John Keester and Mackenzie Klein were victors at Alligator Lake

Saturday, 7 October 2023 was the morning of the fifteenth annual Alligator Lake Cross-Country Invitation at Alligator Lake Park in Lake City, Florida. Fleming Island seniors John Keester IV and Graham Myers went one-two in the first race of the meet, the high school boys' 5K, running 16:07 and 16:17. The two also led Fleming Island to first place in the team standings with 39 points. Mackenzie Klein, an Oak Hall senior, won the high school girls' 5K in 19:15; her team was first in that race with 67 points.


It was the first win of the season for Keester, who had finished behind his teammate Graham in five previous races--the Cecil Field Summer Classic on 25 August 2023, the Florida Horse Park Invitational on 2 September 2023, the Katie Caples Invitational on 16 September 2023, the Wingfoot Classic on 22 September 2023, and the FSU Invitational on 30 September 2023. Behind the Fleming Island duo of Keester and Graham, Fort Walton Beach senior Grant Chastain took third in 16:27.


Keester and Graham couldn't win the meet for Fleming Island on their own. Another Golden Eagle broke into the top ten--senior Roman Mollicone was seventh in 16:54. Fleming Island junior Jacob Campbell was thirteenth in 17:09 and sophomore Andrew Boyer was sixteenth in 17:20, giving the boys in green-and-gold a winning score of 39 points. It was the school's first Alligator Lake title.


Oak Hall placed second in the 23-team field with 68 points; their top finisher was junior Peter Peloso (8th, 16:59). Fort Walton Beach was third with 118 points, led by Grant Chastain.


2023 Alligator Lake Cross Country Invitational Team Standings (High School Boys)

1. Fleming Island, 39
2. Oak Hall, 68
3. Fort Walton Beach, 118
4. Vanguard, 132
5. Mandarin, 145
6. Flagler Palm Coast, 170
7. Tocoi Creek, 208
8. Suwannee, 227
9. Valdosta, 281
10. Oakleaf, 291
11. Pensacola Catholic, 326
12. Trinity Catholic, 364
13. Columbia, 364
14. Gainesville, 381
15. Keystone Heights, 382
16. Beachside, 382
17. P. K. Yonge, 438
18. North Marion, 463
19. Saint John Lutheran, 536
20. Cornerstone Classical, 548
21. Newberry, 615
22. Branford, 658
23. University Christian, 714

Top 10 High School Boys, 2023 Alligator Lake Cross Country Invitational

1. 16:06.5, John Keester IV (Fleming Island) 12
2. 16:16.4, Graham Myers (Fleming Island) 12
3. 16:26.7, Grant Chastain (Fort Walton Beach) 12
4. 16:31.2, Braedyn Wormeck (Flagler Palm Coast) 11
5. 16:49.7, Quinten Dragstedt (Oak Hall) 12
6. 16:50.1, Xander McLaughlin (Pensacola Catholic) 12
7. 16:53.3, Roman Mollicone (Fleming Island) 12
8. 16:58.2, Peter Peloso (Oak Hall) 11
9. 16:59.5, Dominic Geraci (Mandarin) 12
10. 17:01.1, Kartik Koti (Vanguard) 11

The high school girls' race was second on the program. Mackenzie Klein's 19:15 earned the Oak Hall senior her first win of the season and put her across the finish line more than 60 meters ahead of the next runner, Madison Patchan. Patchan, a Tocoi Creek senior, grabbed the runner-up spot with a 19:30. Branford frosh Anna Moore took third in 19:40, just ahead of Fort Walton Beach junior Belicia O'Grady, fourth in 19:43.


Klein was only the first of three Oak Hall runners in the top ten; the other two were frosh-year athletes Valeria Beaver (9th, 20:00) and Lola Murfee (10th, 20:17). Sophomore Estella Collante (23rd, 20:45) and senior Eli Eisner (24th, 20:52) gave Oak Hall five scorers under 21:00, a score of 67 points, and the Alligator Lake high school girls' title. It was the third time in seven years that an Oak Hall girls' team had won the meet.


Vanguard edged Chiles for second, 107 to 110. Vanguard was led by senior Rachel Hill, seventh in 19:54, while Chiles' first finisher was frosh Haley Heitmeyer, eleventh in 20:18. 20 teams competed in the girls' 5K.


2023 Alligator Lake Cross Country Invitational Team Standings (High School Girls)

1. Oak Hall, 67
2. Vanguard, 107
3. Chiles, 110
4. Mandarin, 157
5. Fort Walton Beach, 163
6. Fernandina Beach, 167
7. Fleming Island, 199
8. Tocoi Creek, 231
9. Flagler Palm Coast, 244
10. Saint John Lutheran, 306
11. Gainesville, 311
12. Suwannee, 339
13. Beachside, 355
14. Branford, 371
15. Oakleaf, 406
16. Valwood, 439
17. Pensacola Catholic, 474
18. Trinity Catholic, 497
19. P. K. Yonge, 505
20. Columbia, 540

Top 10 High School Girls, 2023 Alligator Lake Cross Country Invitational

1. 19:14.4, Mackenzie Klein (Oak Hall) 12
2. 19:29.5, Madison Patchan (Tocoi Creek) 12
3. 19:39.9, Anna Moore (Branford) 9
4. 19:42.8, Belicia O'Grady (Fort Walton Beach) 11
5. 19:52.7, Brooke Reynolds (Fleming Island) 10
6. 19:53.1, Alaysa Chipunov (Mandarin) 10
7. 19:53.4, Rachel Hill (Vanguard) 12
8. 19:56.4, Allie Knotts (Fleming Island) 12
9. 19:59.1, Valeria Beaver (Oak Hall) 9
10. 20:16.7, Lola Murfee (Oak Hall) 9

Alligator Lake Cross Country Invitational Champions 2008 - 2023
High School Boys 5K
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
4 October 2008	Flagler Palm Coast, 39 points	16:32, Carter Robertson (Buchholz) 12
24 October 2009	Buchholz, 55	15:50, Jimmy Clark (Creekside) 11
23 October 2010
22 October 2011	Leon, 61	15:53, Garret Westlake (P. K. Yonge) 11
22 September 2012	Walton, 52	16:05, Kenan Farmer (Walton) 11
21 September 2013	Chiles, 73	15:09, Sukhi Khosla (Leon) 11
26 September 2015	Chiles, 89	16:02, Blake Lowery (Gainesville) 12
17 September 2016	Satellite, 40	15:52, Matthew Clark (Creekside) 12
30 September 2017	Belen Jesuit, 56	16:13, Joshua Collins (Belen Jesuit) 12
29 September 2018	Satellite, 38	15:47, Charles Hicks (Bolles) 12
21 September 2019	Steinbrenner, 23	16:30, Lewis Benitez-Chaparro (Vanguard) 12
19 September 2020	Steinbrenner, 58	16:45, Austin Montini (Oak Hall) 12
17 September 2021	Buchholz, 33	16:36, Emerson Miller (Buchholz) 11
4 October 2022	Bartram Trail, 26	17:22, Jackson Petty (Eastside) 12
7 October 2023	Fleming Island, 39	16:07, John Keester IV (Fleming Island) 12
High School Girls 5K
Date	Team Champ	Individual Champ
4 October 2008	Flagler Palm Coast, 27 points	20:39, Molly Teague (Buchholz) 10
24 October 2009	Ridgeview, 46	19:37, Sierra Solaun (Bucholz) 12
23 October 2010
22 October 2011	Providence, 34	18:42, Danielle Van Liere (Providence) 8
22 September 2012	Walton, 41	19:04, Emma ZeeAbrahamsen (Lassiter) 11
21 September 2013	Fort Walton Beach, 54	18:41, Emma Rudman (Fort Walton Beach) 10
26 September 2015	Niceville, 84	19:02, Emma Tucker (Chiles) 12
17 September 2016	Satellite, 60	19:36, Grace Blair (Oak Hall) 11
30 September 2017	Bolles, 78	18:52, Claire Openshaw (Creekside) 10
29 September 2018	Oak Hall, 72	19:21, Ani Veltcheva (Gainesville) 9
21 September 2019	McIntosh, 26	19:00, Sinkenesh Parker (Circle Christian) 11
19 September 2020	Oak Hall, 47	19:54, Jada Williams (Flagler Palm Coast) 11
17 September 2021	Buchholz, 29	19:23, Kate Drummond (Buchholz) 11
4 October 2022	Bartram Trail, 45	20:24, Paulina Cervantes (P. K. Yonge) 9
7 October 2023	Oak Hall, 67	19:15, Mackenzie Klein (Oak Hall) 12
In 2008 and 2009 the meet was called the Greater North Florida Invitational. No meet was held in 2014.

Links

• Results from the 2023 Alligator Lake Cross-Country Invitational
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSjo7cBPurZbPuUE5JSouPcUUkh2NwAwFOX9KNODWrCC1f_IAYwo5Ne_iAg6Y0bCzSaCQStbqhqiYyY/pubhtml
  
  
• 2017 story, “Bolles and Belen Jesuit get wins at a lake-free Alligator Lake”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/09/alligator-lake-2017.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Emma Tucker and the Chiles boys win at Alligator Lake”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/09/alligator-lake-2015.html
  
  
• Find your next race in the region using the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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