Runner-up finish for del Monte

For most high school cross country runners, a top-10 showing at the state finals is an aspiration and a top-three finish a dream.

But most athletes are not as driven to perfection as Chamberlain senior Max del Monte. After finishing as the runner-up in Saturday's Class 3A state championships at Little Everglades Park, del Monte was openly disappointed about not beating Miami Belen Jesuit's Elliot Clemente, the one runner most considered unbeatable going into the meet's four boys races.

"I came here to win, that's what I wanted to do," del Monte said. "I've been training for that ever since the end of last track season, but I gave it my best shot. He was just better than me today."

Despite the two runners being friends, accepting that Clemente was superior Saturday seemed to be the hard part for del Monte. He nearly ruined his chance of equaling last year's state finish of fifth trying to hang with Clemente, zooming out to the first mile in a torrid 4 minutes, 40 seconds. It was then del Monte realized it was not wise to continue the break-neck pace.

"My first thought was to go with him and not let him get away, but I knew right when we made that first turn (near 600 meters) that 'this is suicide, this is suicide,' " said del Monte, who was second in the 1,600-meter run at last spring's state track meet. "It (the fast pace) definitely caught up to me and I guess I was lucky it didn't cost me second place."

Clemente wound up producing the fastest boys 5k time of the day, covering the course in 15 minutes, 5 seconds, while del Monte's 15:28 was among the day's top five marks.

Two other area individuals, Wiregrass Ranch junior Ermias Bireda and Land O' Lakes sophomore Travis Nichols, produced top-20 finishes by taking 15th (16:09) and 16th (16:10), respectively.

Teamwise, Wiregrass Ranch was the top local boys squad, taking sixth place with 200 points. Belen crushed the field with a winning total of just 26 points. Steinbrenner's boys, paced by Matt Magee (37th), were 12th with 308, and Chamberlain earned 13th with 326.

In the 3A girls meet, Wiregrass Ranch junior Nikita Shah beat rival Anne-Marie Blaney of Belleview when it counted. Shah, who lost to Blaney in both the district and regional meets, took fourth to earn a medal with her time of 17:53. Blaney (18:09) was sixth.

"I just worked hard," Shah said. "I'm so happy I can bring a medal to my school."

Shah also led Wiregrass Ranch to a seventh-place team finish (232 points).

Mitchell's Claudia Cancello placed 35th in 19:52. Armwood's Amber Duncan finished 58th (20:18).