Braedyn Wormeck, Cassidy De Young, and Flagler Palm Coast own the Nighthawk Invitational

Apalachee Regional Park is in Tallahassee, Florida. Flagler Palm Coast High School is across the state in Palm Coast. It's well over a 200-mile drive between the two--a lot of geography. Neverthless, on Saturday morning, 17 September 2022, the Flagler Palm Coast Bulldog cross-country teams owned Apalachee Regional Park, sweeping the high school races at the Thomas University Nighthawk Invitational. Bulldog sophomore Braedyn Wormeck won the boys' 5K by more than 100 meters, running 16:52 and leading his team to a winning score of 26 points. In the girls' race, led by sophomore Cassidy De Young's 21:40 5K, Flagler Palm Coast athletes nabbbed the first seven places, putting up a perfect score of 15.

Braedyn Wormeck and Hayden Herndon

The first high school race of the morning was the boythe elventh place 18:05 performance of sopomore Landen Turley.s' 5K. Midway, a pair of Flagler Palm Coast athletes had taken over the race--sophomore Braedyn Wormeck and junior Hayden Herndon. The second half of the race belonged to Wormeck; he left Herndon and everyone else far behind. While Wormeck pulled away, Walker Elrod, a frosh from Grace Christian in nearby Bainbridge, overtook Herndon.


Wormeck cruised over the finish line in a winning 16:52. Herndon caught Elrod on the homestretch, kicking past the frosh to take second with a 17:16. Elrod, also clocked in 17:16, placed third.

Hayden Herndon and Walker Elrod

Senior Barak Olago nabbed fourth place for Flagler Palm Coast with a 17:21. The next five places, though, belonged to Steinbrenner High, led by sophomore Charles Clark, whose 17:25 was good for fifth place. But junior Justin Gillliam answered for the Bulldogs, taking tenth in 17:55. Flagler Palm Coast senior Brandon Kalasnik finished the scoring for the Bulldogs, placing twelfth in 18:20 and giving his team a mathematically unbeatable score of 26 points. Flagler Palm Coast had won the boys' 5K at the inaugural Nighthawk Invitational.


With five runners in the top ten, Steinbrenner put up 30 points, good for second place in the field of five teams. Saint Francis placed third with 86 points, led by the elventh place 18:05 performance of sopomore Landen Turley.


High School Boys' Team Standings, 2022 Nighthawk Invitational

1. Flagler Palm Coast, 26
2. George Steinbrenner, 30
3. Saint Francis, 86
4. Leon, 101
5. Colquitt County, 139

Top Ten Boys, 2022 Nighthawk Invitational

1. 16:51.1, Braedyn Wormeck (Flagler Palm Coast) 10
2. 17:15.2, Hayden Herndon (Flagler Palm Coast) 11
3. 17:15.4, Walker Elrod (Grace Christian)
4. 17:20.7, Barak Olago (Flagler Palm Coast) 12
5. 17:24.7, Charles Clark (George Steinbrenner) 10
6. 17:30.4, Brady Peifer (George Steinbrenner) 10
7. 17:38.7, Ethan Russ (George Steinbrenner) 11
8. 17:41.2, Joaquin Abanses (George Steinbrenner) 10
9. 17:43.1, Nicholas Pugh (George Steinbrenner) 11
10. 17:54.8, Justin Gilliam (Flagler Palm Coast) 11

Cassidy De Young, a Flagler Palm Coast sophomore, took the lead in the girls' 5K almost immediately after the starting gun fired. At the halfway point of the race De Yong was already half a minute ahead of the next runner. No one closed that gap to challenge her. In fact, De Young only got farther ahead on her way to the finish line, which she crossed in a winning 21:40.

Cassidy De Young

Two more Flagler Palm Coast runners dueled for second, with senior Genesis Epstein edging frosh Arianna Slaughter for that runner-up spot, 22:23 to 22:24.


Likewise, a pair of athletes from Flagler Palm Coast were in a close race for fourth. Senior Arianna Slaughter inched ahead of sophomore Annabelle Moore to decide that battle, both clocked in 22:59. With that, the Bulldogs had taken the first five places, tallying fifteen points--the lowest possible score in cross-country. Another first-place team trophy was going back to Palm Coast.

Arianna Slaughter and Genesis Epstein

Port Saint Joe eighth-grader RJ Gerlach was the first non-Bulldog to finish. Gerlach took eighth in 24:34, leading her team to second place with 56 points. Colquitt County was third with 69 points; their top runner was senior Mattie Rigsby, fourteenth in 26:31.


High School Girls' Team Standings, 2022 Nighthawk Invitational

1. Flagler Palm Coast, 15
2. Port Saint Joe, 56
3. Colquitt County, 69

Top Ten Girls, 2022 Nighthawk Invitational

1. 21:39.7, Cassidy De Young (Flagler Palm Coast) 10
2. 22:22.2, Genesis Epstein (Flagler Palm Coast) 12
3. 22:23.9, Arianna Slaughter (Flagler Palm Coast) 9
4. 22:58.6, Kayleigh Johnson (Flagler Palm Coast) 12
5. 22:58.8, Annabelle Moore (Flagler Palm Coast) 10
6. 23:07.1, Lexie Shupe (Flagler Palm Coast) 11
7. 23:56.0, Ma'Shuyn Jeffers (Flagler Palm Coast) 12
8. 24:33.2, RJ Gerlach (Port Saint Joe) 8
9. 24:48.8, Molly Partin (Port Saint Joe) 8
10. 25:08.9, Taylor Novak (Flagler Palm Coast) 10

Links

• Complete high school results, 2022 Thomas University Nighthawk Invitational Cross-Country Meet
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRkqxsVvIxfAopWrNVpS2JJ9FvK0XQ15LEuZcwP-lkr0eUCVUV_bG3V9qcuYCNZ0r1FOkwF9VXZ3uXC/pubhtml
  
  
• More Trouble Afoot! photos of the high school races at the 2022 Thomas University Nighthawk Invitational
  
  • Boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10119570542597603
    
  • Girls: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10119570615276953
    
  
  
• Tallahassee area cross country meets in 2022
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2022/07/tallahassee-xc-2022.html
  
  
• Find your next race in the Tallahassee region on the Trouble Afoot! race calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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