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Late Sprint Gives Revord Win

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By Bill Ward, Jeffrey Jones and Larry Bugg

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2008

In his season-opening meet, Jesuit senior Connor Revord captured Saturday morning's Mountain Dew Cross Country Invitational in Gainesville.

Revord won his race in the final 200 meters. He said he wasn't wearing a watch and was unsure how much remained in the 5-kilometer race until he heard his father, David Revord, shouting to him in the final kilometer that it was time to make a move.

At that point, Revord was sitting in second place, trailing Miami Belen Jesuit's Elliot Clemente. Revord then charged up the final hill and used his speed to kick past Clemente on the downhill. Revord posted a winning time of 15 minutes, 57 seconds, Clemente was second in 16:02 and Sickles' Derek Wehunt, who led much of the race early on, was third in 16:18.

"I think I could have run a little bit faster, because I had quite a bit left at the end," Revord said. "But a win is a win, and I'll take it."

Led by Revord, Jesuit was second to Miami Belen Jesuit (37-72). Plant, paced by Trenor Wilkins' fourth-place showing, grabbed third with 95 points, Berkeley Prep (121), led by seventh-place Tyler Greathouse, was fourth and Wehunt pushed Sickles (159) to fifth. Jesuit's Jordan Schilit (ninth) and Durant's John Mitchell (10th) were also in the top 10.

In the girls meet, Berkeley Prep was seventh, led by Olivia D'Angelo (15th).

At the Zak Lucas Invitational in Brooksville on Saturday, Wharton's boys and girls teams took team titles, and Land O' Lakes senior Felix Soto won the boys crown.

Wharton's boys squeezed out a one-point victory against Wiregrass Ranch, 92-93.

With the help of three runners in the top 10 (Alyssa Franks, Erin Bailey and Shannon Meggs) and all five scorers in the top 15, the Wildcats girls won their title with 41 points. District foe Ocala Vanguard (76) was second and Wiregrass Ranch (100) third. Soto won his crown with a time of 16:01. Wharton's John Grellner was second (16:41) and Wiregrass Ranch sophomore Ryan Pulsifer (16:55) was third.

Ocala Vanguard's Tori Lawson was the girls winner in 19:43. Wharton's Franks (19:49) was second, and Wiregrass Ranch's Ariel Grey (20:03) earned third.

At the Don Bishop Invitational in Brandon, several Hillsborough County squads used the race as a tune-up for larger meets, such as next weekend's FSU Invitational.

One of those teams hoping to take a step forward this fall is East Bay's girls, who won the event with 96 points. The Indians accomplished an early but highly sought-after team goal.

"Seems like we finished fourth at this meet like five years in a row," Coach Mark Buchanan said. "So it's nice to move up. We were shooting for that."

East Bay's Lauren Verbosky (second, 20:49) and Morgan Williams (fifth, 21:13) led the way.

Another girls team making great strides in the early going is King, led by first-place finisher Hilary White, who took the top spot with a lifetime best of 20:05. "I worked really hard this summer because I've decided this is my sport and I'm going to take it seriously," White said.

Chamberlain took top honors in the boys meet with 41 points, followed by Hillsborough with 83. The Chiefs had four runners in the top 10, led by overall winner Mark Parrish (16:23) and the Nelson brothers - Chase (second, 16:40) and Brad (fourth, 17:02).

Bryan Garcia also had a strong showing for Robinson, taking third in 16:45 to help the Knights place third as a team with 89 points.

At the Elite Running Invitational in Winter Haven, Newsome's girls were the top finishers, taking fourth place with 117 points. Sickles' girls were sixth (149) and Gaither (211) was seventh. Rebecca Webster (15th), Lindsay LeSavage (16th) and Sydney Coates (17th) packed up to lead the Wolves. Gaither's Julissa Lopez (21st) and Sickles' Shelby Hudspith (22nd) led their squads.

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