Friday, September 22, 2023

Charlotte Sikes and Carson Weiss were the victors at the battle of Fort Braden

On Wednesday evening, 20 September 2023, Fort Braden Park--west of Tallahassee, Florida--was inundated with hundreds of cross-country runners, coaches, and fans. The crowd was there for the fourth meet in Leon County Schools' middle school cross-country season--the thirteenth annual Fort Braden Run. Swift Creek seventh-grader Charlotte Sikes won the opening event, the girls' 3K, for the second year in a row, running 11:49. The Deerlake girls' won the team competition in that race, tallying a winning 24 points. In a duel of two eighth-graders, Raa's Carson Weiss outkicked Emari Thomas of Fairview in the boys' 3K, winning the race 11:05 to 11:06. Montford took the team title in that race, scoring 41 points.

Charlotte Sikes
Charlotte Sikes

The races started in Fort Braden Park, but less than 400 meters after the start the course took the runners over a bridge and onto the campus of Fort Braden School, the host of the meet. In the girls' 3K, Charlotte Sikes led the field over the bridge, shadowed by three Deerlake athletes--eighth-graders Chloe Molen and Honesty Daniel, and seventh-grader Emma-Claire Tanenbaum. The trio of pursuers kept Sikes in sight for the first kilometer; Daniel moving up to lead the chase, followed by Molen and then Tanenbaum.


"I was pretty aware they were back there," said Sikes. "I could hear footsteps and see people behind me."

Emma-Claire Tanenbaum
Emma-Claire Tanenbaum

They were still behind after two kilometers. Daniel fell back first during the second kilometer, then Molen, leaving Tanenbaum in second. With half a kilometer to go Tanenbaum was just over twenty meters behind Sikes. But Sikes widened that gap to nearly 40 meters during the drive to the finish line, going on to win in 11:49. Tanenbaum was runner-up in 12:04. Molen took third in 12:19 and Daniel fourth in 12:36.


With three of the top four finishers, the Deerlake Bucks had a good start on their team score. Two seventh-graders completed the total for the girls in green--Yujeong Lee was seventh in 13:00 and Morgan Lord placed eighth in 13:07. That gave the Deerlake girls a mathematically unbeatable 24 points as the Bucks won the Fort Braden Run for the third year in a row.

Chloe Molen
Chloe Molen

Led by Sikes, Swift Creek was second with 48 points. Montford was third in the nine-team field, scoring 80 points behind the top-ten finish of Mustang seventh-grader Andrea Jimenez (10th, 13:43).


2023 Fort Braden Run Team Standings, Girls
  1. Deerlake, 24
  2. Swift Creek, 48
  3. Montford, 80
  4. Raa, 95
  5. Cobb, 173
  6. Fairview, 181
  7. Fort Braden, 218
  8. Griffin, 230
  9. Woodville, 267
  10. Nims, NTS

Top Ten Girls, 2023 Fort Braden Run
  1. 11:48.50, Charlotte Sikes (Swift Creek) 7
  2. 12:03.61, Emma-Claire Tanenbaum (Deerlake) 7
  3. 12:18.94, Chloe Molen (Deerlake) 8
  4. 12:35.59, Honesty Daniel (Deerlake) 8
  5. 12:41.02, Alexis Mayfield (Swift Creek) 8
  6. 12:43.43, Brixton Menendez (Raa) 7
  7. 12:59.29, Yujeong Lee (Deerlake) 7
  8. 13:06.16, Morgan Lord (Deerlake) 7
  9. 13:30.89, Allie Davenport (Deerlake) 8
  10. 13:42.23, Andrea Jimenez (Montford) 7

Fairview's Emari Thomas had won the boys' race at the first three meets of the LCS season, nabbing firsts at the ARPXC Invitational, the Mustang Stampede, and the Everhart Invitational. Thomas opened the boys' 3K at the Fort Braden Run by leading the race across the bridge. In his wake was Montford seventh-grader Jack Nottingham, who had placed second at the ARPXC Invitational. Further back, Raa's Carson Weiss raced in fifth position. Weiss had finished runner-up to Thomas in both the Mustang Stampede and the Everhart Invitational. By the end of the first kilometer, Weiss had moved up alongside Nottingham.

Emari Thomas
Emari Thomas

"When we were turning to go around the football fields, I sped up and passed Jack," recalled Weiss. "Then I was right behind Emari."


Thomas kept the lead but couldn't shake Weiss. The pair ran one-two through the second kilometer and into the third, Thomas a step or two ahead of Weiss. Thomas was first on the return trip across the bridge, a little more than 200 meters from the finish.

Jack Nottingham, Carson Weiss
Jack Nottingham and Carson Weiss

"I paced off [Thomas] till the next to last turn, where I passed him," said Weiss.


Around the final turn and down the homestretch, Weiss held a narrow lead, reaching the finish line first in 11:05. Thomas took second a moment later in 11:06. Montford's Nottingham followed them home, third in 11:17.

Carson Weiss, Emari Thomas
Carson Weiss and Emari Thomas

Going into the Fort Braden Run, the fourth meet of Leon County Schools' middle school cross-country season, the Raa boys had won two meet and Montford one. But in spite of Raa's Carson Weiss taking the top individual spot at Fort Braden, it was the Montford boys who prevailed in the team standings, 41 to 43. Jack Nottingham accounted for the first three of Montford's 41 points; the other Mustang scorers were eighth-grader Blake Swanson (8th, 11:54), sixth-grader Isaiah Renn (9th, 12:04), eighth-grader Stokes Bryan (10th, 12:07), and eighth-grader Jack Getman (11th, 12:08).


Deerlake was third with 70 points, led by the fourth place, 11:41 finisher of Buck seventh-grader Jacob Hassell. Eight teams competed in the race; 128 athletes representing ten schools finished.


Although many of the school planned to race at the Florida State University Invitational on 29 September 2023, the last Leon County Schools' middle school meet on the 2023 schedule was the League Championship at Apalachee Regional Park on 5 October 2023.


2023 Fort Braden Run Team Standings, Boys
  1. Montford, 41
  2. Raa, 43
  3. Deerlake, 70
  4. Fairview, 137
  5. Swift Creek, 142
  6. Cobb, 148
  7. Fort Braden, 201
  8. Griffin, 205
  9. Nims, NTS
    Woodville, NTS

Top Ten Boys, 2023 Fort Braden Run
  1. 11:04.80, Carson Weiss (Raa) 8
  2. 11:05.57, Emari Thomas (Fairview) 8
  3. 11:17.00, Jack Nottingham (Montford) 7
  4. 11:40.13, Jacob Hassell (Deerlake) 7
  5. 11:41.76, Nicholas Hassell (Deerlake) 7
  6. 11:43.11, Emerson Gandy (Raa) 7
  7. 11:52.65, Alden Weiss (Raa) 8
  8. 11:53.09, Blake Swanson (Montford) 8
  9. 12:03.14, Isaiah Renn (Montford) 6
  10. 12:06.27, Stokes Bryan (Montford) 8

Fort Braden Cross-Country Meet Champions, 2010 - 2023
DateBoysGirls
22 September 201012:26, Sukhi Khosla (Raa) 815:01, Rebecca Clendinen (Raa) 8
14 September 201112:16, Evan Francis (Raa) 814:45, Zoe Sheldon (Swift Creek) 7
12 September 201212:40, Matthew Cashin (Raa) 813:58, Audrey Dogan (Raa) 8
4 September 201312:15, Jacob Dodson (Raa) 813:51, Saige Kemeny (Montford) 7
3 September 201413:00, Bryant McKnight (Montford) 813:13, Lawton Campbell (Deerlake) 8
9 September 201513:08, Weston Blake (Swift Creek) 713:26, Alyson Churchill (Swift Creek) 8
14 September 201611:50, Weston Blake (Swift Creek) 814:05, Paige Churchill (Swift Creek) 6
14 September 201711:51, Filippo Reina (Deerlake) 813:48, Paige Churchill (Swift Creek) 7
6 September 201811:07, Wyatt Townsend (Deerlake ) 812:51, Paige Churchill (Swift Creek) 8
5 September 201910:27, Patrick Koon (Fairview) 812:58, Skye Williams (Montford) 8
2 September 202111:29, Asa Swope (Swift Creek) 812:54, London Mellen (Deerlake) 8
31 August 202210:19, Caio Zacchi (Nims) 811:44, Charlotte Sikes (Swift Creek) 6
20 September 202311:05, Carson Weiss (Raa) 811:49, Charlotte Sikes (Swift Creek) 7


Fort Braden Cross-Country Meet Team Titles, 2010 - 2023
DateBoysGirls
22 September 2010Raa (15 points)Raa (33 points)
14 September 2011Montford (55 points)Swift Creek (47 points)
12 September 2012Swift Creek (54 points)Montford (48 points)
4 September 2013Montford (38 points)Swift Creek (44 points)
3 September 2014Swift Creek (60 points)Swift Creek (36 points)
9 September 2015Deerlake (44 points)Swift Creek (38 points)
14 September 2016Swift Creek (23 points)Deerlake (42 points)
14 September 2017Deerlake (41 points)Swift Creek (22 points)
6 September 2018Deerlake (39 points)Swift Creek (35 points)
5 September 2019Deerlake (32 points)Montford (46 points)
2 September 2021Swift Creek (60 points)Deerlake (25 points)
31 August 2022Montford (42 points)Deerlake (33 points)
20 September 2023Montford (41 points)Deerlake (24 points)


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Posted by Herb Wills at 11:51 PM
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