TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Jenkins Gets Past LOL At Meet

ADVERTISEMENT

By LARRY BUGG Tribune correspondent

Published: October 15, 2007

It took a state-ranked team to beat the state-ranked Land O' Lakes boys cross country team Saturday.
Class 3A ninth-ranked Lakeland George Jenkins compiled 50 points to beat the 10th-ranked Gators, who had 80. They were running at Lakeland's Church Without Walls and there were 30 teams competing.

This time, Matt Schwartz was the top Gators runner. Normally the No. 2 runner, Schwartz finished fifth with a 17:13 time. Junior Felix Soto, who normally is the top runner, came in sixth in 17:14.

Jake Proudfoot was ninth with a 17:24 and Thomas Cook 28th (18:09).

It was the first time this year all seven Gators runners finished in less than 19 minutes.

Ridgewood's Steven Landreth came in 12th. The Rams were sixth, while Wesley Chapel was 14th.

Land O' Lakes coach Kris Keppel said the temperature (72 degrees) was cooler than in recent times.

'It wasn't a tough course,' Keppel said. 'The runners were tentative. They had no history. The winning girls time was in the 19s. I think Felix would have been up there if he was 100 percent.

'Soto has a sore right knee. He will take a few days off to prepare for the Sunshine Athletic Conference Friday at Starkey Park.'

Hendrix Lafontant was 33rd with an 18:25 and Jake Morken was 34th, also with an 18:25. Both freshmen had personal records.

'They are both first-year runners and they have exceeded my expectations,' Keppel said. 'They both dropped their times by 20 seconds. Our two freshmen both kind of earned fifth spot for us. It keeps everybody pushing each other. It may have taken some pressure away from Kevin Engle.'

The Gator girls were 14th out of 18 teams, but were missing two key runners. Katherine Thompson, the normal No. 2 runner, and Jennifer Romero were on personal trips.

Renea Porsch was 15th with a 21:45, Morgan Keppel 28th (22:45), Leah Stanton 88th (26:09), Ana Duque 93rd (26:42) and Kelly Zelaznik 128th (30:57).

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT