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Hillsborough Cross Country Season Opens With Trio Of Meets

TBO photo by Bill Ward

From the looks of Tuesday's results, Hillsborough's boys might be the most improved team in the county.

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By BILL WARD and JEFFREY JONES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2008

Updated: 09/16/2008 11:44 pm

TAMPA - Hillsborough County's 2008 high school cross country season began Tuesday evening with three invitational meets. And as usual for this time of year, the conditions were muggy, several teams decided to compete at less than full strength and many of the top individuals either sat out or didn't run all out.

At Al Lopez Park, Jesuit and Plant hosted the West Hillsborough Invitational. And those two schools were among those who ran their "B" teams in the boys' race. That has a lot to do with the fact the state-ranked Tigers and Panthers are slated to run Saturday at the Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville.

As a result, Sickles' boys had little trouble winning the team title with 29 points. And that was with the Gryphons' two stars, senior twins Derek and Dan Wehunt, holding back the first four kilometers of the 5k race. They, too, will be running in Gainesville.

The Wehunts' job Tuesday was to help pull along their Nos. 3-5 runners, Marc Deuce, Julian Gines and Jonathan Bermudez. Mission accomplished. Derek and Dan grabbed first and third place, respectively, DeJute took sixth, Gines seventh and Bermudez was 12th. Derek won in a relatively comfortable time of 17 minutes, 27 seconds.

Alonso standout Alec Vidmar was second in 17:50 and Dan Wehunt ran 17:53. The Wehunts said they're still adjusting to the loss of their longtime coach, Jim Zander, a volunteer who recently retired. But the Wehunts seemed encouraged by theF showing of their squad Tuesday.

"Some of these guys are running their first cross country race and others have dropped their PRs [personal records] by a minute or so," Dan Wehunt said.

"I think we can get those guys around 17-flat [minutes]," Derek said. "They train as hard as me and Dan do, they're dedicated and come out every day. They just need to learn how to race."

From the looks of Tuesday's results, Hillsborough's boys might be the most improved team in the county. Guided by second-year coach Andy Wood, the Terriers finished second to Sickles with 69 points, 21 ahead of Plant's "B" squad. Hillsborough was led by senior Michael Bettin and junior Kyle McKay, who were fourth and fifth, respectively.

All five of the Terriers' scorers were in the top 25.

Class 2A Robinson and coach Mark Altimari boasted three runners in the top 11 -- Bryan Garcia (eighth), Josh Epperson (10th) and Riley Parks (11th). Last season, the Knights finished one spot away from state qualification and are looking to return the finals this fall.

In the girls' meet, Plant coach Roy Harrison used the race to sort out who his varsity seven are. Leading the way was junior Kayla Kennedy, who recently hung up her club soccer boots to commit herself fulltime to running this fall. A district champion last fall, Kennedy won Tuesday's meet in 20:32 while teammate Lizzie Goodwin was second in 20:47.

With all five scorers in the top 20, the Panthers won with 46 points, 12 ahead of runner-up Sickles and 38 ahead of third-place Gaither.

Gaither boasted third-place Julissa Lopez (21:22), a track athlete running cross country for the first time and Sickles' Shelby Hudspith (21:28), another first-timer in the sport. Tampa Catholic's Meghan Sullivan, a former district champion in Class 2A as well as a ranked juniors tennis player, was fifth (21:28) and Hillsborough's Katherine Lutton was sixth.

At the Central Hillsborough Invitational hosted by King, Chamberlain's boys made a strong statement with a near-perfect winning score of 17 points. The Chiefs were led by junior star Mark Parrish, who covered the course comfortably in 17:32, followed by teammates Chase Nelson (second, 17:43), Max Delmonte (third, 17:58), Brad Nelson (fifth, 18:20) and Charles Toledo (sixth, 18:58).

Breaking up Chamberlain's chance at a perfect score of 15 was Armwood's Gilbert Vasquez, fourth in 18:05. He led the Hawks to second place with 57 points while Wharton, paced by seventh-place Gilbert Rodriguez, took third with 91.

In the girls' competition, Wharton won with 25 points – despite sitting out their top three runners. With Alyssa Franks, Erin Bailey and Shannon Meggs resting, Wharton was victorious using Brooke Foley (second, 21:36), Haley Gray (third), Abby Ritter (fifth), Ashley Vassell (seventh) and Jessica Murray (eighth).

Taking individual honors was King's Hilary White, who ran her home course in 21:05 and led her team to second place (54 points).

At the East Hillsborough Invitaional, Newsome's boys and girls teams got off to a good start by sweeping the meet at their home course in Lithia.

Under Coach Orlando Greene's advice, the Wolves tried to stay together in a pack and not overdue it on the opening race.

That being said, the Newsome girls seemed to pick up right where they left off last year with six runners finishing in the top ten, as the defending 3A regional champs claimed the top spot with18 points. That was a comfortable margin ahead of second place East Bay, which finished with 69.

"The girls did a very good job, I'm quite happy," Greene said. "Even though they were told to do a tempo run, their time were very good. We have a big race on Saturday, so we used this meet as a hard workout for the week, not to burn ourselves out. But (the girls) ended up being in front."

Leading the way for the Wolves in first place was Lindsay LeSavage at 21:41, followed by Rebecca Webster at 21:42 and Sydney Coates coming in third at 21:44.

"That's our strategy -- we try to run together except for the last 800. Then it's every man for himself," LeSavage said.

Even though she won, LeSavage (who also plays soccer at Newsome) wasn't sure how she would perform during the early meet.

"Beforehand, I was really nervous," LeSavage said. "You don't know what kind of shape you're going to be in."

Coates, who finished 26th in state last year, didn't run her hardest during this race, but not because she was nervous.

"I got a stress fracture during track, so I had to slowly get back in so I wouldn't hurt myself again."

Durant's standout female runner, sophomore Grace VanDeGrift, sat out the meet with a muscle strain, Cougars coach Mike Gursky said.

The Newsome boys also ran as a pack and took first place but the Wolves had to go to their sixth runner to break a tie with Brandon. Both schools scored 48 points but Newsome's No. 6 man beat Brandon's sixth man.

The top individual boys runner was Durant's John Mitchell, who broke away from the pack early and never looked back. Mitchell, last spring's Class 4A state track champion in the 1,600-meter run, finished in 17:10. Brandon's Louis Prado was second in 18:04.

"He ran a real hard, great race," Gursky said. "There wasn't a lot of people pushing him, but he still ran well."

According to Mitchell, he could have had an even better time if not for the hot conditions on Tueday night.

"The last mile, I cramped horribly, so I had to slow it down," Mitchell said. "Other than that, I think I had a good race and felt strong."

WEST HILLSBOROUGH INVITATIONAL

Girls
Team scores
1. Plant (P) 46, Sickles (S) 58; 3. Gaither (G) 84; 4. Academy of the Holy Names (AHN) 92; 5. Tampa Catholic (TC) 130; 6. Tampa Prep (TP) 153; 7. Alonso (A) 176; 8. Robinson (R) 239; 9. Berkeley Prep (BP) 245; 10. Leto (L) 286; Hillsborough (H) and Blake (Blk), no team scores.

Individuals (top 10)
1. Kayla Kennedy (P) 20:32; 2. Lizzie Goodwin (P) 20:47; 3. Julissa Lopez (G) 21:22; 4. Shelby Hudspith (S) 21:28; 5. Meghan Sullivan (TC) 21:29; 6. Katherine Lutton (H) 21:39; 7. Stephanie Choate (P) 21:41. 8. Jaqueline Friscia (TC) 21:46; 9. Selena Castillo (AHN) 21:56; 10. Caitlin Owens (S) 22:01.

Boys
Team scores
1. Sickles (S) 29; 2. Hillsborough (H) 69; 3. Plant (P) 90; 4. Robinson (R) 95; 5. Jesuit (Jes) 140; 6. Tampa Prep (TP) 151; 7. Alonso (Al) 208; 8. Leto (L) 223; 9. Gaither (G) 231; 10. Blake (Blk) 279; 11. Tampa Catholic (TC) 295; 12. Berkeley Prep (BP) 342.

Individuals (top 10)
1. Derek Wehunt (S) 17:27; 2. Alex Vidmar (Al) 17:50; 3. Dan Wehunt (S) 17:53; 4. Michael Bettin (H) 17:56; 5. Kyle McKay (H) 18:00; 6. Marc DeJute (S) 18:04; 7. Julian Gines (S) 18:06; 8. Bryan Garcia (R) 18:08; 9. Ryan Sappenfield (P) 18:12; 10. Josh Epperson (R) 18:17.

CENTRAL HILLSBOROUGH INVITATIONAL

Girls
Team scores
1. Wharton (W) 25; 2. King (K) 54; 3. Armwood (Arm) 99; 4. Freedom (F) 107; 5. Chamberlain (Ch) 108; 6. Tampa Bay Tech (TBT) 128; Middleton, no team score.

Individuals (top 10)
1. Hilary White (K) 21:05; 2. Brooke Foley (W) 21:36; 3. Haley Gray (W) 21:59; 4. Danielle Newsome (Arm) 22:12; 5. Abby Ritter (W) 22:14; 6. Dayna Cline (K) 22:33; 7. Ashley Vassell (W) 22:44; 8. Jessica Murray (W) 22:58; 9. Sofia Rattes (W) 23:37; 10. Jessica Wasserman (F) 23:50.

Boys
Team scores
1. Chamberlain (Ch) 17; 2. Armwood (Arm) 57; 3. Wharton (W) 91; 4. King (K) 99; 5. Freedom (F) 122; 6. Tampa Bay Tech (TBT) 162; Middleton, no team score.

Individuals (top 10)
1. Mark Parrish (Ch) 17:32; 2. Chase Nelson (Ch) 17:43; 3. Max Delmonte (Ch) 17:58; 4. Gilbert Vasquez (Arm) 18:05; 5. Brad Nelson (Ch) 18:20; 6. Charles Toledo (Ch) 18:58; 7. Gilbert Rodriguez (W) 19:07; 8. Mike Segrest (K) 19:15; 9. Alex Leinhauser (Ch) 19:19; Jermey Yencer (F) 19:30.

EAST HILLSBOROUGH INVITATIONAL

Girls
Team scores
1. Newsome (N) 18; 2. East Bay (EB) 69; 3. Bloomingdale (Blm) 110; 4. Brandon (Br) 175; 5. Durant (D) 175; 6. Plant City (PC) 176; 7. Riverview (Riv) 179; 8. Lennard (L) 233; 9. Seffner Christian (SC) 237.

Individuals (top 10)
1. Lindsay LeSavage (N) 21:41; 2. Rebecca Webster (N) 21:42; 3. Sydney Coates (N) 21:44; 4. Shelby Williams (Br) 21:56; 5. Shelby Boyle (N) 22:16; 6. Lauren Verbosky (EB) 22:26; 7. Miranda Peeler (N) 22:33; 8. Paok Rodriguez (Riv) 22:35; 9. Morgan Williams (EB) 22:45; 10. Olivia McClamma (Blm) 23:04.

Boys
Team scores
1. Newsome (N) 48; 2. Brandon (Br) 48; 3. East Bay (EB) 133; 4. Durant (D) 136; 5. Bloomingdale (Blm) 165; 6. Lennard (L) 236; 7. Seffner Christian (SC) 295; 8. Plant City (PC) 301; 9. Riverview (Riv) 330.

Individuals (top 10)
1. John Mitchell (D) 17:10; 2. Louis Prado (Br) 18:04; 3. Joey Sheppard (Blm) 18:41; 4. Michael Babinec (Riv) 18:41; 5. Ben Doxen (Br) 18:45; 6. Mike Zwijacz (N) 18:52; 7. Zack Talbot (EB) 18:58 8. Robbie Clites (Br) 19:05; 9. Keegan Bixler (N) 19:11; 10. Ethan Noel (N) 19:12.

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