- October 31, 2024
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There was little doubt that the Flagler Palm Coast girls cross country team was going to win the Five Star Conference championship for the third year in a row. But coach David Halliday wanted to make sure, and he wanted to remind his runners along the way that cross country is a team sport.
The Bulldogs’ girls and boys teams each won a third straight title at the Five Star championships Oct. 26 at New Smyrna Beach. FPC senior Braedyn Wormeck won the boys’ individual title for the second straight year.
Spruce Creek’s Mackenzie Roy won the girls’ race with a personal record time of 17 minutes, 3.3 seconds. Only four girls have run a faster 5K time at a state meet. Her twin sister, Arianna Roy, was second at 18:19.4, a time that would have won Class 4A the state championship last season.
It was a given that the Roy sisters were going to place first and second. Halliday wanted to make sure the Bulldogs ran in a pack ahead of the other Spruce Creek runners.
“We were trying to figure out a way to get our fifth, sixth girls up a little closer to make sure Spruce Creek had no way of stealing the meet,” Halladay said.
So the Bulldogs’ strategy was to have their whole team run with Creek’s No. 3 runner, Bella Niewald, up to the two-mile point.
“Basically, we had seven girls running behind (Niewald) for 2 miles and then they took off,” Halliday said.
University’s Hannah Judge placed third in 18:34.4, but FPC took the next six spots: Freshman Peyton Cerasi (fourth, 18:38.8), junior Arianna Slaughter (fifth, 19.49.6) and seniors Madison Lagard (sixth, 19:59.0), Cassidy De Young (seventh, 20:07.7), Isabella Tarsitano (eighth, 20:08.2) and Taylor Novak (ninth, 20:20.5). Sophomore Anna Grigoruk placed 11th in 20:44, one spot behind Niewald.
The FPC girls placed first with 30 points, while Creek was a distant second with 45 points.
Halliday’s runners were skeptical of the strategy. It seemed counter-intuitive to run at a slower pace than what they were used to for two-thirds of a race.
“I said, ‘I promise you this is going to work,’” Halliday said. “The girls never had done anything like that before. But they realized they were in great shape, pacing with (Niewald) and going slower but under control. As a result they gained confidence in their coaches and they saw that not every race has to be for a PR. Their confidence and camaraderie grew on Saturday."
And Lagard, Tarsitano, Novak and Girgoruk did run PRs, while Cerasi was just 3.8 seconds off the school-record time she set a week earlier at the fast New World course in Jacksonville.
Wormeck ran his fastest time of the season at 16:31.1, beating New Smyrna Beach’s Sam McDuffie by four seconds.
Wormeck had a late start this season. He injured his hip and lower back in track season and was unable to run for 10 weeks. Lately he’s been getting his confidence back that he can finish strong, Halliday said. But comebacks are nothing new for the senior who two years ago ran in the state meet six weeks after suffering a burst appendix.
FPC’s Jevin Luna was third at 16:38.2. Seabreze’s Hunter Shuler ran a personal-record 16:50.4 to place sixth.
FPC’s Brant Tarsitano (17:09.8) and freshman Owen Stackpole (17:19.4) also recorded PR’s to place ninth and 10th. Freshman Mateo Almeida (17:57.1) was 15th.
The Bulldogs now head to the postseason with the District 1-4A meet Nov. 2 at Bartram Trail. The FPC girls are ranked third in their district and region and fifth in the state. The boys are ranked eighth in their region.
Matanzas swimmers broke four school records at the regional meet on Oct. 29. Teddy Vanderbilt and Keaton Lasicki broke school records in the 100-yard backstroke and the 100 breaststroke for the second week in a row.
Vanderbilt, Lasicki, Leo Peters and Oliver Morris also set school marks in the 100 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay.
Matanzas senior golfer Zoe Alred qualified individually for regionals on Oct. 29 at the district tournament at Ocala Golf Club. The Pirates placed third, one spot out of qualifying position.
At the boys district tournament on Oct. 28 at Ocala Golf Club, Matanzas placed fifth, while FPC was sixth. Jacob Roster led the Pirates with an 81 for 12th plae. Trevor Challice shot 85 for 16th place. For FPC, Caleb Zarraonandia shot an 84 for 15th place and Adam Kleinfelder shot 85 to land in 16th place.
Email Brent Woronoff at [email protected]
