Acadia Hassell and Landon Reeves outrace their rivals at the Tallahassee Open

By 10 October 2023, there were less than three weeks left till the Florida Youth Running Association Middle School Cross-Country Championship. That Tuesday afternoon, though, there was at least one more act left in Tallahassee's middle school cross-country season--Holy Comforter Episcopal School's Tallahassee Open. Acadia Hassell won the girls' 3K by close to 100 meters, running 12:09, while the Holy Comforter girls took the team title with 31 points. Landon Reeves, a Community Christian eighth-grader, won the boys' 3K for the second year in a row, covering the course in 10:12. Maclay had the top boys' team, putting up a winning score of 47.

Acadia Hassell

The middle school girls' 3K started just before 5:15. Earlier, the meet had opened with a mile race for elementary school aged athletes. As a fifth-grader, Acadia Hassell was eligible for the shorter race, but passed on it.


"I prefer longer distances," explained Hassell.

Chloe Molen

The early leader in the 3K, though, was Chloe Molen--a Deerlake eighth-grader competing unattached. Half a kilometer into the race, Molen already had a lead of 30 meters. Running more patiently, Hassell was back in seventh place. Molen still led at the halfway point, but Hassell had moved into second and was starting to close.


The second half of the race had barely started when Hassell overtook Molen. By the two-kilometer mark, Hassell had opened a gap, a gap she continued to widen. Molen fell back, ultimately finishing ninth. But Hassell forged on, crossing the finish line in a winning 12:09. Julia Robinson, a Florida State University School eighth-grader, took second in 12:33. Holy Comforter sixth-grader Mackenzie McVay was third in 12:38.

Julia Robinson

Holy Comforter put three more Crusaders in the top ten--sixth-grader Madison McVay was sixth in 12:50, sixth-grader Elaine Ungru was seventh in 12:52, and eighth-grader Lillian Anway was eighth in 12:55. When Crusader sixth-grader Eleanor Blalock came home thirteenth in 13:27, the Holy Comforter girls had 31 points, good for first place in the seven-team field.


Julia Robinson and her Florida State teammates were a close second with 38 points. Maclay was third with 73 points; their top finisher was eighth-grader Mallory Van Leuven, eleventh in 13:20.

Brixton Menendez and Mackenzie McVay

Girls' Team Standings, 2023 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. Holy Comforter Episcopal, 31
2. Florida State University, 38
3. Maclay, 73
4. Raa, 91
5. Community Leadership, 150
6. Trinity Catholic, 159
7. Tallahassee Classical, 207

Top 10 Girls, 2023 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. 12:08.90, Acadia Hassell (Unattached) 5
2. 12:32.50, Julia Robinson (Florida State University) 8
3. 12:37.40, Mackenzie McVay (Holy Comforter Episcopal) 6
4. 12:43.10, Brixton Menendez (Raa) 7
5. 12:45.20, Elin Quisenberry (Florida State University) 7
6. 12:49.50, Madison McVay (Holy Comforter Episcopal) 6
7. 12:51.30, Elaine Ungru (Holy Comforter Episcopal) 6
8. 12:54.20, Lillian Anway (Holy Comforter Episcopal) 8
9. 12:56.30, Chloe Molen (Unattached) 8
10. 13:18.20, Vera Vanlandingham (Florida State University) 6

Had this been Acadia Hassell's first time racing on Holy Comforter's home venue, Lawson's Course?

"No, I ran here a couple other times," said Hassell.

Landon Reeves

Likewise, Community Christian's Landon Reeves was no stranger to Lawson's Course. "I've probably run here six times," he said.


Two of those prior appearances were wins; one at the 2022 Tallahassee Open and another at the 2023 Crusader Cross-Country Classic. The road to Reeves' third win wasn't without potholes, however. Immediately after the start of the 2023 Tallahassee Open boys' 3K, a Florida State runner went down right in front of Reeves. The field wasn't recalled. Reeves maneuvered around the fallen athlete and resumed racing. Half a kilometer later he was leading. Just behind Reeves was Emari Thomas, a Fairview eighth-grader competing for the Panhandle Express. Five days earlier, Thomas had won the Leon County Schools' 2023 Middle School Cross-Country Championship.

Emari Thomas

Reeves and Thomas were still the first two runners at the halfway point of the race, but Reeves was 50 meters ahead of Thomas by then. That gap grew during the second half of the 3K. Reeves finished the race with a lead of nearly 150 meters, winning in 10:12. Thomas was runner-up in 10:42. James Mogg, a Trinity Catholic eighth-grader, took third in 11:01, and Raa eighth-grader Carson Weiss was fourth in 11:12.


Raa had one more athlete in the top ten; seventh-grader Emerson Gandy placed sixth in 11:20. But Maclay also had two athletes in the top ten--eighth-grader Andrew Campbell was seventh in 11:33 and eighth-grader Henry Proctor was ninth in 11:48. Maclay's next three Marauders were seventh-graders Mirko Usina (13th, 11:57), Grant Ulrich (16th, 12:01), and Wesley Seise (18th, 12:04). With Seise across the finish line, Maclay had 47 points and first place in an eleven-team field.

James Mogg

With 57 points, Raa had to settle for second. Holy Comforter was third with 69 points; the first Crusader in the race was seventh-grader Matthew Nowels, tenth in 11:52.


Boys' Team Standings, 2023 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. Maclay, 47
2. Raa, 57
3. Holy Comforter Episcopal, 69
4. Community Christian, 115
5. Trinity Catholic, 146
6. Christ Classical, 177
7. Wakulla, 187
8. Tallahassee Classical, 222
9. Community Leadership, 242
10. Cornerstone, 263
11. Riversprings, 267

Top 10 Boys, 2023 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. 10:11.70, Landon Reeves (Community Christian) 8
2. 10:42.00, Emari Thomas (Panhandle Express) 8
3. 11:00.60, James Mogg (Trinity Catholic) 8
4. 11:11.10, Carson Weiss (Raa) 8
5. 11:15.40, Lawson Phillips (Florida State University) 7
6. 11:19.10, Emerson Gandy (Raa) 7
7. 11:32.50, Andrew Campbell (Maclay) 8
8. 11:35.10, Lincoln Eisenberg (Community Christian) 8
9. 11:47.10, Henry Proctor (Maclay) 8
10. 11:51.90, Matthew Nowels (Holy Comforter Episcopal) 7

Tallahassee Open winners, 2014 - 2023
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	Red Hills, 28	10:32, Landon Reeves (Community Christian) 7
10 October 2023	Maclay, 47	10:12, Landon Reeves (Community Christian) 8
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	Red Hills, 15	12:03, Charlotte Sikes (Red Hills) 6
10 October 2023	Holy Comforter, 31	12:09, Acadia Hassell (Unattached) 6

Links

• Complete results of the 2023 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQgOSuSQnO2OZs4Nm0Z7kxhB5NePVZ2nUkxB9vHAQvofANdRHHFiHWKaLmzdK7fcHQT4d8K9nqPKmnE/pubhtml
  
  
• More Trouble Afoot! photos of the 2023 Tallahassee Open Middle School Cross Country Meet
  
  • Girls: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10121384593275503
  • Boys: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10121384558824543
  
  
• 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
  
  

#2996