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Castillo Runs To 5th Place

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By ANNABELLE TOMETICH

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 15, 2008

ESTERO - Last year, Selena Castillo was better known for her free-throw shooting ability than she was for her cross country speed.

Things have changed for the Academy of the Holy Names junior.

Castillo placed fifth at the Class 2A-Region 3 cross country meet at the Estero Community Park on Friday. Her time of 21 minutes, 6 seconds helped the Jaguars to a second-place team finish with 100 points.

"I've always played basketball, but this year I decided to come out and run with these guys and, well, things are turning out pretty good," Castillo said.

AHN finished 16 points behind regional champion Naples (84). Third-place Immokalee also totaled 100 team points, but AHN's No. 5 runner, Marisa Petrick, finished ahead of Immokalee's No. 5, giving the Jaguars the runner-up title.

Immokalee's Joane Pierre won the girls race, while Jesuit's Connor Revord and Jordan Schilit went 1-2 for the boys, helping the Tigers to their 11th regional title in the past 12 years. All five Jesuit runners finished in the top 15 for a team total of 44 points. Tigers alternates took the 17th and 22nd places.

"We kind of have a dynasty going," Revord said. "But we don't really call it that; we just want to go out and win."

Tampa Catholic's Meghan Sullivan placed fourth in 20:53, the best finish of any Tampa-area girl. The top 15 individuals and the top six teams advance to the 2A state meet in Dade City on Nov. 22.

Robinson's boys also advanced to the state meet by taking fifth place. It's the second trip to the state finals for the Knights in the past four years under coaches Raven Lewis and Mark Altimari. Robinson was led by 16th-place Bryan Garcia, who ran 17:35.

Hillsborough County's individual qualifiers included Tampa Catholic's Jacqueline Fricia (10th) and Robinson's Lexie Goldberger (15th).

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