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Soto Wins Again At Zak Lucas Invitational CC

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By LARRY BUGG

Tribune Correspondent

Published: September 21, 2008

Updated: 09/21/2008 05:21 pm

BROOKSVILLE - It's no great shock when Land O' Lakes High senior Felix Soto wins another cross country race.
The Gator has dominated the prep distance scene for the past three years.

No stop the presses news here.

Soto won the boys race Saturday at the Sixth Annual Zak Lucas Invitational Saturday morning at Hernando High School. Soto defended his title from last year with a time of 16:01.

"I think he is pretty happy with it,'' said Land O' Lakes High coach Kris Keppel. "If he had someone pushing him, I think he would have run in the 15:40s. That's okay. He ran pretty even, didn't go out too fast. I am proud of the boys and girls. We were hoping to beat them (Wiregrass Ranch girls).

Hopefully, that will be down the road. Alyssa Brandt (fourth, 20:11) ran a great race. She felt better today. She was nervous. We did well."

There was a cloud cover and the runners enjoyed cooler conditions than normal for a September race.
The Tampa Wharton High boys and girls cross country teams took the cross country team titles.

Wharton's boys squeezed out a one-point victory over Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch 92-93. Land O' Lakes High was tied for second but ended up third on a tiebreaker.

"It was great competition,'' said Wiregrass Ranch coach Chris Loth. "It's great to be in the same sentence with Wharton and Land O' Lakes. At a major invitational, it is our best finish in program history. Ryan Pulsifer ran a really smart race. We thought he could get third. He held his ground and had a personal record in doing so. It's a fast course. The weather was uncharacteristically cool for September."

Land O' Lakes High coach Kris Keppel said his team was missing number two runner, Matt Schwartz, and number four, Tommy Cook. Keppel thought he could have won with those two runners present.
Wharton's girls won the team title with 41. Ocala Vanguard was second with 76 points while Wiregrass Ranch was third with 100 points.

"I'm real proud of the way they ran,'' said Wiregrass Ranch coach Don Howard. "Ariel (Grey) and Megan Ibison ran real well."

Wharton's John Greliner was second with a 16:41. Wiregrass Ranch sophomore Ryan Pulsifer was third with a time of 16:55. Land O' Lakes runner Jake Morken was fourth with a time of 16:56.

"I ran the best race I could,'' said Pulsifer. "I paced myself off Felix a little bit at first. The humidity was awesome. It was a perfect weather race. I love that hill because that's where I pick it up. Our coaches trained us very well for this course."

Vanguard's Tori Lawson won the girls title with a time of 19:43.

Wiregrass Ranch's Ariel Grey took third place just as she did last year. Grey ran a 20:08, a 24-second improvement over her 2007 time and Grey figured it was truly "cool."

"It was much cooler," said Grey. "It felt much better except for the time when I caught up with the eighth grader (Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian Chloe Benoist). She pushed me to go faster."

Last year's girls winner, Leeann Eble, was 13th Saturday with a time of 21:02. The Pasco High senior is returning this year after recovering from an ankle injury. The injury kept her from running in the Sunshine Athletic Conference and district competition last year.

Grey said that Eble went the wrong way and Grey passed the girl who dominated Pasco County cross country until last year.

Zak Lukas Invitational Cross Country meet at Hernando High Results

Girls team scores
Tampa Wharton 41, Ocala Vanguard 76, Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch 100, Land O' Lakes 111, Spring Hill Springstead 164, Brooksville Central 205, New Port Richey Gulf 213, Crystal River 216, Trinity Mitchell 222, Dade City Pasco 284, New Port Richey Ridgewood 312, Lecanto 326, Brooksville Nature Coast Tech 338, Inverness Citrus 342, The Villages 348, Brooksville Hernando 445, Land O' Lakes Sunlake 451, Zephyrhills 494.

Girls Top 10 Individuals
1. Tori Lawson, Ocala Vanguard 19:43; 2. Alyssa Franks, Tampa Wharton, 19:49; 3. Ariel Grey, Wiregrass Ranch, 20:08; 4. Alyssa Brandt, Land O' Lakes, 20:11; 5. Kristin Moreau, Vanguard, 20:14; 6. Chloe Benoist, Seven Rivers, 20:15; 7. Erin Bailey, Wharton, 20:18; 8. Renea Porsch, Land O' Lakes, 20:51; 9. Shannon Meggs, Wharton, 20:52; 10. Megan Ibison, Wiregrass Ranch, 20:56.

Boys team scores
Tampa Wharton 92, Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch 93, Land O' Lakes 93, Brooksville Nature Coast 148, Brooksville Central 180, Brooksville Hernando 196, New Port Richey 205, Inverness Citrus 212, Land O' Lakes Sunlake 255, Ocala Vanguard 260, Dade City Pasco 263, Trinity Mitchell 269, Crystal River 316, Lecanto 353, The Villages 366, New Port Richey River Ridge 407, Spring Hill Springstead 478, Zephyrhills 480, Wesley Chapel 522, Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian 583.

Boys Top 10 Individuals
1. Felix Soto, Land O' Lakes 16:01; 2. John Greliner, Wharton, 16:41; 3. Ryan Pulsifer, Wiregrass Ranch, 16:55; 4. Jake Morken, Land O' Lakes 16:56; 5. Derick Hannigan, Crystal River 16:57; 6. Matthew Lambert, Brooksville Nature Coast 16:58; 7. Mason McKenzie, Central 16:59; 8. Nick Swain, Wharton 17:06; 9. Justin Sblano, Lecanto, 17:10; 10. Joe Wright, Hernando, 17:12.

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