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Greathouse has shot at 6 state meets

Staff photo by BILL WARD

Greathouse finished 11th as a freshman, 22nd as a sophomore and last season took 14th.

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By BILL WARD | TBO.com

Published: September 22, 2009

The prep cross country career of Tyler Greathouse is a rare one. Only a handful of athletes in Florida can say they have competed in five state championships, and if he advances to this fall's title meet in Dade City, Greathouse will be among an even more select group that has reached it six times.

"It's kind of weird when I look back at it," Greathouse said. "It just seems like the other day I was a sixth-grader running for Berkeley. Now, here I am, running my last year in high school."

His sixth-grade season happens to be the only time Greathouse did not qualify for the state meet. From seventh grade on, however, he and the Buccaneers have not only been there, but they've also been among the elite runners vying for a spot in the medals podium.

Individually, Greathouse has just missed earning a state cross country medal. After barely cracking the top 100 as a seventh-grader, he rose to 19th place the following year, finished 11th as a freshman, 22nd as a sophomore and last season took 14th.

With Berkeley moving up to a very competitive Class 2A division this fall, Greathouse knows he faces a serious challenge to break into the top 10 at state. But he believes he's had his best summer of training ever and has a good handle on the mental aspect of competition.

"I think I put myself under a lot of pressure to do well last year," said Greathouse, who is considering attending college at Washington and Lee, Davidson or Wofford. "I just have to remember how much I like the sport and try to have fun with it this year."

WEHUNT SHINES: In his first meet for the University of Florida, former Sickles star Derek Wehunt finished as the Gators' No. 3 man at Friday's Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville.

Florida won the men's and women's team title for the fifth straight year and Wehunt, just a freshman, played a big part. He finished fifth overall in an 8-kilometer (approximately 5 miles) time of 25 minutes, 7 seconds. His twin brother, Dan Wehunt, finished 33rd (26:43) and former Durant standout John Mitchell ran 28:49 for 111th place. Dan Wehunt and Mitchell are part of the UF squad but ran unattached.

WILKINS TO SKIP TRACK: All-state performer Trenor Wilkins, a Plant senior who is missing most of the cross country season recovering from stress fractures in both lower legs, will skip the track season in order to participate in a student exchange program.

Plant coach Mike Boza said Wilkins is set to travel to New Zealand for the exchange program. Wilkins is currently working out with the Plant swim team in order to maintain fitness in a comeback attempt this season.

DOVER MEETS: The Ryan McCall Invitational meets will be staged Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons at the Sydney-Dover Horse Trails in east Hillsborough County, just off State Road 60. Girls races start at 6:15 p.m., followed by the boys at 6:55. A good portion of the county's teams are scheduled to compete at one of the three meets.

The meet is named in honor of Ryan McCall, the University of Tampa distance runner who was fatally shot just north of the Spartans' campus last month.

Reporter Bill Ward can be reached at (813) 259-7456.

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