) 8
4. 11:10.48, Gavin Poucher (Montford) 8
5. 11:35.90, Emari Thomas (Fairview) 7
6. 11:36.45, Jacob Hassell (Deerlake) 6
7. 11:39.63, Trent Parsons (Montford) 8
8. 11:40.44, Antonio Clements (Cobb) 7
9. 11:48.44, Cooper Rideout (Swift Creek) 8
10. 12:13.06, Ethan Nicholson (Fairview) 8

Mustang Cross-Country Stampede Champions 2013 - 2022
Girls
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
27 September 2013	Swift Creek, 37 points	13:42, Saige Kemeny (Montford) 7
10 September 2014	Swift Creek, 34	12:46, Lawton Campbell (Deerlake) 8
30 September 2015	Swift Creek, 43	12:25, Emily Molen (Deerlake) 8
28 September 2016	Montford, 43	13:12, Paige Churchill (Swift Creek) 6
28 September 2017	Swift Creek, 20	13:12, Paige Churchill (Swift Creek) 7
20 September 2018	Montford, 40	11:45, Paige Churchill (Swift Creek) 8
19 September 2019	Deerlake, 40	13:03, Kyra Swart (Deerlake) 6
14 October 2020	Deerlake, 18	12:50, Kyra Swart (Deerlake) 7
7 September 2021	Deerlake, 22	11:55, Abbey Griffin (Deerlake ) 8
6 September 2022	Deerlake, 28	12:29, Charlotte Sikes (Swift Creek) 6
Boys
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
27 September 2013	Montford, 56 points	11:56, Jacob Dodson (Raa) 8
10 September 2014	Swift Creek, 66	12:14, Tavaris King (Griffin) 8
30 September 2015	Deerlake, 43	11:56, Weston Blake (Swift Creek) 7
28 September 2016	Swift Creek, 39	11:28, Weston Blake (Swift Creek) 7
28 September 2017	Deerlake, 42	11:15, Ben Kirbo (Montford) 8
20 September 2018	Deerlake, 34	9:43, Wyatt Townsend (Deerlake) 8
19 September 2019	Deerlake, 36	10:54, Patrick Koon (Fairview) 8
14 October 2020	Deerlake, 43	11:31, Danny Mauldin (Deerlake) 8
7 September 2021	Montford, 45	11:02, Asa Swope (Swift Creek ) 8
6 September 2022	Deerlake, 49	10:55, Caio Zacchi (Nims) 8
From 2013 to 2017, the race distance at the Mustang Stampede was two miles. In 2018 the distance was changed to three kilometers.

Links

• Complete results of the 2022 Mustang Stampede Cross-Country Meet, courtesy of Brian Corbin
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQte4G7sJnrYAZTN7zcl-ZAuTUp2afi6Gi1iT2VvHCiL1DHJo3NCIWP8gvuQYDU1SJ-16KlqGCHralX/pubhtml
  
  
• More Trouble Afoot! photos of Montford Middle School's 2022 Mustang Stampede Cross-Country Meet
  
  • Girls: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10119537239093093
  • Boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10119537316932103
  
  
• The 2022 LCS middle school cross-country season
  
  • ARPXC Invitational https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2022/08/swift-creek-2022.html
    
  • Fort Braden Run https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2022/08/fort-braden-2022.html
    
  • Mustang Stampede https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2022/09/mustang-2022.html
    
  • Everhart Invitational [ Coming on 14 September 2022 ]
    
  • Falcon Invitational [ Coming on 22 September 2022 ]
    
  • Mabry Invitational [ Coming on 30 September 2022 ]
    
  • LCS Championship [ Coming on 5 October 2022 ]
    
  
  
• Leon County Schools' 2022 middle school cross country schedule
  
  
  
• 2021 story, “Abbey Griffin and Asa Swope race like thoroughbreds at the Mustang Stampede”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2021/09/mustang-2021.html
  
  
• 2020 story, “Kyra Swart and Danny Mauldin win while Deerlake sweeps the Mustang Stampede”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2020/10/mustang-2020.html
  
  
• 2019 story, “Kyra Swart and Patrick Koon saddle up at the Mustang Stampede Cross-Country Meet”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/09/mustang-2019.html
  
  
• 2018 story, “Paige Churchill and Wyatt Townsend gallop into the winner's circle at the Mustang Stampede”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/09/mustang-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Paige Churchill and Ben Kirbo were head of the herd at the Mustang Stampede”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/09/mustang-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Paige Churchill and Weston Blake lead the Stampede at Montford”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/09/mustang-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Molen and Blake lead the stampede at the Mustang Invitational”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/10/mustang-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Swift Creek rides again at the Mustang Stampede”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/09/mustang-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Swift Creek girls and Montford boys keep winning at the Mustang Invitational”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/09/mustang-2013.html
  
  
• Find your next road race or cross-country run in the Tallahassee region
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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