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Harry, Nalsen propel Plant

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By BILL WARD

wward@tampatrib.com

Published: September 16, 2009

TAMPA - For Plant's Molly Harry and Bo Nalsen, Tuesday's season-opening cross country race at Al Lopez Park represented a significant first.

Harry, a sophomore, was running in her first meet and emerged victorious. Nalsen, a junior, captured first place in the boys race for the first major win of his career. Taking second was Hillsborough junior Morgan Parker, herself something of a surprise after taking last year off from the sport.

"Craziness," was Harry's reaction to topping the field of nearly 100 runners at the West Hillsborough Invitational in a 5-kilometer time of 20 minutes, 17 seconds. "You dream about winning, you hope you do it, but coming out here and actually doing it - that's just amazing."

Harry's win wasn't a total shock; she did post some impressive two-mile times in track last spring. But she's still sharing her athletic time with the Panthers' basketball team as a point guard.

Nalsen is stepping into the role of Plant's No. 1 boy as standout Trenor Wilkins recovers from leg stress fractures. Tuesday, Nalsen shook off a strong challenge from Robinson's Bryan Garcia, posting a two-second margin of victory in 16:18, a personal best.

With all five of its scorers in the top six, including third-place Lizzie Goodwin, Plant's girls won comfortably, 19-99 over second-place Academy of the Holy Names. The Panthers' boys squad put five in the top 10 to score 27, 44 ahead of runner-up Jesuit.

Central Invitational

At King, a soggy and hair-pin-filled course made for slow 5k times.

"It was kind of a rough course," said Wharton's Nick Swain, who won in 17:18, one second ahead of Chamberlain's Max Del Monte, who said he liked "running in the mud."

On the girls side, it proved equally tough but less dramatic as to which school would feature the individual winner. Wharton junior Abby Ritter and senior teammate Erin Bailey ran neck-and-neck all the way around, with Ritter winning in 20:50, two seconds ahead of Bailey.

The Wildcats won both team titles. The girls scored 27 points, 26 ahead of King, while the boys scored 32 to edge Chamberlain by three. The Chiefs boys, however, did not race all-out.

East Invitational

At Newsome, the host school's boys and girls teams won their fourth consecutive titles, persevering not only in soggy conditions, but also overcoming a mishap on the course.

Several runners in the lead pack of the girls race made a wrong turn, including eventual winner Sydney Coates of Newsome. She and several others ran an extra quarter-mile before realizing their mistake.

"There were at least 15 of us that made the wrong turn," said Coates, who finished in 23:17. "It was a big distraction."

Brandon's Shelby Williams, who also went off course, took second in 23:37.

With three in the top five, Newsome's girls won with 36 points, 27 ahead of second-place Bloomingdale. Newsome's Michael Zwijacz was the boys individual winner in 18:06 to earn his first major win.

The Wolves' boys had four finishers in the top 10 to score 29. Durant was second with 82.

Tribune correspondents Scott Purks and Jeffrey Jones contributed to this report.

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