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Grey, Soto Win At SAC

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By LARRY BUGG

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 8, 2008

DADE CITY - Ariel Grey and Jessica Furst were having a friendly chat during a pleasant day at the office Saturday morning.

Grey, a sophomore at Wiregrass Ranch, and Furst, a junior at Wesley Chapel, are friends who both were trying to win the girls Sunshine Athletic Conference cross country meet at Withlacoochee River Park.

Unlike in some sports, there was no trash talking or attempts to intimidate. Grey and Furst were talking about how to navigate the hills around the course.

Grey won the race with a time of 19 minutes, 32 seconds, giving her a second consecutive conference title. Furst finished third after Mitchell's Kelli Martin slipped in to finish second. Martin finished in 19:46, while Furst, the runner-up last season, came in at 19:50.

Grey's Wiregrass Ranch girls won the team title with 39 points. Land O' Lakes was second with 47.

"Me and Jessica worked together," Grey said. "We're friends, so I was helping her out, telling her where the hills were. I broke off. My go-for time was to get under 19:40, and I did it. This second SAC title feels very good. ... I want to keep it going for four years straight."

Just as elated was Wiregrass coach Don Howard.

"I'm proud of her. She set a personal record," Howard said. "It's not a fast course out here. We had five PRs out there. I am very proud of them. They were all under 21 minutes, which is what we wanted."
Furst wasn't that impressed with the hills, since she used to run in the mountains of Idaho before moving to Florida more than a year ago.

"I felt good about taking third," Furst said. "Me and Ariel were there most of the way. She told me when there was a hill coming up. To me, they were bumps. My time was 19:50, almost my PR."

Ridgewood's girls and boys were both fourth, and their coach liked what he saw.

"The girls have really come on," Rams coach J.D. Baker said. "No one expected them to do what they have done. We did well. I was very impressed with their performance. Our top seven boys were under 19 minutes, which is good. For the boys, Tyler Camacho was third 16:52. I think almost everybody set personal records. Mitchell always gets us."

The Mitchell boys were on Saturday. The Mitchell girls were fifth, and the boys were third in the conference meet.

"The boys had 100 percent lifetime personal records," Mitchell coach Jeff Leavey said. "They worked very hard to get to this position, and they ran very well. Kelli has been working very hard. She's learning how to race, and today she raced. She ended up second, and I was a little surprised she didn't win."

Land O' Lakes senior Felix Soto surprised no one by winning his third SAC title. He said the course was "rough," but he won in 16:08. Teammate Matt Schwartz was second in 16:45.

Soto didn't use a lot of strategy, and he cheered on his team as it narrowly took the team title.

"I knew I was a favorite to win, and I was just going to run my race," Soto said. "Schwartz finishing second, that's a big help."

Schwartz, the No. 2 Gators runner, did his part to keep the title with the Gators.

"I'm more of a kicker," Schwartz said. "I got into it the last mile. I was in about sixth place when I made my move."

The Gators needed the performances from Soto and Schwartz, as Land O' Lakes edged Wiregrass Ranch 53-54 for its fourth consecutive title.

RESULTS

SUNSHINE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY MEET

Girls Team Scores

Wiregrass Ranch 39, Land O' Lakes 47, Gulf 92, Ridgewood 107, Mitchell 114, Pasco 119, Sunlake, River Ridge 198.

Girls Top 10 Individuals

1. Ariel Grey, Wiregrass Ranch, 19:32; 2. Kelli Martin, Mitchell, 19:46; 3. Jessica Furst, Wesley Chapel 19:50; 4. Alyssa Brandt, Land O' Lakes 19:55; 5. Nicolle Forcier, Land O' Lakes 20:06; 6. Megan Ibison, Wiregrass Ranch 20:07; 7. Renae Forsch, Land O' Lakes 20:18; 8. Leeann Eble, Pasco 20:30; 9. Kelsey Sturman, Wiregrass Ranch 20:34; 10. Jillian Browne, Ridgewood 20:46.

Boys Team Scores

Land O' Lakes 53, Wiregrass Ranch 54, Mitchell 97, Ridgewood 102, Sunlake 111, Gulf 129, Pasco 152, River Ridge 234, Wesley Chapel 265.

Boys Top 10 Individuals

1. Felix Soto, Land O' Lakes 16:08; 2. Matt Schwartz, Land O' Lakes 16:45; 3. Tyler Camacho, Ridgewood 16:52; 4. Kenneth Fessell, Sunlake 16:53; 5. Ryan Pulsifer, Wiregrass Ranch 16:56; 6. Sebastian Ruiz, Mitchell 16:59; 7. Mason Chilmonczyk, Ridgewood 17:00; 8. Jake Morken, Land O' Lakes 17:03; 9. Anthony Flourde, Pasco 17:14; 10. John Davis, Wiregrass Ranch 17:17.

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