Jonah Berry and Alexis Mayfield lead a youth takeover of the Tannenbaum Trail 6K

When someone writes the history of Gulf Winds Track Club's Tannenbaum Trail 6K, they'll record that 2023 was the year that the prep runners took over.

Jonah Berry

In 2022, that Tallahassee, Florida cross-country race was all about master runners, with Leonardo Canete taking the men's title and Dr. Katie Sherron placing second overall to nab the women's title. Canete was back at Apalachee Regional Park Cross-Country Course on Saturday morning, 16 December 2023, to defend his title, but the win that day went to Jonah Berry, a senior at Indian Rocks Christian School. Rolling up a lead of more than 300 meters, Berry took first in 20:42. Alexis Mayfield was first in the women's competition; an eighth-grader who races for the Swift Creek Middle School cross-country team, Mayfield took eleventh overall in 26:18.


The Tannenbaum was Canete's third weekend in a row of racing at Apalachee Regional Park. On 2 December 2023 he had raced in the Open 5K at the AAU Cross-Country Nationals on a sloppy wet course. The course was a bit drier a week later on 9 December 2023 when Canete raced on a Gulf Winds Track Club team in the Masters Men's 10K at the USATF Club Cross Country Championships. Jonah Berry had also competed previously on the Apalachee Regional Park course, but not since 17 November 2023, when he had placed sixth in the Class 1A boys' 5K at the FHSAA Cross-Country State Finals.

Leonardo Canete

The race started at 9:00 AM, with the Tannenbaum athletes set to do two laps around the Apalachee Regional Park course. Canete ran aggressively from the start, like an athlete determined to become the first man to win two Tannenbaum 6K titles. He held the lead till the second kilometer, when Jonah Berry overtook him.


"He caught me back on the dirt part of the course," recalled Canete.

Alexis Mayfield

Berry rolled by Canete then opened up a gap, reaching the halfway point almost half a minute before anyone else. That lead had grown to over a minute by the time Berry crossed the finish line in a winning 20:42. At 21:47, Canete was runner up and the top master. Xavier England, Xavier England, a senior on the Florida State University School cross-country team, ran away from Jacob Littleton during the second half of the race to take third in 22:34. Littleton, Littleton, an alum of the Suwannee High cross-country team, took fourth in 23:25.


Halfway through the 6K, Madi Sims was setting the pace for the women's field. Sims, a junior on the Leon High cross-country team, had fifteen seconds on the next girl in the race, Alexis Mayfield, and another twenty seconds on ten-year-old Acadia Hassell. Mayfield erased Sims' lead during the second lap around the course, passing the Leon harrier during the final kilometer. Mayfield was widening her lead when she finished in 26:18, taking the Tannenbaum women's title. Sims ran 26:27, placing second in the women's standings and thirteenth overall. Acadia Hassell was the third woman and fourteenth overall in 27:12. Ruffian Tyner of Tallahassee was the first woman master and fourth female finisher, 22nd overall in 29:09.

Madison Sims

98 athletes finished the 2023 Tannenbaum Trail 6K. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed the race.


Top Ten Men, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 Tannenbaum Trail Cross-Country Race

1. 20:41.55, Jonah Berry (M, 17) Fort Walton Beach, FL
2. 21:46.81, Leonardo Canete (M, 45) Tallahassee, FL
3. 22:33.20, Xavier England (M, 17) Tallahassee, FL
4. 23:24.16, Jacob Littleton (M, 20) Live Oak, FL
5. 24:02.71, Rickey Albert (M, 27) Tallahassee, FL
6. 24:06.65, Mickey Moore (M, 53) Tallahassee, FL
7. 25:33.29, Duane Evans (M, 56) Crawfordville, FL
8. 25:46.93, Bill McNulty (M, 65) Tallahassee, FL
9. 25:59.65, Carl Nordhielm (M, 61) Tallahassee, FL
10. 26:14.17, Kevin Ethridge (M, 46) Thomasville, GA

Top Ten Women, Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 Tannenbaum Trail Cross-Country Race

1. 26:17.33, Alexis Mayfield (F, 12) Tallahassee, FL
2. 26:26.77, Madi Sims (F, 16) Tallahassee, FL
3. 27:11.66, Acadia Hassell (F, 10) Tallahassee, FL
4. 29:08.90, Ruffian Tyner (F, 48) Tallahassee, FL
5. 29:14.66, Sara Jordan (F, 43) Fairfax, VA
6. 30:15.83, Signe Ulsamer (F, 46) Tallahassee, FL
7. 31:34.92, Aliyah Young (F, 27) Tallahassee, TN
8. 31:47.92, Nancy Stedman (F, 62) Tallahassee, FL
9. 31:50.77, Rylee Lunt (F, 17) Tallahassee, FL
10. 32:13.67, Deanna Dupont (F, 49)

Tannenbaum Trail 6K Champions, 2011 - 2023
Date	Men	Women	Finishers
17 December 2011	19:49, Chris Lake	25:33, Katie Showman	173
15 December 2012	19:35, Kevin Sullivan	21:56, Stefanie Slekis	182
21 December 2013	20:51, Bryan Koon	22:30, Jodie McGuff	76
20 December 2014	20:17, Kyle Harris	25:21, Jillian Heddaeus	149
19 December 2015	20:36, Joseph Garcia	23:30, Katie Sherron	192
17 December 2016	20:30, Josh Andrews	22:33, Alyson Churchill	87
16 December 2017	20:19, Charlie Johnson	22:46, Katie Sherron	112
15 December 2018	18:03*, Charlie Kline	22:29*, Michelle Allen	136
21 December 2019	22:16, Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina	24:30, Alyson Churchill	105
19 December 2020	No Race
18 December 2021	No Race
17 December 2022	21:45, Leonardo Canete	22:16, Katie Sherron	129
16 December 2023	20:42, Jonah Berry	26:18, Alexis Mayfield	98
* The 2018 race was shortened to 5,500 meters because of course conditions.

Links

• Complete results of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 Tannenbaum Trail 6K
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PJ4EaVUfghvjWMZXs-kLU5xZQUounujEe_JAyTUEVCU/edit#gid=0:~:text=https%3A//docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX%2D1vRJ1_EOodXn1ZNn4aqpXDeQN0J2923v0FdN_Yasc%2DFXrIF6fQ8zEijQQcrSB1R%2DErGOhyMpTBqku2M3/pubhtml
  
  
• More Trouble Afoot! photos of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2023 Tannenbaum Trail 6K
  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10121618862777543
  
  
• 2019 story, “Chiles harriers Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina and Alyson Churchill sweep the Tannenbaum 6K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2019/12/tannenbaum-2019.html
  
  
• 2018 story, “Charlie Kline and Shelly Allen are the 2018 Florida RRCA State Cross-Country Champions”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2018/12/tannenbaum-2018.html
  
  
• 2017 story, “Johnson and Sherron rule the Tannenbaum Trail”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2017/12/tannenbaum-2017.html
  
  
• 2016 story, “Tannenbaum Trail titles for Josh Andrews and Alyson Churchill”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/12/tannenbaum-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Garcia and Sherron take the Tannenbaum”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/12/tannenbaum-2015.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Berry College Viking Kyle Harris wins Tallahassee's Tannenbaum Trail 6K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/12/tannenbaum-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Koon and McGuff traipse the Tannenbaum Trail”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/12/tannenbaum-2013.html
  
  
• 2012 story, “Sullivan and Slekis take Tannenbaum for Capital City Runners”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2012/12/tannenbaum-2012.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “Lake and Showman trail no one at Tannenbaum Trail 6K”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/12/tannenbaum-2011.html
  
  
• Find another upcoming race named after a tree on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#3019