Speedy South and Fleet Florida Sending Cross and Diaz to Nationals
- by Andy Warrener for DistancePreps.com - follow him on Twitter @jawarrener
Ideal conditions and a quick course helped Florida and South Region runners set sizzling times down at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, NC on Saturday. Weather conditions were ideal and the meet record of 14:28, set in 2012 by Virginia's Sean McGorty came under fire. Junior Andrew Hunter from Loudoun Valley, VA took down McGorty's state meet record in the weeks leading up to the 36th Annual Foot Locker South Regional and Hunter's dominant performance Saturday put McGorty's record in sight.
"We (Brandon Marquez and Carter Blunt) got through the first mile (of the race) at about 4:38 - 4:40 and by then Andrew (Hunter) was already out (in front)," Marquez, a junior from Timber Creek HS in Orlando, said.
Hunter stretched his lead at every vantage point and could be marked more than 20 seconds ahead of Marquez and Blunt, battling for second and third by the two mile mark.
Hunter did not need a challenge from Marquez or Blunt, he had last year's 16th-place, outside-looking-in finish fueled by a tackling of McGorty's state meet record a few weeks earlier as ample motivation. Hunter averaged a 4:42 mile pace and came burning down the final straightaway in 14:36, more than 18 seconds in front of the field but not quite enough to clip McGorty's 14:28.
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Marquez would lose his battle with Blunt and his dream of qualifying for Foot Locker eventually finishing 11th as Blunt of Texas claimed second in 14:54.
"This course is known for its start and I wanted to position myself at the start," Marquez said.
"I snuck into the lead pack going into that straightway and tucked into the top five."
However, Marquez would fade in the last 500m, saying he felt, "flat" and slipped from third all the way to 11th place. Marquez is the first alternate if any of the top 10 runners don't attend the national meet in San Diego on December 12.
Zach Long of Tennessee claimed third in 14:58, Ben Barrett of Oklahoma, the top returning South runner from last season's national meet, came in fourth at 14:58, Peter Seufer of Virginia grabbed fifth at 14:59, neck and neck with Anteneh Girma of Virgina at 14:59.
Virginia's Gannon Wilcutts was seventh in 15:01 and that helped seal the win for Team Virginia, who prevailed easily with 28 points to runner up Florida with 61. Tennessee was third with 72.
The Florida boys, Nick Diaz of Miami Sunset and Steven Cross of Merritt Island helped secure the runnerup finish for the Sunshine State by both coming across in 15:01. Cross took the eight spot coming off a runnerup finish at the Class 3A state meet in Tallahassee. Cross blasted almost 17 seconds of his personal record and set a new school record Saturday.
"I think that was the fastest first quarter I've ever ran," Cross said.
Diaz, running with a 100 degree fever at states claimed fourth in Class 4A but lit up the Foot Locker South meet, taking ninth and getting past his instate rival James Zentmeyer of Tampa Sickles (12th in 15:18). Nick also lowered his school record and PR by six seconds in the process, going 15:01.
"This was one of the hardest races I've ever ran in but I can't be any happier (with the result)," Diaz, a UF commit, said. "Coach (Alex Shaw) gave me a game plan and I just ran with it."
With three of the four region meets wrapped up, the South Region looks as strong as ever; even after losing 10 of the top 11 finishers from last year to graduation.
The girls race saw an even closer brush with the meet record, a record held for a decade by Aurora Scott. Virginia state record holder Libby Davidson and Texas state champion Devin Clark were expected to push the race times. Fellow Texan Paige Hofstad, who topped Clark at the NXN South meet the weekend before, got out in front of the lead back through the early going. It didn't take long before North Carolina's Ryen Frazier clipped her and began to put ground between her and the rest of the lead pack.
At about the two-mile mark, Frazier maintained control and extended her lead over Hofstad with Hofstad protecting a moderate lead on a pack of four runners that included Davidson, Kentucky state champion and returning Foot Locker finalist Gabriella Karas, and Weini Kelati.
Frazier continued to pound out earth and her race to the finish line was uncontested as she crossed in 16:27, just a second off of the decade-old meet record. Hofstad held on for second but 20 seconds behind Frazier in 16:47. Six seconds later, Karas came in third at 16:53 with Davidson, just a sophomore, a few seconds behind her in fourth at 16:56. The top four girls all came in under 17 minutes. Kelati finished fifth just over 17 minutes at 17:04. Ciara Donohue of Virginia finished sixth in 17:14 out-kicking Georgia's Emma Grace Hurley and North Carolina's Kathleen Mansure by one second. Logan Morris of South Carolina and Abby Gray of Texas grabbed the final two qualifying spots. The state of Virginia got the edge it needed with Davidson, Kelati and Donohue's (4th, 5th, and 6th respectively) finishes to push Virginia past Texas 60 to 66. Georgia was a close third at 71, just one point ahead of fourth-place North Carolina.
Seeding times look eye popping for the South Region but the course at McAlpine Park is notoriously fast, deceptively fast.
South Region boys runners logged some of the best times last season only to tumble to last place at the national meet. Aaron Templeton of Knoxville, TN ran a blistering 14:36 to win the South Region in 2013, only to settle into ninth at nationals in 15:29. The west region are defending national champions and they return four of their five top finishers from last year should they run and qualify once again.
The South girls will look to improve on their 3rd place finish from Nationals in 2013.
Nationals are December 13th at Balboa Park in San Diego, CA.
