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Cross country: Parrish eases to victory

Staff Photo by BILL WARD

Chamberlain's Mark Parrish, left, leads the pack near near the 1.5-mile mark of Friday morning's Class 4A-Region 2 cross country meet at Lake Park. Parrish went on to win the 5-kilometer race in 15 minutes, 52 seconds.

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By BILL WARD

wward@tampatrib.com

Published: November 14, 2009

TAMPA - Mark Parrish kept waiting for someone to push the pace at Friday morning's Class 4A-Region 2 cross country meet at Lake Park. This was, after all, one of the toughest divisions in the state, with five boys teams ranked in the top 10.

But with about a mile left in the 3.1-mile race - when things began to feel more like a stroll through Lake Park instead of a run - the Chamberlain senior decided it was time to bolt to the lead. To his dismay, no one challenged him again en route to his first regional crown in 15 minutes, 52 seconds.

"Maybe they're taking it easy for next week's state meet but I was so surprised no one came up on me at all," said Parrish. "The pace just got to the point in the race where it felt like we were going to stop. So, I decided to attack it and see who went with me."

About the only person who seemed to try was Seminole's Chase Sutton, who wound up second in 15:56. But looking over his shoulder with a half-mile to go, Parrish discovered no one was close.

The top 15 individuals and first six teams advance to the state finals, Nov. 21 in Dade City. Parrish's win, coupled with a 10th-place finish of teammate Max del Monte (16:23), helped the Chiefs advance in fifth place.

Plant's boys, powered by the ninth-place effort of Bo Nalsen (16:14), earned Hillsborough County's top team finish in 4A boys with third place. The Panthers, ranked No. 3 in the state poll, scored 155 points, No. 1 Orlando Dr. Phillips (54) was the winner and No. 5 Winter Park (128) was second.

In 4A girls, Plant was the area's top squad, taking the runners-up trophy behind No. 1-ranked Winter Park. The Panthers (95 points) were led by freshmen Julia Rodriquez (fifth) and Caroline Gibson (11th). Winter Park boasted champion Shelby Hayes (18:06), who is also favored to win state.

Also advancing out of 4A girls was Wharton, which got the area's best individual performance from junior Abby Ritter (fourth in a lifetime best of 19:05) and a 12th-place showing from Erin Bailey. Surprisingly, Newsome's girls were 11th and did not advance to state. The Wolves' chances of qualifying were badly hurt when No. 1 runner Brianna Jackson, the county champion, suffered a sudden hip injury earlier this week. Jackson ran Friday but finished 84th.

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