- December 27, 2024
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Mainland's Jonas Pierce, left, Caleb Shealy, right, and Cole Bowman, rear, have fun during warmups for their event at the Pirate Cross Country Relays. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Runners at the starting line at the preseason Pirate Cross County Relays. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The preseason Pirate Cross Country Relays on Saturday, Aug. 21 at Matanzas High School had the feel of a track a meet.
Many runners ran in more than one race. And they carried a baton.
"This was a pretty unique experience," said Matanzas senior Ethan Drost. "It felt kind of weird to hold a baton during a cross country race."
Nine schools participated in the meet, which had a total of nine 5-kilometer races. There were three-person relays and two-person relays with races for boys, girls and mixed teams.
In the three-person relays each runner ran about a mile before handing off their batons. The segments were about a mile-and-a-half for the two-person relays.
Runners that finished third or better in their events took home award batons.
Participating schools included Orange City University, Martin County, Lakeland George Jenkins, Belmont Academy, Father Lopez, Matanzas, Mainland, St. Augustine and First Baptist Christian Academy.
Local results (top team finish in each event):
Matanzas
Two-person boys: Second place: Hunter Smith and Zach Spooner, 16:52.
Three-person mixed: Third place: Hunter Smith, Zach Spooner, Karley Eggers, 18:03.
Three-person boys: Third place: Ethan Drost, Nick Hyatt, Josh Sepe, 17:48.
Two-person girls: Sixth place: Lauran Marshall, Mariah Mills, 21:16.
Two-person mixed: Fifth place: Sierra Howard, Gavin Winfree, 22:48.
Three-person girls: Seventh place: Maria Phillips, Alfina Abdhrakhmanova, Karajah McCoy, 24:07.
Father Lopez
Three-person girls: Second place: Allison Peck, Kylie, Moylan, Angelina Stabile, 22:44.
Two-person girls: Fifth place: Mary Peck, Julia Slayne, 20:35.
Two-person boys: Fifth place: Andrew Gazzoli, Talen Spires, 17:41.
Mainland
Two-person boys: Eighth place: Joey Short, Cole Bowman, 18:17.
Two-person mixed: Seventh place: Joey Short, Hannah Gilbert, 26:28.
First Baptist Christian Academy
Two-person boys: Ninth place: Peter Hopfe, Chris Murdock, 18:27.
Three-person girls: Tenth place: Emilia DiMillo, Rylin Goff, Gracie Guisbert, 24:45.
