South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Heritage’s Fitzgerald outduels Dillard’s Coleman for 2nd place
American Heritage sophomore Ashley Fitzgerald, powered by a good breakfast, feasted on the competition in the FHSAA Class 3A state girls cross country race on Friday morning at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.
Stanford University-bound Caroline Wells of Winter Park was just seconds off the state record in winning the Class 3A individual title with a 16:56.6, however, it was Fitzgerald and Dillard sophomore Christiana Coleman who battled back and forth throughout most of the race until Fitzgerald broke away in the closing 400 meters.
“At that point of the race, I was thinking now is the time to go,” Fitzgerald said. “I was with her the last 800 meters of the race and started realizing that Christiana has a really good kick and I thought about it and that was my time to go. I thought if I could get ahead of her on the downhill, I could beat her.”
Fitzgerald, who finished ninth at last year’s abbreviated state meet due to Covid,
finishedsecondwithan18:13.2 clocking as she outkicked Coleman (18:20.10).
“I felt really, really good today,” Fitzgerald said. “I finally figured out my breakfast regimen which is a special drink and some granola bars. Overall, my body felt amazing. When I was starting the third mile, I knew it was me and two other girls and I could definitely make the top five. This is great. It is getting a 100 on a chemistry test.”
Coleman, who did not compete at state last year, finished sixth in 2019 and
16th at state in 2018.
“It could have been better, but I am just glad I finished,” Coleman said. “There is always room for improvement and I know what I need to work on now. I have to do more practice on hills.
“I felt tired, but I wanted to just finish strong and concentrate on my form,” she added. “We go back and forth she’ll win and I’ll win. I saw her start her move and tried to go, but didn’t have much left. The course doesn’t have many hills, but it has a lot towards the end. I am okay with it.”
St. Thomas Aquinas’ girls finished third in Class 3A thanks to freshman Grace Finneran, who was 12th with an 18:59.6. The Raiders finished with 191 points, while Dillard was fifth (232)
“I’m am really excited,” Finneran said. “It is my first state championships, so today is a big day. I thought my performance today was definitely doable. I have a lot of confidence in myself to go out there and do the best I could.
“I tried to take it easy the first mile and then just pick it up from there,” added Finneran, who was running
20:21 at the beginning of the season. “I just wanted to go as fast as I could and what I was doing the rest of the season.”
St. Thomas Aquinas also placed in the Top-5 at state in the boys’ Class 3A race.
“It was awesome,” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach Trish Butler, who also guided the boys’ team to a fourth-place finish with 204 points. “I always took what we did along the way to get ready for the state championships. We had 13 kids have PRs at the regional meet last week, so we knew this was possible. A lot of the boys took minutes off their best times from last year.”
St. Thomas Aquinas junior Martin Goodwin was fifth 15:57 this year after finishing 40th last year at the state meet with a time of 16:54.20. Dillard freshman Joshua Gammage was eighth (16:12.9).
“I was surprised and at the same time I put myself mentally there all season,” Goodwin said. “I got it when it counted. It is probably one of the best moments of my life.”
Pine Crest sophomore Brooke Hooper was the top local finisher in the Class
2A girls race as she finished fourth with an 18:44.70 clicking, which bested her personal best by two seconds.
“This is really big, honestly,” Hooper continued. “It was my best finish for a high school cross country race. Last year I was running between 20 and 21 [minutes] so this was a big difference.”
King’s Academy placed two runners in the top 11 as sophomore Avery Fronrath finished 9th (19:02.2) and Lions senior Mia Rodriguez was 11th (19:12.10). Pine Crest was the top local South Florida team finisher in 14th place with 376 points.
In the boys Class 2A race, King’s Academy junior Colton Lawson led the way finishing 8th (15:59.9), while St. Andrew’s senior Will Romac finished 13th with a time of 16:12.3. King’s Academy was ninth with 331 in the boys’ race and Pine Crest placed 11th with 388 points.
West Boca senior Ryan Douihech placed fifth and was the top individual finisher from South Florida in the Boys 4A race with a time of 15:49.4.
“My goal was to get in the
top-10 and I was happy I was able to hang on and do that,” said Douihech, who was unable to run in last year’s state meet because Palm Beach public schools were not allowed to compete in the state series. He did finish seventh in the Tri-County meet last year. “My goal was to get in the top-10 and I was happy I was able to hang on and do that.
Fort Lauderdale junior Zack Zimmerman was
19th with a 16:13.6 clocking. Spanish River was 11th in the boys’ team race, while Spanish River’s girls were 16th and Park Vista took 17th. Spanish River senior Sam Jaramillo was 40th (16:33).
Park Vista junior Camila Cortes was the top local finisher with a 30th place
20:08.4, which was three seconds ahead of Spanish River senior Zoe Pustilnik
(20:11.2) who finished 35th. Benjamin and South Florida HEAT finished eighth and ninth in the Girls Class
1A team standings. South Florida HEAT junior Mia Taylor was the top South Florida finisher (21st) with a 20:02.5 clocking.