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Wehunt, Gryphons Finish Short Of Goal

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By JEFFREY JONES, Tribune correspondent

Published: November 18, 2007

DADE CITY - The goal all season long for the Sickles boys was to finish in the top 10 at the state finals.

Unfortunately for the Gryphons they finished just short of their objective, finishing in 11th place with 268 points, the best showing amid all Bay area teams in Class 4A.

Derek Wehunt, the top runner for Sickles, started off strong but lost his lead and wound up placing sixth in 16:05 for the Gryphons.

Although the race didn't go to plan, Wehunt tried to overlook the negatives and put his season into perspective.

"I can't be disappointed, because I wanted to finish in the top 10 at state," Wehunt said. "I also shaved off 30 seconds off my time from last year's meet."

Wehunt, who finished in 21st place at the 2006 state finals, believes that he could have performed better if he wasn't bothered by the mental aspect of such a huge race, an issue the junior admits he must work on before running in future events.

"When I'm alone in a race, like I was at districts, it relieves pressure and I can do my own thing," Wehunt said. "But here, I get nervous when I hear other people cheering for the runners around me, and I let it get to me."

Ciprian Mejia, who finished ahead of Wehunt in the 2006 finals (11th place), helped the Gryphons' cause with a 17th-place finish in 16:23.
Mejia was satisfied with his performance, as this was the last time he will run for the school.

"I have a bad habit of running out of gas at the end of the race," Mejia said. "I did what I wanted to do today, and pushed at the end.

"It was a good race, and good closure to my senior year."

Dan, the brother of Derek Wehunt, finished 61st for the Gryphons in 16:57, while his sister, Emily, helped the Gryphon girls to a 19th-place finish (485 points), finishing 94th in 21:22.

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