Showing posts with label Tallahassee Community College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tallahassee Community College. Show all posts

Monday, February 10, 2020

Bryce Kelley and Alyssa Terry race for the win at the Run For The Cookies

“I’m mostly training for the Beer Mile,” said Bryce Kelley. “I’ll definitely run the Palace Saloon 5K.”


But malty brews were not at stake in Tallahassee, Florida on Saturday, 8 February 2020. The theme on the Tallahassee Community College campus that morning was baked goods, and Kelley won the 27th annual Run For The Cookies 5K, running 17:02. Alyssa Terry was the first woman in the race, placing fourteenth overall in 19:45.

Bryce Kelley
Bryce Kelley

Ever since it was first run in 1994, the Run For The Cookies has been unique in that each person who enters gets a box of Girl Scout cookies. Award winners get additional cookies; Kelley collected five more boxes for finishing first. The team with the most athletes entered takes home a case. Some people leave the race with a lot of cookies.


The folks in the Run For The Cookies set thoughts of sweets aside at 9:00 AM, lining up for the start of the race. Tallahassee Community College cross-country coach Gary Droze was in the field, the winner of the first four races and the fastest Cookie Runner ever; he went 15:17 in the 1997 event. When the athletes got under way, though, it was Lucas Mauch, a frosh-year cross-country runner at Maclay School, who set the pace. Kelley trailed Mauch, followed by master runners Mike Martinez and Gary Droze.

Lucas Mauch
Lucas Mauch

“I didn’t want to go out in first,” said Kelley. “I thought I could catch him later.”


Martinez, trailing, also liked Kelley’s chances. “He looked really good. He had that bouncy look.”

Michael Martinez
Michael Martinez

Before the end of the first mile, Kelley had bounced by Mauch. Kelley was in control of the race after that, edging farther and farther ahead of the field as he cruised along Senator Pat Thomas Boulevard. His lead was nearly 300 meters when he crossed the finish line in a winning 17:02. Martinez overtook Mauch in the last quarter mile of the race to take second in 18:07. Mauch was third in 18:13, and Droze fourth in 18:28.


“Twenty years it took me to catch Gary!” said Martinez. “I had never beaten him before.”

Gary Droze
Gary Droze

Mauch also had reason to be pleased with his performance. “I think that was my best 5K.”


Jamila Allen was the early leader for the women. Brittney Barnes took over that spot a few minutes into the race. Allen stayed with Barnes, and Amanda Sava and Alyssa Terry were right behind--four athletes vying for the women’s title.

Jamila Allen, Brittney Barnes, Amanda Sava
Jamila Allen leading near the one-kilometer mark

“Brittney passed me about half a mile,” said Allen. “I knew she was on my right, and I could hear two girls behind me, but I didn’t know who they were. So I was running scared.”


“Typically, Alyssa goes by me at a mile and a half,” said Barnes. “Today, everybody went by me about one-point-eight.”

Alyssa Terry
Alyssa Terry

“It was during the first uphill, after we turned back onto Pat Thomas Boulevard,” said Terry. “I was feeling good, so I picked it up. They were still pretty close at the turnaround, but after that I increased my pace again.”


After that, no one was close as Terry built up a lead of over a hundred meters. Her winning time of 19:45 was nearly her best ever.

Amanda Sava, Jamila Allen
Amanda Sava and Jamila Allen

“My best 5K was Turkey Trot, and I was only two seconds off that today,” said Terry.


Chasing Terry, Amanda Sava and Jamila Allen left Brittney Barnes behind. Sava held the second women’s spot till the final stretch, when Allen sprinted by, edging Sava 20:11 to 20:13. The two were seventeenth and eighteenth overall. Barnes was fourth in the women’s standings and nineteenth overall in 20:40.

Brittney Barnes
Brittney Barnes

337 athletes finished the 2020 Run For The Cookies 5K, and another 83 completed an earlier one-mile fun run. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed both races.


Top Ten Men, 2020 Run For The Cookies 5K
  1. 17:02, Bryce Kelley (M, 25)
  2. 18:07, Mike Martinez (M, 54)
  3. 18:13, Lucas Mauch (M, 15)
  4. 18:28, Gary Droze (M, 58)
  5. 18:41, Clayton Knox (M, 15)
  6. 18:46, Gannon Hundley (M, 21)
  7. 18:51, Carter Rothell (M, 15)
  8. 19:07, Myles Gibson (M, 53)
  9. 19:30, Thomas Howell (M, 23)
  10. 19:38, Randon Manausa (M, 11)

Top Ten Women, 2020 Run For The Cookies 5K
  1. 19:45, Alyssa Terry (F, 26)
  2. 20:11, Jamila Allen (F, 30)
  3. 20:13, Amanda Sava (F, 25)
  4. 20:40, Brittney Barnes (F, 32)
  5. 20:58, Deanna McVay (F, 37)
  6. 21:05, Mia Wiederkehr (F, 22)
  7. 21:06, Clifton Lewis (F, 11)
  8. 21:11, Stella Lewis (F, 15)
  9. 21:58, Grace Kennedy (F, 31)
  10. 22:45, Nikky Manausa (F, 38)

Run For The Cookies 5K champions, 1994 - 2020
DateMenWomenFinishers
19 February 199416:12, Gary Droze-118:51, Carrie Weyant-185
25 February 199515:42, Gary Droze-218:15, Jane Johnson186
24 February 199616:08, Gary Droze-319:57, Chateau Mangaroo175
22 February 199715:17, Gary Droze-419:02, Carrie Weyant-2150
28 February 199815:38, Jason Ritter17:29, Sarah Docter-Williams-1207
27 February 199916:17, David Ogletree17:38, Sarah Docter-Williams-2258
26 February 200016:23, Robert Pautienus17:53, Kim Winn294
24 February 200115:59, Kevin Danahy17:30, Sarah Docter-Williams-3231
23 February 200215:25, Lee Willis-116:18, Breeda Dennehy-Willis-1248
15 February 200315:49, Lee Willis-216:30, Breeda Dennehy-Willis-2152
14 February 200417:07, Timothy Bolton18:06, Sarah Docter-Williams-493
12 February 200516:23, Justin Jacobs17:43, Sarah Docter-Williams-5258
11 February 200616:49, Kyle Larson19:04, Stephanie Liles-1156
10 February 200715:53, Judson Cake19:06, Zika Rea386
9 February 200816:45, Tripp Southerland19:35, Stephanie Liles-2411
7 February 200916:16, Chris Lake-118:40, Audrey Hand550
13 February 201016:27, Chris Lake-218:11, Amy Hines-1432
12 February 201115:50, Kevin Sullivan19:02, Sheryl Rosen-1431
11 February 201216:07, Alex Smyth17:36, Amy Hines-2685
9 February 201316:00, Stanley Linton-117:43, Chelsi Woodruff602
8 February 201415:24, Stanley Linton-217:54, Carly Thomas369
14 February 201515:40, Remy Tamer18:04, Sheryl Rosen-2332
13 February 201617:15, Clayburn Milford18:53, Alexandra Midgett342
11 February 201716:27, Matthew McCurdy17:35, Ani Veltcheva-1405
10 February 201817:00, Vince Molosky17:59, Adriana Piekarewicz347
9 February 201917:13, Tristan Cravello18:49, Ani Veltcheva-2315
9 February 201917:02, Bryce Kelley19:45, Alyssa Terry337
The Run For The Cookies was held at Tallahassee Mall from 1994 to 1996,
and at Tallahassee Community College from 1997 to the present.
A big thank-you to Mark Priddy for his help in completing this summary.


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Monday, February 11, 2019

Tristan Cravello and Ani Veltcheva for the win at Run For The Cookies

In 2016 Tallahassee Community College fielded a women's cross-country team for the first time. Since then the school has hosted Florida's junior college cross-country state championship three times, added a men's cross-country program, and started a track team. But TCC's running roots go back to at least 1997, the year that the Run For The Cookies 5K moved to the college campus from its original venue at Tallahassee Mall. TCC is still the home of the race, and on Saturday morning, 9 February 2019, athletes met at the school for the 26th annual Run For The Cookies 5K. Tristan Cravello won the 3.1-mile race in 17:13, and Ani Veltcheva was first woman, placing fifth overall in 18:49.

Tristan Cravello
Tristan Cravello

Each of the 315 runners who finished the race scored a box of Girl Scout cookies for entering. That was a unique feature of Tallahassee's first Run For The Cookies, but it has since been imitated by races in Panama City, Pensacola, and elsewhere. Additional boxes of Girl Scout cookies went to top places in the age-groups and the first master runners. The first overall male and first overall female finishers each took home another five boxes.


When the race started a few minutes after 9:00 AM, it looked like Tristan Cravello really wanted those five boxes of cookies. A second year student at Florida State University, Cravello had finished runner-up to Vince Molosky in the 2018 Run For The Cookies, trailing most of the race. Cravello was setting the pace nearly from the start in 2019, with Brad Busboom following.

Brad Busboom (2nd, 17:36)
Brad Busboom

"Maybe on the downhill I was moving up on him," said Busboom. "But he finished twenty seconds ahead of me. He's faster than I am."


Unchallenged, Cravello finished first in 17:13, with Busboom second in 17:36.

Carter Hay
Carter Hay

Master runners Carter Hay and Gary Droze changed position several times during the race, with Hay ahead during the first mile and Droze ahead during the second. Early in the third mile the two were running together, but Hay dropped Droze on the way to the finish line to take top master honors, placing third overall in 18:25. Droze, TCC's cross-country coach, finishing fourth in 18:32.


Fourteen-year-old Ani Veltcheva lives in Gainesville, Florida, but she's a prominent runner on the Tallahassee roads, a three-time women's champ of the Palace Saloon 5K and the first woman in the 2017 Springtime 10K. She had also won the women's title at the 2017 Run For The Cookies 5K.

Ani Veltcheva
Ani Veltcheva

"I love running in Tallahassee," said Veltcheva. "There is a great running community here. The people along the course and the other runners in the race are always so supportive and encouraging. I just love running in the races here."


Before the Run For The Cookies, Veltcheva's most recent race in Tallahassee was the class 3A girls' 5K in Florida's High School Cross-Country Championship. A frosh on the Gainesville High team, Veltcheva had placed second in 17:47.

Genevieve Printiss
Genevieve Printiss

"This is my first road race since State," said Veltcheva. "We have kind of an off-season after cross-country. Track starts soon, though."


Veltcheva stepped back onto the roads looking like she had never left, leading the women's field nearly from the start of the race. Her lead only grew longer on her way to crossing the finish line in a winning 18:49. Behind Veltcheva, TCC cross-country runner Genevieve Printiss moved into second during mile two of the race. Printiss ended the race as the women's runner-up, placing thirteenth overall in 19:52. Meg Ogle was even farther back in the early going, but worked her way up through the field to challenge Katie Sherron for third late in the race. Ogle edged Sherron at the finish line, 20:39 to 20:41, the two runners placing eighteenth and nineteenth overall. Stephanie Liles-Weyant was the first woman master in the 5K and fifth female finisher, 21st overall in 20:51. Liles-Weyant was the women's champ at the Run For The Cookies in both 2006 and 2008.

Meg Ogle, Katie Sherron
Meg Ogle and Katie Sherron

Before the start of the 2019 Run For The Cookies 5K, 63 athletes finished a one-mile kids' run. Gulf Winds Track Club chip-timed both races.


Top Ten Men, 2019 Run For The Cookies 5K
  1. 17:13, Tristan Cravello (M, 19)
  2. 17:36, Brad Busboom (M, 31)
  3. 18:25, Carter Hay (M, 47)
  4. 18:32, Gary Droze (M, 57)
  5. 18:54, Kurt Dietrich (M, 27)
  6. 19:11, Jonathan Callejas (M, 22)
  7. 19:14, Zach Deveau (M, 31)
  8. 19:29, Michael Martinez (M, 53)
  9. 19:35, Filippo Aldrovandi-Reina (M, 14)
  10. 19:43, Dalton Gray (M, 18)

Top Ten Women, 2019 Run For The Cookies 5K
  1. 18:49, Ani Veltcheva (F, 14)
  2. 19:52, Genevieve Printiss (F, 18)
  3. 20:39, Meg Ogle (F, 28)
  4. 20:41, Katie Sherron (F, 37)
  5. 20:51, Stephanie Liles-Weyant (F, 46)
  6. 21:18, Mia Wiederkehr (F, 21)
  7. 21:48, Lauren Davidson (F, 27)
  8. 21:48, Maya Tang (F, 13)
  9. 22:06, Clifton Lewis (F, 10)
  10. 22:16, Jenny Early (F, 35)

Run For The Cookies 5K champions, 1994 - 2019
DateMenWomenFinishers
19 February 199416:12, Gary Droze-118:51, Carrie Weyant-185
25 February 199515:42, Gary Droze-218:15, Jane Johnson186
24 February 199616:08, Gary Droze-319:57, Chateau Mangaroo175
22 February 199715:17, Gary Droze-419:02, Carrie Weyant-2150
28 February 199815:38, Jason Ritter17:29, Sarah Docter-Williams-1207
27 February 199916:17, David Ogletree17:38, Sarah Docter-Williams-2258
26 February 200016:23, Robert Pautienus17:53, Kim Winn294
24 February 200115:59, Kevin Danahy17:30, Sarah Docter-Williams-3231
23 February 200215:25, Lee Willis-116:18, Breeda Dennehy-Willis-1248
15 February 200315:49, Lee Willis-216:30, Breeda Dennehy-Willis-2152
14 February 200417:07, Timothy Bolton18:06, Sarah Docter-Williams-493
12 February 200516:23, Justin Jacobs17:43, Sarah Docter-Williams-5258
11 February 200616:49, Kyle Larson19:04, Stephanie Liles-1156
10 February 200715:53, Judson Cake19:06, Zika Rea386
9 February 200816:45, Tripp Southerland19:35, Stephanie Liles-2411
7 February 200916:16, Chris Lake-118:40, Audrey Hand550
13 February 201016:27, Chris Lake-218:11, Amy Hines-1432
12 February 201115:50, Kevin Sullivan19:02, Sheryl Rosen-1431
11 February 201216:07, Alex Smyth17:36, Amy Hines-2685
9 February 201316:00, Stanley Linton-117:43, Chelsi Woodruff602
8 February 201415:24, Stanley Linton-217:54, Carly Thomas369
14 February 201515:40, Remy Tamer18:04, Sheryl Rosen-2332
13 February 201617:15, Clayburn Milford18:53, Alexandra Midgett342
11 February 201716:27, Matthew McCurdy17:35, Ani Veltcheva-1405
10 February 201817:00, Vince Molosky17:59, Adriana Piekarewicz347
9 February 201917:13, Tristan Cravello18:49, Ani Veltcheva-2315
The Run For The Cookies was held at Tallahassee Mall from 1994 to 1996,
and at Tallahassee Community College from 1997 to the present.
A big thank-you to Mark Priddy for his help in completing this summary.


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Thursday, July 26, 2018

Tallahassee Community College Eagles 2018 Cross-Country Schedule

Cross-country season has gone from months away to weeks away, and it is about to go from weeks away to days away. With competition about to start, Tallahassee Community College has released the Eagles' 2018 cross-country schedule.


The Eagles have five meets right in Tallahassee starting with their opener, the Cougar Cross-Country Challenge in Phipps Park on Friday evening, 24 August 2018. After that, TCC's harriers visit Valdosta, Georgia for the first time, running in the Valdosta State University Border Clash at Freedom Park on Friday, 31 August 2018. The Eagles are on the road again a week later on 7 September 2018, making their first appearance at the University of North Florida Invitational in Jacksonville, Florida.


Returning to Tallahassee, the Eagles will race at Gulf Winds Track Club's Salute to Prefontaine 5K on Saturday, 15 September 2018. In October, TCC will compete three times at Florida's premiere venue, the Apalachee Regional Park Championship Cross-Country Course, racing at the FSU Cross-Country Invitational on 12 October 2018, the inaugural TCC Eagle Invitational on 19 October 2018, and the FCSAA Cross-Country Championships on 26 October 2018.


Post-season championships open with the FCSAA meet, and continue on 10 November 2018 with the NJCAA-D1 National Cross-Country Championships at Garden City, Kansas--marking the sixth year in a row that the national meet has been held west of the Mississippi River. The following week, on 17 November 2018, is the NJCAA Half-Marathon championship, which returns to Gulf Shores, Alabama this year.


Here's the 2018 cross-country schedule for the Tallahassee Community College Eagles:


Tallahassee Community College Eagles
Cross Country Schedule
2018 - 2019 Season
DateMeetLocation
24 August 2018Cougar Cross Country ChallengeTallahassee, FL (Phipps Park)
31 August 2018Valdosta State University Border ClashValdosta, GA
7 September 2018University of North Florida InvitationalJacksonville, FL
15 September 2018Salute to Prefontaine 5KTallahassee, FL (Silver Lake)
12 October 2018FSU Cross Country InvitationalTallahassee, FL (ARPXC)
19 October 2018TCC Eagle InvitationalTallahassee, FL (ARPXC)
26 October 2018FCSAA Cross Country ChampionshipsTallahassee, FL (ARPXC)
10 November 2018NJCAA Division I Cross Country ChampionshipsGarden City, KS
17 November 2018NJCAA Half Marathon ChampionshipGulf Shores, AL


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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Tallahassee Community College wins Gulf Winds Track Club's 2017 Community Award

[On Sunday, 14 January 2018, I was privileged to make the presentation of Gulf Winds Track Club's 2017 Community Award. Here is what I said at GWTC's annual award meeting that evening.]


From the 1960s through the 1980s, junior college track and field as well as cross-country was part of the running landscape in Florida. Not every two-year school fielded teams, but quite a few did. Some of those teams did quite well on a national level. Some of the athletes went on to distinguish themselves in NCAA competition at four-year schools.


Late in the 1900s, though, those programs started to disappear. By early in the 21st century, Florida only had a couple of community colleges with women’s cross-country teams. Men’s cross-country was extinct in the junior colleges. So was track and field.

TCC Eagles cross-country wpmen
2017 TCC Eagles women cross-country runners

But women’s cross-country started to make a comeback in the Florida community colleges. Tallahassee Community College joined that comeback in 2016, adding a women’s team. It was the first time in over twenty years that TCC had added a new sport to the school’s athletic program. The Eagles had never had a track or a cross-country team before. But TCC was critical in the revival of women’s cross-country in Florida because they were the fourth school to field a team, and four was the minimum number of teams needed to stage a statewide championship in the sport. The Eagles hosted that championship at Apalachee Regional Park in 2016. The Lady Eagles also went to the NJCAA National Cross-Country Championships for the first time in school history, placing 33rd. A week later they raced the NJCAA Half Marathon National Championship.


In 2017, though, TCC became a real leader of the running renaissance in Florida’s community colleges. During the 2017 season the Eagles added a men’s cross-country team, the first in the state for many years. More schools are expected to follow in 2018, so Tallahassee should see a men’s state championship race at Apalachee Regional Park. TCC also plans to start both a men’s and a women’s track and field team, bringing that sport back to Florida’s community colleges.

TCC Eagles cross-country men
2017 TCC Eagles men cross-country runners

Because of Tallahassee Community College’s role in promoting community college running in both Tallahassee in particular and Florida in general, TCC is recipient of Gulf Winds Track Club’s 2017 Community Award.


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Sunday, July 30, 2017

Tallahassee Community College Eagles 2017 Cross-Country Schedule

The 2017 cross-country schedule for the Tallahassee Community College Eagles is here!


This is the second season of competition for TCC's harriers. This year the Eagles add a men's cross-country team, currently the only NJCAA men's program in Florida. Also new this year is another rival for the Lady Eagles--Florida State College at Jacksonville will field a women's cross-country team during the 2017 season. That makes five Florida schools competing in NJCAA cross-country; Chipola, Pasco-Hernano State, and South Florida State are the other three programs.


As in 2016, the Eagles will open the season will the Cougar Cross-Country Challenge at Phipps Park in Tallahassee. That meet is slated for Friday evening, 25 August 2017, this year. The Cougar Challenge is followed by a new event on the calendar, the Big Bend Cross-Country Invitational on Saturday morning, 2 September 2017. At the Invitational the Eagles get to preview Tallahassee's Apalachee Regional Park Championship Cross-Country Course, which will be the site of the NJCAA Region 8 Women's Cross-Country Championship on Saturday morning, 28 October 2017. TCC's harriers will also get a look at the Apalachee Regional Park Course on Friday morning, 6 October 2017, during the Florida State University Cross-Country Invitational. On Saturday morning, 16 September 2017, Tallahassee Community College athletes will race at the Prefontaine Forest 5K just west of Tallahassee in the Silver Lake Recreation Area of the Apalachicola National Forest. That will be the second year in a row that the Eagles have appeared at the Prefontaine race, but on On Saturday, 23 September 2017, TCC will compete for the first time ever at the University of Florida's Mountain Dew Cross-Country Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. The Lady Eagles will make a return trip to Citizen's Lodge Park in Marianna, Florida on Saturday, 14 October 2017, competing against Panhandle rival Chipola in the Chipola College Invitational.


Championship meets cap the season. The NJCAA Region 8/FSCAA Cross Country Championship is in the Eagles hometown of Tallahassee again. TCC's women will be looking to improve on their 2016 performance, when they placed third in the Region. With only one men's team in Region 8, there will be no race for the men. Both TCC's men and women will race on Saturday, 11 November 2017, in the NJCAA Division 1 National Cross-Country Championships in Fort Dodge, Iowa. In 2016 TCC's women placed 33rd in the national meet. On Saturday, 18 November 2017, the Eagles end the year with the NJCAA Half-Marathon National Championship in Topeka, Kansas.


Unlike 2016, there are no dual meets for the Eagles on the 2017 schedule. For Tallahassee Community College's hometown fans, there are five four competitions scheduled right in Tallahassee, including the Region 8 Championship. No waiting for the next day to read about those races!


Tallahassee Community College Eagles
Cross Country Schedule
2016 - 2017 Season
DateMeetLocation
25 August 2017Cougar Cross Country ChallengeTallahassee, FL (Phipps Park)
2 September 2017Big Bend Cross-Country InvitationalTallahassee, FL (ARPXC)
23 September 2017Mountain Dew Cross-Country InvitationalGainesville, FL
6 October 2017FSU Cross Country InvitationalTallahassee, FL (ARPXC)
14 October 2017Chipola College InvitationalMarianna, FL
28 October 2017FCSAA Women's Cross Country ChampionshipsTallahassee, FL (ARPXC)
11 November 2017NJCAA Division I Cross Country ChampionshipsFort Dodge, Iowa
18 November 2017NJCAA Half Marathon ChampionshipTopeka, KS


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Monday, July 17, 2017

From an Eagle to a Ram, Prisco signs to run at the University of Mobile

When Jeanna Prisco signed to run women's cross-country at Tallahassee Community College, I asked her about her running plans beyond junior college.


"I'm going to keep running," said Prisco. "I plan to do it for the rest of my life."


True to that statement, Prisco, the first athlete to sign a National Letter of Intent to run cross-country at Tallahassee Community College, has now become the first TCC Eagle to sign with a four-year program. During the 2017 season, Prisco will be racing for the University of Mobile Rams, a NAIA program coached by Andy Canegitta. The Rams women's cross-country team was fifth in the Southern States Athletic Conference during the 2016 season.

Jeanna Prisco
Jeanna Prisco
Here is Tallahassee Community College's press release on Prisco's move to the next level.

Stepping Stones: Jeanna Prisco, University of Mobile

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (July 17, 2017) – In May 2016, Jeanna Prisco became Tallahassee Community College’s first-ever cross country signee. Now, 14 months later, she is the Eagles’ first runner to sign with a four-year school.

Prisco, a native of Sopchoppy, Fla., has signed a national letter of intent with the University of Mobile.

Prisco didn’t run until her senior year at Wakulla High School, where she was coached by the late Paul Hoover, but in her lone season, helped the War Eagles to the Class 2A, District 2 Championship and a berth in the 2014 FHSAA Cross Country State Championships. That experience sparked Prisco’s interest in running and, once TCC announced it was adding the sport, created an opportunity at the collegiate level.

Running for coach Gary Droze’s inaugural squad at Tallahassee, Prisco was a constant in the top five for the Eagles in 2016. In her Tallahassee debut at last August’s Cougar XC Challenge, she ran the 5K in 26:37.69. By November’s NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championship, she shaved off more than a minute and a half, finishing with a personal best of 25:05.47.

In the classroom, Prisco was named All-Academic by the Panhandle Conference in 2017.

Mobile, an NAIA program, competes in the Southern States Athletic Conference.

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Thursday, May 11, 2017

The TCC Eagles will compete in men's cross-country in 2017

On 17 May 2016 Jeanna Prisco signed a letter of intent to compete in cross-country for Tallahassee Community College, becoming the first harrier on the roster of the Eagles' first ever cross-country team. At the signing ceremony everyone was enthusiastic about the future of the program, looking forward to hosting a regional, sending the team to nationals, and competing in the NJCAA national half-marathon championship. And beyond the inaugural season?


"I'm very hopeful that maybe even within a year we'll be able to add a male team," said Rob Chaney, Tallahassee Community College Athletic Director.


It turn out there was more than hope to that timeline. On Thursday, 11 May 2017, Tallahassee Community College formally announced via a press release that the school would be fielding a men's cross-country team during the 2017 season.


The squad will not only be TCC's first men's cross-country team ever, it will be the first NJCAA men's team in Florida for many years. After thriving through the 1980s, cross-country vanished from Florida's community college system. In recent years the sport was revived for women at Chipola College, Pasco-Hernando State, South Florida State, and (in 2016) Tallahassee Community College. The Eagles are pioneering the restoration of men's cross-country at the junior college level in the state of Florida.

TCC Lady Eagles Cross-Country Team 2016
2016 Lady Eagles cross-country team

No schedule has been announced yet, but expect the Eagles cross country teams--both men and women--to open the 2017 campaign at the Cougar Cross-Country Challenge Collegiate Meet on Friday, 25 August 2017, at Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park on the north side of Tallahassee.


Here is the text of TCC Athletics' press release:

TCC to add men’s cross country in 2017


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (May 11, 2017) – Tallahassee Community College’s athletics program is growing again.

The College, on Thursday, announced the addition of men’s cross country. The team will begin competition this fall.

Tallahassee announced in October 2015 the addition of women’s cross country, and the team began participation last fall. It was the College’s first new sport in 21 years. Now, less than a year later, men’s cross country becomes the Eagles’ sixth sport.

“This is another exciting step forward for our program,” said Rob Chaney, director of athletics. “From the outset, we wanted to bring the men’s team on board. Everything about the inaugural season for the women (in 2016) validated our decision to add the sport, and I believe we’ll experience the same results with the men.”

The Eagles will be the first two-year school in the state to run on the men’s side. Like their female counterparts, the male runners are eligible to participate in the National Junior College Athletic Association Half Marathon.

The men’s team will be capped at seven runners while the women’s squad will increase to 15. Gary Droze, hired as the College’s cross country coach in April 2016, will coach both squads.

“As expected, just the prospect of a men's cross country team (at TCC) has generated strong interest from coaches and athletes familiar with the rich tradition of distance running in Tallahassee,” said Droze. “I anticipate every member of the inaugural men's team will have had experience running in the Florida High School Athletic Association State Championships, contested in our own back yard at the famed Apalachee Regional Park.”

According to TCC President Jim Murdaugh, new sports can attract additional students to a college.

“My belief is intercollegiate athletics can serve as a vehicle for enrollment growth not only by an increased number of student-athletes, but by demonstrating to both current and prospective students a commitment to engagement opportunities through co-curricular activities, which promotes student success,” said Murdaugh.

Chaney pointed to the popularity and success of the sport at the high school level, particularly in the College’s service district of Leon, Gadsden and Wakulla counties, as well as the aforementioned Apalachee Regional Park, recently awarded the 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships, as major selling points to potential recruits for both the men and women’s teams.

“Right now, you can arguably say there’s no better place to run than Tallahassee, Florida,” Chaney added.

The 2017 cross country schedule will be announced this summer.

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Friday, July 22, 2016

Tallahassee Community College Lady Eagles cross country history starts 26 August 2016

A team, a coach, and now a schedule. The Tallahassee Community College Eagles are all but ready for the 2016 cross country season, the school's first.


The journey to the Eagles' first year of cross country started during the fall of 2015, when Tallahassee Community College announced that it would field a women's team the following year. During the spring of 2016 Gary Droze was hired as the women's cross country coach. On 17 May 2016 Wakulla High alumna Jeanna Prisco joined the team, becoming the first cross country runner to sign a National Letter of Intent with the Eagles. On Friday afternoon, 22 July 2016, at 2:00 PM ET, Tallahassee Community College released the schedule for the squad's initial season.


Tallahassee Community College Eagles
Women's Cross Country Schedule
2016 - 2017 Season
DateMeetLocation
26 August 2016Cougar Cross Country ChallengeTallahassee, FL (Phipps Park)
9 September 2016Chipola at TCCTallahassee, FL (Phipps Park)
24 September 2016Prefontaine Forest 5KTallahassee, FL (Silver Lake)
30 September 2016TCC at ChipolaMarianna, FL
7 October 2016FSU Cross Country InvitationalTallahassee, FL (ARPXC)
22 October 2016South Florida State College Panther InvitationalAvon Park, FL (SFSC)
4 November 2016FCSAA Women's Cross Country ChampionshipsTallahassee, FL (ARPXC)
12 November 2016NJCAA Division I Cross Country ChampionshipsEl Dorado, KS
19 November 2016NJCAA Half Marathon ChampionshipGulf Shores, AL


Monet Madeux and Ellie Stubblefield have also joined the Eagle's cross country roster. Madeux is an alumna of the Merritt Island High cross country team, and Stubblefield ran for Maclay School in Tallahassee.


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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Jeanna Prisco signs with the TCC Eagles

On Tuesday afternoon, 17 May 2016, Jeanne Prisco signed a national letter of intent to compete in cross country for the Tallahassee Community College Eagles. As historical documents go, the letter wasn't in the same class as the Mayflower Compact, the Magna Carta, or the Declaration of Independence. Still, it's a significant scrap of paper in the history of running in the Big Bend, because Prisco is the first athlete ever to commit to running cross country at Tallahassee Community College. The Eagles are preparing to field a women's squad during the fall of 2016 under Coach Gary Droze, TCC's first team of harriers and its first cross-country coach.

Jeanna Prisco
Jeanna Prisco

Tallahassee Community College already has men's teams in baseball and basketball and women's teams in basketball and softball, but the school has never participated in either track or cross country. The two running sports used to be widespread in the Florida junior college system, with teams scattered across the state from Pensacola Junior College to Miami Dade Community College during the 1970s and 1980s. The track at Sante Fe College is a relic of that era. Since then, though, track and field disappeared entirely from Florida junior colleges. Cross country only fared slightly better. In 2014 only Chipola and Pasco-Hernando State participated in women's cross country, while no Florida College System Activities Association school fielded a men's team.


In 2015, though, South Florida State added a women's team under Coach Krista Schult. The newcomers concluded their inaugural season by placing 25th at the NJCAA championships, where Pasco-Hernando placed 31st. When the Tallahassee Community College Eagles join the mix in 2016, there will be four teams in Florida competing in women's cross country. Jeanna Prisco is the first runner to join the new Eagles team.

Jeanna Prisco
Jeanna Prisco ready to sign with TCC

"I've been running my whole life, but not competitively," said Prisco. "I started running competitively my senior year."


That was Prisco's senior year at Wakulla High School, where she raced with the school's cross country team. Prisco ran as high as fourth on the team that season, a season that saw the Wakulla girls place twentieth in the State Final. After graduating from high school, Prisco entered Tallahassee Community College while continuing to race on the roads both in her hometown of Sopchoppy and as far afield as South Georgia, and in distances up to the half marathon. Prisco has run both the Bainbridge Half Marathon and Tallahassee's Tails and Trail Half Marathon, which could be important because the NJCAA follows up its cross country national championship meet a week later with a half marathon national championship. This year the This year's NJCAA cross country championships is slated for 12 November 2016 on the Prairie Hills Golf Course in El Dorado, Kansas while the half marathon championship will take place on 19 November 2016 on the Hugh Brannon Backcountry Trail in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Jeanna Prisco
Wakulla Cross Country Love

In the more immediate future, though, Prisco will be training for the upcoming season. "I'll be running with [Wakulla High's] Coach Hoover and intervals with Coach Droze and running on my own. I don't plan to compete in any races this summer."


And beyond that?


"I'm going to keep running," said Prisco. "I plan to do it for the rest of my life."


There are also appears to be a future for men's cross country at Tallahassee Community College.


"I'm very hopeful that maybe even within a year we'll be able to add a male team," said Rob Chaney, Tallahassee Community College Athletic Director.


That's something for all prep runners in the Big Bend to keep in mind.


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