Saturday, October 21, 2023

The Wakulla girls and Lincoln boys split the North Florida Classic

Suwannee High School has hosted a variety of cross-country meets over the years, but usually in or near the school's home town of Live Oak, Florida. But on Saturday morning, 21 October 2023, Suwannee partnered with North Florida College to host the North Florida Classic on the college's campus in Madison, more than 30 miles from the high school. It was even farther away from Crawfordville, Florida and Wakulla High School, but the Wakulla girls made it to Madison to win the girls' 5K at the Classic, scoring 33 points behind Isabella Laughton's 19:40 first place performance. The Lincoln High Trojans were first in the boys' race with 33 points, led by sophomore Matthew Hauser, who won the 5K in 15:43.

Isabella Laughton
Isabella Laughton

The girls were scheduled to start at 7:30 AM. Isabella Laughton had picked up her second win of the 2023 season at the Suwannee County Meet; she nabbed her third victory by running 19:40 at Suwannee's North Florida Classic. Suwannee sophomore Ryleigh Hermanson was runner-up, nine seconds back in 19:49. In the Suwannee County Meet, four weeks earlier, Hermanson had trailed Laughton by over a minute. Lincoln junior NyAshia Wright placed third in 20:15.


Lana Hawkins, a Wakulla junior, took fourth in 21:24. Wakulla put two more athletes, both seniors, in the top ten--Taylor Pfeifer was eighth and Analecia Ferrell ninth, both in 21:38. Danielle Lewis completed Wakulla's scoring; the junior was fourteenth in 22:43. After that, the Wakulla girls had 33 points and the win.


Led by Hermanson, Suwanee was a close second with 37 points. Wright and the Lincoln girls were third with 59 points.


Girls' Team Standings, 2023 North Florida Classic
  1. Wakulla, 33
  2. Suwannee, 37
  3. Lincoln, 59

Top Ten Girls, 2023 North Florida Classic
  1. 19:39.1, Isabella Laughton (Wakulla) 11
  2. 19:48.2, Ryleigh Hermanson (Suwannee) 10
  3. 20:14.9, NyAshia Wright (Lincoln) 11
  4. 21:23.2, Lana Hawkins (Wakulla) 11
  5. 21:31.7, Montana Lewis (Suwannee) 11
  6. 21:34.9, Annie Caulkins (Lincoln) 12
  7. 21:36.7, Madison Fulton (Rickards) 11
  8. 21:37.1, Taylor Pfeifer (Wakulla) 12
  9. 21:37.9, Analecia Ferrell (Wakulla) 12
  10. 21:52.0, Brianna Woods (Suwannee) 10

The boys' five-kilometer tour of the North Florida College grounds followed. Running past the college's buildings, ponds, and playing fields, Lincoln's Matthew Hauser spent a lot of that 5000 meters running by himself because his final time of 15:43 gave him a lead of almost 200 meters. The race for the runner-up spot was closer, with Wakulla sophomore Henry Lewis finishing a few steps ahead of Suwannee senior Morgan Mobley, 16:18 to 16:20.

Henry Lewis
Henry Lewis

After Lewis, Lincoln put three Trojan seniors in the top ten--Dillon Brewer took fifth in 16:56, Mason Romauld was seventh in 17:10, and Connor Aarons ninth in 17:15. Another Lincoln senior, Olatunde Wright, barely missed cracking the top ten, placing eleventh in 17:22. With five scorers in, the Lincoln boys had 33 points and first place in a field of seven teams.


Led by Mobley, Suwannee placed second with 52 points. Lewis and Wakulla were third with 93 points.


Boys' Team Standings, 2023 North Florida Classic
  1. Lincoln, 33
  2. Suwannee, 52
  3. Wakulla, 93
  4. Leon, 106
  5. Rickards, 116
  6. Santa Fe, 136
  7. Hamilton County, 197

Top Ten Boys, 2023 North Florida Classic
  1. 15:42.7, Matthew Hauser (Lincoln) 10
  2. 16:17.6, Henry Lewis (Wakulla) 10
  3. 16:19.2, Morgan Mobley (Suwannee) 12
  4. 16:26.6, Will Winsor (Leon) 12
  5. 16:55.9, Dillon Brewer (Lincoln) 12
  6. 17:03.9, Brigadere Scott (Suwannee) 11
  7. 17:09.7, Mason Romuald (Lincoln) 12
  8. 17:10.0, Aaron Young (Santa Fe) 12
  9. 17:14.7, Connor Aarons (Lincoln) 11
  10. 17:19.3, Paul Gunter (Suwannee) 12

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Posted by Herb Wills at 11:41 PM
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