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Ennis Kept Meet Running Smoothly

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By JEFFREY JONES, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 4, 2007

The inaugural Southern Stars meet showcased some of the best talent in the Southeast, with local boys team Jesuit edging Jacksonville Bishop Kenny for its third straight victory of the season.

The event went smoothly, which was extremely pleasing to meet director Bob Ennis, who with the help of host Leto and other Bay area high school coaches, successfully put on one of the largest cross country meets in the state.

'I give full credit to the volunteers. To get that many people in the park, and get 16 races done within six hours is just great,' Ennis said. 'That's the beauty of the whole thing, because it's a real team effort.'

'I don't know how many other communities could get all their coaches together to put something on like this.'

Approximately 170 schools participated in the meet, which consisted of 16 events ranging from JV team competition to the featured Ferman Stars boys and girls varsity race, and concluding with a men's and women's open race.

According to Ennis, the festival-type atmosphere was a welcome change for the runners, especially in a sport that might not get the same publicity as some other high school sports.

'The Southern Stars gives a lot of teams in the county who never experienced big-time cross country to have it in their own back yard,' Ennis said. 'It was bigger than the state meet with the number of participants that came.

'That makes it special for the athletes, with all the hard work they put in, being in a venue like this. It kind of puts them on stage.'

The feedback from the races has been positive, and numerous requests have been made for Ennis and friends to hold a similar meet next year.

Ennis is the former coach of the Leto boys cross country team, which won seven state titles during his tenure there. Ennis, now retired, still contributes at events such as the Southern Stars.

PARRISH LEADS CHIEFS: Jesuit's Connor Revord was the top finisher for the county in the featured race (15:38), finishing 11 seconds behind Tallahassee Leon's Joseph Franklin, who placed first (15:27).

Chamberlain's Mark Parrish also finished in the top 10, coming in seventh for the Chiefs in 16:06.

Parrish is only a sophomore, but already has established himself as one of the county's best runners. As a result of Parrish's solid finish in Saturday's race, the Chiefs placed 18th against some of the best competition in the state, with only local teams Jesuit (first) and Plant (14th) having a higher finish.

Parrish has moved up the ranks quickly to become Chamberlain's No. 1 runner, and that can be attributed to his penchant for hard work and training, Coach Bill Strack said.

FLORIDA RUNNERS RACE: The eighth annual flrunners.com Invitational will be held this weekend at Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville.

The two-day event will include high school, middle school and college teams from around the state.

Some of the Hillsborough County elite teams participating in the race are Jesuit, Berkeley Prep, Sickles, Wharton and Chamberlain.

For more information, visit flrunners.com, which contains a link to the meet's home page.

For more cross country notes, go to TBO.com, Keyword: Preps.

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