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Cross country: Seffner Christian fourth

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By SCOTT PURKS

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 14, 2009

LARGO - For the first time in Seffner Christian school history, a freezing bucket of water was dumped on one of its cross country coaches, namely Andy Holmes, doused by his runners because they had just finished fourth in the Class 1A-Region 3 meet at Taylor Park.

"We're going to state!" said Holmes, referring to the fact the top six teams advanced. "It's really quite an accomplishment for these guys."

Only one year after Seffner finished 10th in its district meet, it totaled only 113 points in one of the state's tougher regions.

Community School of Naples won the boys meet with 76, six ahead of Lakeland Christian. Shorecrest was third with 97.

No other school from Hillsborough County qualified. Tampa Prep was the next closest in eighth place with 181.

On the girls side, no Hillsborough County schools advanced, while three from Pinellas County - Northside Christian (119), Keswick Christian (125) and Shorecrest (155) - made it by finishing third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Community School of Naples also won the girls team title with 33 points, 57 ahead of Lakeland Christian.

Perhaps the most astonishing runs of the day went to CSN juniors Kathryn and Erika Fluehr, who completed the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 1.99 seconds and 17:17.16, reaffirming their status as two of the country's top high school runners. Northside Christian's Katelyn Greenleaf, one of the Tampa Bay area's best females, placed fourth in 19:04.67.

Michael Oquendo led Seffner Christian by finishing 14th in 17:57.45, the highest among Hillsborough County individuals. CSN's Brent Scott won the overall individual title, finishing in 16:37.50.

Few, however, were happier than Seffner Christian.

"I told the guys over the summer that they could do this if they really worked hard," Holmes said. "It's so exciting to see it happening. It's awesome."

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