Plant Squads Preparing For Run At State

The Hillsborough County championship meet held at Lake Park last week was the final major meet for most schools before the state series begins, starting with district competition Monday. Plant's boys performed well at the race, placing second with 81 points, just four points behind Jesuit, the state's top-ranked squad in Class 2A. Plant is ranked No. 5 in 3A.

The Panthers hope to defend their 3A-District 4 title and continue their recent success under first-year coach Mike Boza, who won four state titles as Jesuit's cross country coach.

'Our goal is to win our district and region, so when we when we go into the state meet, we go in as region champion,' Boza said. 'We feel good, but know we're going to get some tough tests.

'We hope the good competition we have in district and region will prepare us for the top teams in state.'

According to Boza, Lakeland George Jenkins and Chamberlain will challenge the Panthers for the district title while Wharton will add tough competition at the region. The Wildcats finished fourth at the county meet, and are led by John Grellner, who placed eighth in 16:36.

Plant has improved its team time with each race, progressing steadily under the watchful eye of Boza.

'At the county championship, our team average was 17:12 per man and the spread from our No. 1 to 5 man was only about 45 seconds, which was really good,' Boza said. 'We think we can run faster. We're certainly going to have to improve if we want a chance to contend at state.

'I think we're headed in that direction, we've been getting faster and getting our gap closer little by little all season. Hopefully we can keep that trend going for a few more weeks.'

The Panthers are led by Trenor Wilkins, who finished ninth at the county meet in 16:42, and No. 2 Duncan Hock, who finished 12th in 16:54.

Boza believes the two are right on schedule and will keep Plant in the hunt when it matters the most.

'They each have a goal to try and finish in the top 10 at state and if they can do that we will have a really good chance,' Boza said. 'They run well together, they help each other during the race.'

'It gives our team something to work toward. The rest of the pack is all pretty close and they've been trying to close the gap on Trenor and Duncan.'

One runner on the Panthers has done exceptionally well in regard to catching up with the big cats. Senior Jordan Bass, who didn't run his sophomore or junior year, finished in the third spot for the Panthers (18th in 17:25) at Lake Park.

The Panthers will compete in district competition Nov. 1 at Lake Park.

ACADEMY OF RUNNERS: The Academy of the Holy Names finished second last year in 2A-District 5 competition behind Newsome's girls.

Although the district title will once again be a lofty goal to attain, Coach Ray Rodriguez believes there is a difference between this year's squad and the team of a year ago.

'We're a lot deeper this year than we have been,' Rodriguez said. 'This past county meet we had seven girls under 25 minutes - I haven't had that ever.'

Senior Stephanie Socias has been the top runner for Holy Names, overcoming the adversity of an injury and surgery during the summer to help lead the way for her team.

'Stephanie has been really working extremely hard to the point where I have to tell her to back off a little bit,' Rodriguez said. 'I'm very, very pleased with the way she's been running.'

According to Rodriguez, another runner who has helped the depth of the squad is Katie Kacic. Although Kacic is a senior, this is her first year on the team.

'She fits right in and has helped us a lot, especially earlier in the season,' Rodriguez said.

BERKELEY HALL OF FAMER: Rolf Steier was inducted into the Berkeley Prep Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday during the Buccaneers' homecoming football game. Steier was an eight-time state champion, including three cross country titles (1999-2001).

In 2001, Steier represented the United States in the IAAF World Youth Championships in Hungary, where he finished eighth. He attended Stanford University and has earned a master's degree in education. While at Stanford, he was a member of both the Cardinal cross country and track and field teams. In 2004, he was a Pac-10 All-Academic selection in track and field, and in 2006 earned All-America honors in the 1,500 by finishing 10th at the NCAA outdoor championships.

'He was very dedicated, a quiet leader demonstrating what it takes to truly be on top,' said Berkeley coach Eileen Daly, who was one of Steier's high school coaches. 'He was very easy to coach and a lot of fun to watch. He definitely has very high standards for himself.'

Steier was MVP all four years for the Berkeley cross country team, according to Daly.