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Gasparilla Cup Will Provide A True Test For Hillsborough Schools

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By JEFFREY JONES, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 11, 2007

The Hillsborough County cross country championships, officially called the Gasparilla Cup, will be held Wednesday night at Lake Park in Tampa and will feature both public and private schools vying for the chance to be anointed as one of the top teams in Tampa.

The cross country version of the county championship is unique, according to meet director Ladd Baldwin, because unlike most other high school sports, all the teams will be able to run simultaneously rather than at different locations.

'The Gasparilla Cup is a true county championship,' Baldwin said. 'All the schools can come together in one big meet representing the area.'

The girls varsity race will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the boys at 6. A non-scored junior varsity race will be the last scheduled event of the evening at 6:30.

The upcoming meet will be the last time local schools will be able to face each other before district and region competition begins in approximately two weeks.

According to Baldwin, the race could provide more insight into how well the county's teams actually match up as competition becomes more intense.

'A local team could win the state championship in 3A, and another win the title in 4A, and someone might say 'Well, which one was better?'' Baldwin said. 'This gives the teams a chance to run against each other.'

TIGERS KEEP ROLLING: Jesuit won its fourth straight meet at the flrunners.com Invitational in Titusville. The Tigers kept their streak alive by winning the featured event, the McDonald's Boys Race of Champions, with 129 points.

Connor Revord finished ninth for Jesuit at 16:10, and Jordan Schilit was 22nd at 16:42.

Sickles' Derek Wehunt, who did not run in a major race at the Southern Stars meet, took a wrong turn while leading the race but managed to get back on course to finish fourth in the Champions race in 15:59, the best showing of any area runner. Wehunt's teammate, Ciprian Mejia, finished 14th at 16:32 to help the Gryphons place seventh in the meet (252 points).

Chamberlain finished 12th in the Champions race with a score of 319.

The Newsome boys elected to run in the large school race and finished second with behind the superb running of Keegan Bixler, who placed fourth in 16:51, and junior Kyle Pruner, who finished 21st at 17:42.

The Newsome girls also finished well in the large school race, placing third with 76 points, and were led by Sydney Coates (seventh, 20:50), Brooke McEver (11th, 21:04) and Janey Martin (12th, 21:08).

The Wharton girls finished first in the Track Shack Invitational Division with 92 points. The Wildcats were led by Katrina Skinner, who took first at 19:06, and sister Kathia Skinner, coming in fourth at 20:07.

BERKELEY MAKING STRIDES: Berkeley Prep also placed well last weekend in Titusville. A Class 1A squad, Prep's boys finished a respectable 14th place (342 points) in the Race of Champions, with No. 1 runner Richard Blake finishing seventh in 16:07.

'The guys certainly didn't run at their best, but we were running for the third week in a row, and I think some of the guys were tired,' Coach Eileen Daly said. 'Strategy-wise we did better, they got out a little faster and got into the mix of things.'

Despite the fatigue, the race was Blake's best to date, according to Daly. The senior actually finished ahead of Jesuit's Revord (ninth), something he hasn't done since last year's state finals.

'Richard is one of those guys that everything starts to click towards the end of the season,' Daly said. 'As he's been running more, his memory is refreshed, and he's back into the groove.'

Berkeley's girls also did well at the flrunners.com Invitational, placing 14th with 313 points in the Dixie Crossroads Race of Champions.

The Bucs were led again by Olivia D'Angelo (19:57) and Page Price (19:58) who finished 32nd and 33rd, respectively.

'Olivia and Page are really pacing off each other and working together, which is really what you want your runners to do, by bring each other along, but not holding each other back,' Daly said.

KING INVITATIONAL: The King Invitational will be held today at King High, with JV races beginning at 5:30 p.m., the varsity girls at 6 and concluding with the boys varsity at 6:30.

There will be 16 teams attending the meet: Armwood, Blake, Bloomingdale, Brandon, Chamberlain, East Bay, Freedom, King, Lennard, Middleton, Newsome, Riverview, Spoto, Tampa Bay Tech, Tampa Prep and Wharton.

The course will start behind King's home bleachers.

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