Charlotte Sikes and Landon Reeves score firsts at the Tallahassee Open

If you wanted to point to one event as the end of the middle school cross-country season in Tallahassee, Florida, you'd probably choose the Tallahassee Open. Hosted by Holy Comforter Episcopal School on their home course, year after year the meet has been the last chance for middle school harriers to race in Tallahassee. The edition of the Open on Tuesday afternoon, 11 October 2012, was no exception. Charlotte Sikes, the Swift Creek Middle School sixth-grader, won the girls' 3K, running 12:03. Top team honors went to the home team, the Holy Comforter girls' squad, with 45 points. In the boys' 3K, Community Christian seventh-grader Landon Reeves threw down a winning 10:32, while the Maclay boys took first in the team standings with 29 points.


For Charlotte Sikes, it was her ninth cross-country win since August. Sikes had opened the 2022 season by taking the girls' title in the Miller Landing Madness 3K, then proceeded to win all six girls' three-kilometer races in the Leon County Schools' middle school cross-country season--including the LCS League Championship. Along the way, she had also picked up a win in the girls' 3K at the Big Bend Cross-Country Invitational.

Charlotte Sikes

At Holy Comforter's Tallahassee Open, Sikes had traded her Swift Creek racing kit for the colors of the Red Hills Running Club; she scored her 12:03 win racing for Red Hills. Another Red Hills athlete, Deerlake sixth-grader Emma-Claire Tanenbaum, took second in 12:26. Deerlake seventh-grader Chloe Molen, also racing for Red Hills, grabbed third with a 12:31.


In fact, Red Hills athletes took the first six places, but Red Hills wasn't included in the team competition. The Holy Comforter girls were, though, and the first Crusader across the finish line was fifth-grader Vera VanLandingham, eleventh in 13:17. Four more Crusaders cracked the top twenty--fifth-grader Madison McVay (14th, 13:35), fifth-grader Mackenzie McVay (18th, 13:49), eighth-grader Regan Mayfield (19th, 13:49), and eighth-grader Paeton Cheesborough--giving the Holy Comforter girls 45 points and the team title.


Maclay School took second in the nine-team field, led by eighth-grader Ellie Mazziotta (13th, 13:25). The Seminoles of Florida State University School were third with 60 points; their top runner was eighth-grader Leah Boutwell (8th, 13:07).


Girls' Team Standings, 2022 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. Holy Comforter Episcopal, 45
2. Maclay, 61
3. Florida State University, 80
4. Riversprings, 105
5. Christ Classical, 125
6. Trinity Catholic, 152
7. Community Leadership, 169
8. Cornerstone, 204

Top 10 Girls, 2022 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. 12:02.80, Charlotte Sikes (Red Hills Running Club) 6
2. 12:25.10, Emma-Claire Tanenbaum (Red Hills Running Club) 6
3. 12:30.30, Chloe Molen (Red Hills Running Club) 7
4. 12:31.50, Haley Heitmeyer (Red Hills Running Club) 8
5. 12:42.80, Savannah Stanley (Red Hills Running Club) 8
6. 12:47.40, Andi Vilardo (Red Hills Running Club) 8
7. 12:57.10, Morgan Lynes (Christ Classical) 8
8. 13:06.40, Leah Boutwell (Florida State University) 8
9. 13:07.10, Emma Hammett (Christ Classical) 8
10. 13:11.60, Julia Robinson (Florida State University) 7

Just a week earlier, Landon Reeves had raced at Holy Comforter in the middle school boys' 3K of the Crusader Cross-Country Classic. He had placed fourth in that first effort, going 10:53. Reeves didn't intend to finish behind anyone at the Tallahassee Open, though. Improving his time on the course to 10:32, the Community Christian seventh-grader nabbed first. Another seventh-grader, Maclay's Logan Phipps, claimed the runner-up spot with a 10:38. Maclay eighth-grader David Barton took third in 10:41.


Maclay got another top-ten finish from sixth-grader Wesley Seise, who placed tenth in 11:44. Maclay's remaining two scorers were sixth-grader Mirko Usina (19th, 12:16) and seventh-grader Henry Proctor (20th, 12:20), giving the Marauders 29 points and first place among ten teams.


Trinity Catholic put up 68 points for second, led by their seventh-grader James Mogg (8th, 11:09). Host team Holy Comforter was third with 87 points; the top Crusader was sixth-grader Matthew Nowels (17th, 12:08).


Miles and Minutes, LLC, of Tallahassee timed and scored the meet.


Boys' Team Standings, 2022 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. Maclay, 29
2. Trinity Catholic, 68
3. Holy Comforter Episcopal, 87
4. Florida State University, 104
5. Christ Classical, 140
6. Riversprings, 171
7. Community Leadership, 180
8. Tallahassee Classical, 218
9. Cornerstone, 236

Top 10 Boys, 2022 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. 10:31.60, Landon Reeves (Community Christian) 7
2. 10:37.40, Logan Phipps (Maclay) 7
3. 10:40.40, David Barton (Maclay) 8
4. 10:45.10, Jonathan Kiros (Red Hills Running Club) 8
5. 10:49.80, Gavin Poucher (Red Hills Running Club) --
6. 11:04.10, Trent Parsons (Red Hills Running Club) 8
7. 11:07.10, Salvatore Giove (Red Hills Running Club) 8
8. 11:08.70, James Mogg (Trinity Catholic) 7
9. 11:11.10, Yoshi Hutt (Florida State University) 8
10. 11:43.70, Wesley Seise (Maclay) 6

Tallahassee Open winners, 2014 - 2021
Boys
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
23 October 2014	Maclay, 18	9:42, Clayburn Milford (Maclay) 8
15 October 2015	Holy Comforter, 27	10:25, Jacob D'Aleo (Emerald Coast) 8
13 October 2016	Holy Comforter, 17	11:05, Jackson Yarbrough (Holy Comforter) 7
12 October 2017	Holy Comforter, 35	10:45, Thomas Ashby (Burns) 7
17 October 2018	Fairview, 53	11:11, Patrick Koon (Fairview) 7
8 October 2019	Holy Comforter, 21	11:10, William Springer (Holy Comforter) 8
6 October 2020	Holy Comforter, 45	10:50, Noah Deem (Community Leadership) 8
12 October 2021	Community Christian, 48	11:08, Luke Meli (Community Christian) 8
11 October 2022	Maclay, 29	10:32, Landon Reeves (Community Christian) 7
Girls
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
23 October 2014	Holy Comforter, 27	11:28, Katherine Resavage (Holy Comforter) 8
15 October 2015	Holy Comforter, 21	11:23, Emily Molen (Deerlake) 8
13 October 2016	Maclay, 17	11:35, Lindsay James (Maclay) 8
12 October 2017	Holy Comforter, 22	12:36, Mary Clayton Soto (Holy Comforter) 6
17 October 2018	Maclay, 31	12:10, Ella Porcher (Maclay) 8
17 October 2018	Maclay, 19	12:02, Susan Gracie Koeppel (Maclay) 8
6 October 2020	Maclay, 15	11:35, Clifton Lewis (Unattached) 7
12 October 2021	Maclay, 17	11:40, Lillian Koeppel (Maclay) 8
11 October 2022	Holy Comforter, 45	12:03, Charlotte Sikes (Red Hills) 6

Links

• Complete results of the 2022 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTTvq54swCdDKovZ1ubbrdxgDZ0tOxoercZsindHwx4hfJI4w7gXl9pqrIZ6rphF-Sn7WL2hUZVO3IZ/pubhtml
  
  
• 2021 story, “Harriers Lillian Koeppel and Luke Meli lead their teams to wins at the Tallahassee Open”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2021/10/tlh-ms-xc-open-2021.html
  
  
• 2018 story, “Maclay girls and Fairview boys triumph at the Tallahassee Open”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/10/tlh-ms-xc-open-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Soto and Ashby were conquerors at Comforter”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/10/tlh-ms-xc-open-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Maclay, Holy Comforter split titles at Tallahassee Open”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/10/tlh-ms-xc-open-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Molen and D'Aleo win, but Holy Comforter's teams sweep the Tallahassee Open”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/10/tlh-ms-xc-open-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Milburn and Resavage light up Lawson's Course”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/10/tlh-ms-xc-open-2014.html
  
  
• A tour of the 3K route at Lawson's Course via TallahasseeTrails.com
  http://www.tallahasseetrails.com/Cross-Country-Course-Maps/Holy-Comforter-3Km-Course-Tour
  
  
• Find a cross-country race to run yourself on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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