Leaving over 100 other cross country runners far behind, Deerlake eighth-grader Emily Molen won the middle school girls' two mile at the Everhart Invitational on Thursday morning, 17 September 2015. Molen's 12:16 was not only the fastest time of the day, it was the second fastest girls' time in the 28-year history of the Tallahassee, Florida, event. Spencer Amsellem, another Deerlake eighth-grader, won the middle school boys' two mile in 12:17. Swift Creek won the girls' team title with 33 points, and Montford won the boys' team title with 49 points.
The middle school girls' two mile started just before 11:00 AM. Swift Creek eighth-grader Alyson Churchill set the early pace just like in the first two meets of the season, the
Swift Creek Invitational and the
Fort Braden Run. This time, however, Deerlake's Emily Molen was right behind Churchill.
"I just tried to stay with Alyson," said Molen.
Molen only stayed with Churchill for the first half mile, though. After that the Deerlake runner took the lead. By the mile mark Molen was ten seconds ahead and moving away. The rest of the race was all Molen as she ran home in 12:16, finishing over a minute ahead of the next runner.
"I just wanted to run for the kids of Gretchen Everhart," said Molen. "This race is always inspiring to me, and I always run my best here."
Swift Creek eighth-grader Megan Churchill overtook Alyson Churchill to finish second in 13:20. Alyson Churchill was third in 13:29, with Montford eighth-grader Caitlin Wilkey fourth in 13:33. The Swift Creek girls completed their team score with eighth graders Chase Merrick (5th, 13:42), Chloe Molinaro (10th, 15:05), and Rylee French (13th, 15:13), giving the Wolves 33 points and the first-place trophy. Deerlake earned second-place hardware with 54 points, and Montford was third with 65 points.
Cece Williams remains the only girl that ever ran faster at the Everhart Invitational than Emily Molen's 12:16. Williams ran 11:56 in the 2007 race as a Deerlake seventh-grader. Molen's time also eclipses the 12:27 that Carly Thomas posted at the 2007 Everhart Invitational when she was an eighth-grader at Raa. Thomas went on to win the
2009 Florida High School State Cross Country Meet for Chiles.
2015 Everhart Invitational Team Standings, Girls
- Swift Creek, 33
- Deerlake, 54
- Montford, 65
- Raa, 86
- Fairview, 120
- Cobb, 160
Fort Braden, NTS
Griffin, NTS
Nims, NTS
Woodville, NTS
Top Ten Girls, 2015 Everhart Invitational
- 12:15.82 ~ Emily Molen (Deerlake) 8
- 13:19.28 ~ Megan Churchill (Swift Creek) 8
- 13:28.43 ~ Alyson Churchill (Swift Creek) 8
- 13:32.76 ~ Caitlin Wilkey (Montford) 8
- 13:41.15 ~ Chase Merrick (Swift Creek) 8
- 14:26.62 ~ Gabrielle O'Sullivan (Deerlake) 8
- 14:37.39 ~ Lilli Unger (Raa) 7
- 14:57.31 ~ Leah Mazur (Fairview) 7
- 14:58.43 ~ Arianna Barrow (Raa) 6
- 15:04.13 ~ Chloe Molinaro (Swift Creek) 8
The boys' race followed the girls. In the girls' race Emily Molen had been the clear leader at the mile mark, but after the boys had gone a mile there was still a pack of six runners out front. Then Spencer Amsellem took off.
"I just felt like I could go faster," said Amsellem, a Deerlake eighth-grader.
He was right. Amsellem grabbed a lead and held it all the way to the finish line, running 12:17. Raa eighth-grader Nile Bryant was narrowing the gap late in the race, but finished second in 12:23. Sixth grader Levi Streval was Deerlake's second scorer, placing third in 12:27. Montford led with a fourth-place finish from eighth-grader Bryson Cooksey (12:32), and Swift Creek opened with a fifth-place showing from Weston Blake (12:32), the
2015 Fort Braden Run champ. Montford also put eighth-grader Hawthorne Hay (6th, 12:39) and sixth-grader Trey Daniels (7th, 12:46) in the top ten, then eighth-grader Sam Hartman (11th, 13:12) and sixth-grader Tyler Ritchie (21st, 13:44) completed Montford's team total of 49 points. That put the Mustangs just four points ahead of Deerlake's 53, but ahead they were, and the Montford boys were the 2015 Everhart Invitational team champions. Deerlake was second, and Swift Creek placed third with 67 points.
After the Everhart Invitational there's a two-week pause in the
Leon County Schools middle school cross country season. The teams meet again on Wednesday, 30 September 2015, in the Mustang Invitational at Montford Middle School. After the Mustang Invitational, the season concludes on 7 October 2015 with the Leon County Schools Championship Meet at the Apalachee Regional Park Cross Country Course.
2015 Everhart Invitational Team Standings, Boys
- Montford, 49
- Deerlake, 53
- Swift Creek, 67
- Raa, 76
- Cobb, 96
- Fairview, 187
- Fort Braden, 219
- Nims, 244
Griffin, NTS
Woodville, NTS
Top Ten Boys, 2015 Everhart Invitational
- 12:16.64 ~ Spencer Amsellem (Deerlake) 8
- 12:22.18 ~ Nile Bryant (Raa) 8
- 12:26.96 ~ Levi Streval (Deerlake) 6
- 12:31.35 ~ Bryson Cooksey (Montford) 8
- 12:31.56 ~ Weston Blake (Swift Creek) 7
- 12:38.89 ~ Hawthorne Hay (Montford) 8
- 12:46.00 ~ Trey Daniels (Montford) 6
- 12:49.83 ~ Michael Sweeney (Deerlake) 7
- 13:04.05 ~ Sean Yearwood (Swift Creek) 8
- 13:05.50 ~ Carlos Urrutia (Raa) 8
| Everhart Invitational Champions, 1988 - 2015 |
|---|
| Date | Boys | Girls |
|---|
| 17 September 2015 | Spencer Amsellem (Deerlake) 12:17 | Emily Molen (Deerlake) 12:16 |
| 18 September 2014 | Tavaris King (Griffin) 12:04 | Lawton Campbell (Deerlake) 12:41 |
| 19 September 2013 | Jacob Dodson (Raa) 11:46 | Ana Wallace (Deerlake) 13:13 |
| 20 September 2012 | Matthew Cashin (Raa) 12:01 | Saige Kemeny (Montford) 13:19 |
| 22 September 2011 | Evan Francis (Raa) 11:56 | Zoe Sheldon (Swift Creek) 13:43 |
| 30 September 2010 | Wil Luca (Raa) 11:41 | Rebecca Clendinen (Raa) 13:57 |
| 1 October 2009 | Cade Zimmerman (Deerlake) 11:33 | Cece Williams (Deerlake) 13:26 |
| 25 September 2008 | Will Henderson (Raa) 11:42 | Cece Williams (Deerlake) 11:56 |
| 27 September 2007 | Will Henderson (Raa) 12:11 | Carly Thomas (Raa) 12:27 |
| 28 September 2006 | Will Stanford (Raa) 10:59 | Summer Shepherd (Raa) 12:59 |
| 29 September 2005 | Kurt Dietrich (Swift Creek) 12:07 | Jana Stolting (Deerlake) 13:26 |
| 30 September 2004 | Graham Hawkes (Cobb) 11:51 | Mallory Alonzo (Raa) 14:01 |
| 2 October 2003 | Joe Franklin (Griffin) 11:38 | Charlotte Murrell (Cobb) 14:17 |
| 3 October 2002 | Bryan Miletich (Deerlake) 11:51 | Julia Bryant (Deerlake) 14:06 |
| 4 October 2001 | Kevin Bryant (Raa) 12:33 | Karen Devick (Raa) 13:58 |
| 4 October 2000 | Danny Sass (Deerlake) 13:04 | LaShaunta Arnold (Fairview) 14:50 |
| 1 October 1999 | Logan Wolcott (Raa) 12:52 | LaShaunta Arnold (Fairview) 14:30 |
| 13 October 1998 | Matt Varn (Swift Creek) 12:31 | Allie Hunter (Swift Creek) 14:27 |
| 1997 | Anthony Washington (Bellevue) 12:26 | Allie Hunter (Swift Creek) 15:00 |
| 1996 |
|
|
| 6 October 1995 | Bryan Hendricks (Cobb) 8:15* | Meredith Warren (Raa) 10:36* |
| 6 October 1994 | Kevin Anderson (Deerlake) 8:10* | Meredith Warren (Raa) 9:56* |
| 20 October 1993 | | |
| 20 October 1992 | Mark Roehl (Raa) 8:40* | Brianne Pla (Cobb) 9:33* |
| 22 October 1991 | Michael Rodriguez (Raa) 8:38* | Holly Skinner (Cobb) 10:15* |
| 10 October 1990 | Tim Bolton (Cobb) 8:44* | Christy Weinberger(Bellevue)10:17* |
| 24 May 1990 | Wayne McDaniel (Raa) 6:58† | Cynthia Costin (Griffin) 8:06† |
| 23 May 1989 | Wayne McDaniel (Raa) 7:09† | Tonia Jackson (Nims) 8:13† |
| 10 May 1988 | Bobby Jessup (Griffin) † | Tonia Jackson (Raa) † |
* 1-1/2 mile race at Gretchen Everhart School
† 2 km race at Florida State University |
Links
#1490
North of Tallahassee, Florida on the streets of the Centerville Conservation Community, Spencer Amsellem won the fourth annual Run The Race 5K on Saturday, morning, 16 November 2019. Running a winning time of 17:38, Amsellem finished more than 180 meters ahead of his nearest challenger. Tallahassee master runner L. A. Hanlon was the first woman in the 5K, placing tenth overall in 20:47.
