Week one for the 2015 Florida cross country season is in the books. Teams from around the state officially toed the line on “Opening Saturday”, and have given us our first look at what we can expect to see this season. Below we analyze the implications that some of these races might present come November.

Deland Invitational

Girls

Winter Park, Ranked 4th in the SE by DyeStat, made a strong debut winning the meet with a low 18 pts. They were led by Sophomore sensation Rafaella Gibbons, who won the race with with a quick 18:13 for 5k. The Lady Wildcats placed five in the top seven and seven in the top fifteen.  Winter Park, looks to be the early favorite for both the individual and team state titles this November. Also running well was 9th grader, Rebecca Clark Of Mount Dora Christian. Clark placed 2nd overall with a time of FL#2 18:24.

Boys

The Winter Springs boys won the race with 37 points, 24 better than second place Winter Park. The top individual was Dr. Phillips’ Jean D’Haiti who ran 16:48 for the win. Using times as the only measuring stick, Winter Springs and Winter Park will have a lot of work to do if they hope to overtake Lyman this November as the top school in 4A.

Results Here

Wickham Park Jamboree

Girls

A star was born on Saturday as Freshman Nicole Matysik of Key West High School won her first high school meet in a time of 19:21.

See Nicole’s post race interview here

Placing 2nd to Matysik was Lauren Archer of Ransom Everglades, who finished a second behind in a time of 19:21. Scoring the race, it was Satellite taking the title by placing 5 in the top 9, with a low 29 points. In second place on the girls side were the ladies of Ransom Everglades scoring 47 points.

Boys

Brandon Marquez won the boys race by 46 seconds with a time of 15:48. This is likely the only time we’ll see Brandon race before Foot Locker South as he has been running unattached from the Florida High School system for the last 2 years. In the team race we saw the Satellite boys take top honors scoring 39 points.

Note
The results by the teams from Satellite do not come without controversy as many of their top runners followed Coach Butler when he departed Holy Trinity.   More Here

According to Coach Butler, 3 of his top 5 boys and 4 of his top 6 girls will have to sit out from this year’s postseason. Luckily for Satellite, many of these kids will be returning in 2016 and should help the Scorpions compete for podium finishes on both sides.

The Satellite High School Athletic Director, Linda Anderson,  had this to say about the situation.

“ALL OF THE STUDENTS TRANSFERRING MAY COMPETE AT THE VARSITY LEVEL REGULAR SEASON MEETS BUT MAY NOT COMPETE IN RACES WHERE HOLY TRINITY IS ENTERED.

THREE OF THE TRANSFER STUDENTS MAY ALSO  COMPETE IN POST SEASON DUE TO EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES REGARDING THEIR CASES.

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT SEASON WITH ALL OF OUR RUNNERS.”

Results Here

Race Footage Here  Girls | Boys

Spikes and Spurs Invitational

Girls

Daniela Urzua of Lake Mary won the girls title by almost 50 seconds with a time of 18:41. After running 18:44 last week at the Mike Gibson Summertime Run, it is becoming apparent that Urzua will be challenging Rafaella Gibbons for the top 4A honors in November. We will get to see a preview of this rivalry as both Lake Mary and Winter Park are scheduled to compete at the Overbay-Monte Carlo Invitational in 3 weeks.

The top Florida girls team at the Spikes and Spurs invitational was the Holy Trinity Tigers. They placed second overall to West Forsyth of Georgia. Based off the times and placements, the Lady Tigers should have a good shot at challenging Oak Hall for the 1A team title this November.

Boys

The top Florida finisher was Jonathan Jackson, of Nease, placing third with a time of 16:17. The top Florida team in this race was Bartram Trail who placed 2nd overall with a score of 103 points, 30 points better than that of 3rd Place Vanguard High School. Both Bartram and Vanguard will be looking to challenge Creekside, Chiles, and Belen Jesuit  for a 3A state team title this November.

Results Here

Park Vista Cobra Country Invitational

Boys
In the boy’s race it was Joshua Collins of Belen Jesuit who won with a time of 16:01. The boys took the top 3 spots and won the team race with a low 21 points. Belen will be looking to reclaim their place at the top of the 3A podium after placing 3rd in 2014.  They have been a perennial powerhouse, winning 4 of the last 5 state team titles.

Trinity Prep Cross Country Invitational

Boys

Steven Cross of Merritt Island officially started his season with a win in 16:13. Behind Cross were a strong contingent of boys from Trinity Prep. Trinity Prep took five of the top six places and seven of the top ten.

Results Here

Ridgeview Bob Hans Invitational

Girls

Sophomore, Bridget Morse of Columbia High School won the girls race in a time of 19:15. In the team race, it was Ponte Vedra High School that won, scoring 36 points. Ponte Vedra was lead up front by Claire Moritz who placed 2nd with a time of 19:21 and Abby Reimer who placed 3rd with a time of 19:24. If these ladies can find a way to close the gap from 1-5, they should have a legitimate shot at placing top 5 in 3A.

Boys

The boys race was won by Blake Lowery of Gainesville in a time of 16:25. Lowery’s teammate, Logan Locascio placed 2nd with a time of 16:33. Bolles won the boys team title, placing their top seven in the top 12 positions with a score of 31 points. With their top 7 under 18:00, the boys from Bolles could be looking for a top 3 state finish this november.

Results Here

For the latest coverage from around the state, make sure to check out DyeStatFL.com.