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Jesuit Boys, Wehunt Earn Victories

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A Tribune staff report

Published: September 28, 2008

Hillsborough County was a dominant force at Saturday's FSU Invitational in Tallahassee, with Jesuit winning the boys title and Sickles senior Derek Wehunt taking the individual title.

Jesuit was paced by seniors Connor Revord and Jordan Schilit, who finished second and sixth, respectively. Five of the Tigers' seven runners posted lifetime bests, and their top five placed in the top 50.

"It was a great team effort by our guys," said Jesuit coach Greg Maurin. "Connor and Jordan are always going to be up front for us, but today we really got the rest of the team to step up and close the gap."

Due to a scoring error, there was some question which boys team finished second. Plant, led by the fourth-place showing of Trenor Wilkins, took home the runners-up trophy with 197 points. But Tallassee Leon (199) had one of its top runners left out of the scoring and was likely second.

During the race's second mile, which is run through a wooded area, Wehunt opened a gap and was never challenged again. At last week's Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville, Wehunt led much of the way only to be passed in the final mile by Revord.

"I didn't want to take the lead again and then have everyone pass me at the end," Wehunt said. "This time, I tried to hold the same pace each mile and keep out of sight from the pack in the woods. I felt really good today."

Chamberlain's Mark Parrish was seventh, and Wharton's John Grellner and Berkeley Prep's Tyler Greathouse also cracked the top 20 in 11th and 17th place.

Hillsborough County also performed well in the girls division, where Wharton's Alyssa Franks finished 11th in 19:36 to lead the Wildcats to third place, and Plant's Kayla Kennedy (19:42) earned 12th to pace the Panthers to seventh.

Although the race in Tallahassee was the main event Saturday, most Hillsborough schools competed in the W.D. Johnson Invitational at Ruskin's E.G. Simmons Park.

Led by Fabian Woodard and Michael Bettin, Hillsborough's boys made a strong statement, taking first with 45 points and placing five in the top 16. Brandon, paced by runner-up Luis Prado, was second with 58.

Armwood's Gilbert Vazquez was the boys winner with a 17:26.

"Last year was my first year of running, but I was a football player too," Vazquez said. "Now, all I do is cross country and track - it's my life right now."

Led by third-place finisher Shelby Hudspith, Sickles won the girls title with 57, its first team crown of the season. King's Hilary White remained undefeated this fall by taking top honors in 21:02 and helping King to second (109).

"I'm really exited now, because the season seems so promising for me and the rest of the team," White said.

Sydney Coates of Newsome (21:31) was second. The Newsome girls were third with 110. Wolves coach Orlando Greene split up his boys and girls squads to keep them rested with two races close together: this meet and Monday's Ron Frost Invitational.

MITCHELL INVITATIONAL: East Lake High's Katherine McMeekin (20:21) won the girls race and Sarasota County teams won team titles.

Mitchell's Kelli Williams (20:54) was second and Gaither's Julissa Lopez (20:56) third.

Sarasota Riverview won the girls title with 89, 13 ahead of Springstead. Gaither (117) was third, while Wiregrass Ranch (184) was fifth.

Jon Lanning (16:28) won the boys race, leading Sarasota (61) to the team win. Largo (62) was second and Chamberlain (135) was fifth.

Bill Ward, Jeffrey Jones, Larry Bugg

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