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Jesuit, AHN, TC Advance To State

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By MATTHEW POSTINS, Tribune correspondent

Published: November 10, 2007

ESTERO - For Jesuit and the Academy of the Holy Names, it was more of the same. For Tampa Catholic, it was something entirely new.

While Jesuit's boys and AHN's girls took their usual place among the top 6 at the Region 2A-3 cross country meet at Estero Community Park on Friday morning, Tampa Catholic's girls came in fifth to claim their first state berth under second-year coach Andy Mathews.

TC had two runners - Meghan Sullivan (21:07.13) and Jaqueline Fricia (21:15.06) - finish in the top 15, which would have secured them state berths even if the team didn't qualify. But with five runners among the top 44, TC qualified by almost 40 points.

"We thought we could do it. At district we ran well and a bunch of personal records," said Sullivan, who went to state last year as an individual. "We figured if we could run that well today, we had a chance. The thought occurred to us."
Mathews left Jesuit two years ago to take over the cross country programs at TC and seemed almost as excited as his runners. The girls had just five runners last year, just enough to make a team. This year they had 11.

"We're more suited to advance to state this year," Mathews said. "We don't go to state in many things, so this is pretty exciting."

Holy Names' top finisher, Stephanie Socias, finished with a 21:14.02, good for 10th place. As a team, AHN finished third with 117 points and an average time of 22:22.28. Coach Ray Rodriguez had hoped for a second-place finish for his team, which will make its third straight state appearance under his guidance next week.

"I was pleased," Rodriguez said. "Naples was the team to beat and we kept up with them for the first half of the race."
Jesuit finished second, continuing its rivalry with Naples, which won the boys title with 49 points. Jesuit, the defending regional champion, scored 65.
Jesuit coach Greg Maurin said his runners weren't as bunched together up front as they usually are. Additionally, one of his top five runners, Michael Gonzalez, did not race because of an illness.

"In cross country you earn your points at the back of the field," Maurin said.
Jesuit did have a regional champion, as Connor Revord cruised to his second straight individual championship. Revord ran a 16:27.43, a full 15 seconds ahead of second place. Jesuit also had Jordan Schilit (16:59.02) come in fourth place.

Naples came back to finish ahead of Jesuit at the state meet last year, where Jesuit finished fourth. And Revord had state on his mind as he ran his race Friday.

"I went into it thinking that it was good preparation for state and to take advantage of the hills to prepare for next week," Revord said.

In other boys action, Robinson missed a state berth by one place, finishing seventh with 231 points.

On the girls side, Clearwater Central Catholic's Domenica Owens (fifth, 20:23.59) and Robinson's Lexie Goldberger (12th, 21:19.36) both qualified for state as individuals.

Class 3A-3

ESTERO - Seminole - and siblings Christian and Katelyn Homme - had a historic morning at the 3A-Region 3 cross country championships at Estero Community Park on Friday.

For the first time in school history, Seminole swept the boys and girls regional team championships. A Homme led each team to victory, as Christian (boys) and Katelyn (girls) each won their first individual regional titles.

For Christian, going to state next week will be a repeat performance. This will be Seminole's fourth straight trip as a team. But Friday was the senior's first individual title.

Christian said he wanted to pull away from the field by the first mile and he did, finishing well ahead of second place at 16:32.

But he seemed more proud of his little sister, who carried over her district-winning performance to regional.

"I'm really proud of her," Christian said. "She's really improved this year."

Another sibling, senior Michael Homme, came in 19th with a time of 18:09.24.

Katelyn won the regional title with a 19:41.71. Her finish - plus the sixth-place finish of teammate Rachael Jones - proved key to what may have been the first regional title in the girls program's history, said Coach Bruce Calhoun.

Seminole had two top-10 finishers, as opposed to second place Fort Myers' one, leading Seminole's girls to a slim four-point margin of victory.

"She ran beautifully," Calhoun said of Katelyn. "There was some pretty good competition and she did everything right. Our kids ran as well as they could and they were able to pull it off.

"For the program, it's monumental because it's never happened before. As far as predicting what will happen at state, it doesn't mean anything."

Katelyn took the regional - and district crown - from a district rival, Tarpon Springs' Kailand Cosgrove, who came in fifth with a 20:27.64. She'll go to state next week, along with Katelyn, where they'll try to better their state finishes last year. Cosgrove was third, while Katelyn was 19th.

Cosgrove wasn't at full strength. She missed three days of training leading up to the race after falling ill. Doctors eventually diagnosed her on Thursday with bronchitis and strep throat and gave her a shot. She had no intention of missing the race, knowing that finishing in the top 15 was her only path to state.

She hopes she'll be able to give Katelyn a better race next week.

"She's Katelyn gotten a lot better this year," Cosgrove said. "She pushes me. I like having the both of us racing next to each other."

Northeast, led by Elyse Snyder's 13th-place finish, finished sixth to earn a trip to the girls state meet next week, as did Boca Ciega's Sara Allen, who came in 14th. Also, Northeast's Matthew C. Adkins qualified as an individual, coming in seventh place on the boys side.

Matthew Postins

Class 1A-3

LARGO - Berkeley Prep's Richard Blake won his second regional title, but the Buccaneers boys team finished one point behind Community School of Naples at Taylor Park, in its quest for a team title.

Blake went into the race knowing it would be a fierce battle with Community School of Naples' Kyle Carufe, but he held the lead for almost the entire race, winning in a time of 16:22.27. Last year, the Buccaneers finished second at state and he hopes his team will do one better this year.

Coach Eileen Daly said the Berkeley Prep team is "mentally prepared" for this season's competition and they have not permitted either overconfidence or fear to distract them from their goal to win.

Tampa Prep, Shorecrest Prep and Calvary Christian boys teams also advanced to next week's state championships.

Community School of Naples also won the girls team championship, finishing its five runners in the top 15 spots against a strong field.

Seventh-grader Hannah Palm from Keswick Christian finished sixth to lead the Crusaders to a fifth-place finish and a spot in the state meet.

Keswick Christian coach Lance Lipham is optimistic about his young team's ability to do well at state. Only one runner is in high school and they face a tough course next week. But after missing state last year, he said they have really pushed themselves and are hungry for a win.

Steven Otto

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