Williams' crown snaps drought

Kelli Williams was expecting a pat on the back from her coach.

After all, the Mitchell junior had won the Sunshine Athletic Conference girls title Saturday at Jay B. Starkey Park. She ran a 20:19, beating Wiregrass Ranch's Nikita Shah by 1 second.

Instead, her coach, Jeff Leavey, chewed her out for not being "mean enough."

At least Williams proved she was queen of this course.

"I ran an amazing race," said Williams, who was out of breath after the race. "I am excited right now. Me, Ariel Grey, Nikita and Renae Porsch were together until almost 800 meters. I am so happy right now. This is the first race I have won since last season."

Leavey said he expected more of his ace runner.

"The last mile was not up to her ability," he said. "She ran the first two miles in the plan and then, the last mile she was running way too slow. She can't get to the state meet and be an all-stater unless she gets mean enough. She was very kind. If you are going to be an all-stater, you have to be very mean."

Shah, a freshman, led Wiregrass to its second straight title. Teammate Grey, last year's SAC winner, was third with a 20:32. Taylor Hixson was fifth with a 21:19, Alex Diepholz was seventh in 21:48 and Kelsey Sturman was eighth in 21:57.

"It was a tough race," Shah said. "I have to work on my sprint. I thought it was a really hard race. It was a little bit cold in the morning and now it feels great. It was good weather."

Wiregrass coach Don Howard was pleased after asking his runners to do things a certain way and seeing them follow the plan.

"We had five girls in the top eight, and that's what we set out to do," Howard said. "They all ran well. That's two (titles) in a row for us. I told them don't worry about your time, you are running for place. We had a goal to get our No. 3 in front of (Land O' Lakes') No. 2 and we did that.

"We kind of consider this race the second-most important of the year. It's real important to win this race. The girls did exactly what we asked them to do."

The top 21 runners win All-Sunshine Athletic Conference honors. The top seven are the first team, the eight through 14 runners are the second team and 15 through 21 are the third team.

Wiregrass scored 25 points, followed by Land O' Lakes (42) and Gulf (103). The top three teams were in the same order in 2008.

"I thought they ran very well," Land O' Lakes coach Kris Keppel said of his Gators. "We had seven girls who made all-conference. We have never done that before. I am very proud of them.

"Wiregrass put it all together today. They scored 25 points, and that's hard to beat. Morgan (Keppel, sixth, 21:29) ran a little bit better than the first time here and Renae (fourth, 20:47) ran basically the same time (as she did in the earlier Mitchell Invitational). All the other girls improved pretty significantly."

LOL's Schwartz takes boys title

Matt Schwartz had one chance to claim a boys SAC title, and the Land O' Lakes senior made the most of it.

Schwartz won the race with a time of 16:49. Former teammate and Land O' Lakes graduate Felix Soto won the previous three races and Steven Bell won in 2005, the year before Soto started his reign.

Schwartz finished 19 seconds ahead of Wiregrass Ranch's Ryan Pulsifer. Pulsifer, who is over a bout with swine flu, ran a 17:08 and led the Bulls' boys to their second straight conference title. Ridgewood's Mason Chilmonczyk was third in 17:17 as the Rams finished second in the boys standings.

Wiregrass had 36 points, followed by Ridgewood (68) and Land O' Lakes (75).

"It was really hot and humid," said Schwartz, who was gasping for air. "Pulsifer gave me good competition. I took the lead with three quarters of a mile to go. I passed him on the turnaround. I actually slipped on the turnaround. I caught myself. It was a good day. It feels amazing. I didn't think I would be able to do it (win conference) because there are a lot of good runners out here. I had to go out as hard as I could. It didn't come easy at all."

"He continued the streak for us," Keppel said of Schwartz. "That was the fifth boys conference title in a row for us. ... He carried the tradition on."

Pulsifer said he wasn't expecting to finish that high.

"I thought I was going to do a lot worse," he said. "I had swine flu. I have been sick for the last two weeks. I'm fine now. Someone was having a burn fire so it was all smoky in back. I was a little bit weak. I haven't raced in two weeks. I was looking to break 16 minutes."

Wiregrass coach Chris Loth was happy after his team won its first conference crown.

"This is the second-most-important meet of the year for us (after state), and to come out on top is real rewarding for me and all the boys," Loth said. "I think (Pulsifer) is fully recovered. This meet was about redemption. Last year was a real tough pill to swallow. We lost by a point to Land O' Lakes (53-54). Delonzo (Sharp, fourth, 17:22) had a good race. Logan Selzer (eighth, 17:34) really stepped up, and so did Ian Cassette (13th, 17:49). We are looking forward to a good postseason run, hopefully."

Ridgewood coach J.D. Baker was pleased with his team's second-place finish.

"Land O' Lakes has been at the very top for most of the seven years I have been here," Baker said. "To (beat Land O' Lakes) is a big accomplishment. We all pulled together. Mason and Tyler Camacho (seventh, 17:25) were both first team."

SAC MEET RESULTS

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: Wiregrass Ranch 25, Land O' Lakes 42, Gulf 102, Mitchell 103, Ridgewood 119, Pasco 137, River Ridge 220, Zephyrhills 232.

GIRLS TOP 21 INDIVIDUALS: 1. Kelli Williams, Mitchell, 20:19; 2. Nikita Shah, Wiregrass Ranch 20:20; 3. Ariel Grey, Wiregrass Ranch 20:32; 4. Renae Porsch, Land O' Lakes 20:47; 5. Taylor Hixson, Wiregrass Ranch 21:19; 6. Morgan Keppel, Land O' Lakes 21:29; 7. Alex Diepholz, Wiregrass Ranch 21:48; 8. Kelsey Sturman, Wiregrass Ranch 21:57; 9. Lailoni Kailimai, Land O' Lakes 22:05; 10. Natalie Smith, Gulf 22:06; 11. Alyssa Lonsway, Land O' Lakes 22:08; 12. Brooke Gonzales, Land O' Lakes 22:10; 13. Alea Basulto, Land O' Lakes 22:12; 14. Alyssa Baladad, Ridgewood 22:14; 15. Deena Dutkowsky, Sunlake 22:16; 16. Katlyn Eble, Pasco 22:17; 17. Erin Mathner, Sunlake 22:18; 18. Kara Stosur, Gulf 22:19; 19. Colleen McAuliffe, Gulf 22:23; 20. Ashley Ford, Land O' Lakes 22:24; 21. Kayla Stiftinger, Wiregrass Ranch 22:26.

BOYS TEAM SCORES: Wiregrass Ranch 36, Ridgewood 68, Land O' Lakes 75, Sunlake 93, Gulf 144, Mitchell 156, Pasco 179, Anclote 229, Wesley Chapel 259, Hudson 265, River Ridge 281.

BOYS TOP 21 INDIVIDUALS: Matt Schwartz, Land O' Lakes 16:49; 2. Ryan Pulsifer, Wiregrass Ranch 17:08; 3. Mason Chilmonczyk, Ridgewood 17:17; 4. Delonzo Sharp, Wiregrass Ranch 17:22; 5. Hendrix Lafontant, Land O' Lakes 17:23; 6. Zack Lonsway, Land O' Lakes 17:24; 7. Tyler Camacho, Ridgewood 17:25; 8. Logan Selzer, Wiregrass Ranch 17:34; 9. Josh Reilly, Wiregrass Ranch 17:38; 10. Anthony Plourde, Pasco 17:41; 11. Tyler Best, Gulf 17:47; 12.Kenneth Fessel, Sunlake 17:48; 13. Ian Cassette, Wiregrass Ranch 17:49; 14. Kolby Watson, Ridgewood 17:57; 15. Michael Irwin, Mitchell 17:59; 16. Sam Hippely, Wiregrass Ranch 18:05; 17. Robert Stewart, Sunlake 18:06; 18. Alex Coffey, Ridgewood 18:08; 19. Guillermo Ishid Saldanna, Sunlake 18:09; 20. Brendan McNellis, Sunlake 18:10; 21. Dillon Dunbar, Pasco 18:14.