Springs Charter runners pace cross-country championship
Coral Springs Charter School’s Katie Foster took a quick glance back to teammate and fellow eighthgrader Michelle Berndt was as the two streaked toward the finish line.
In the end, it was Foster in first place to win the inaugural Broward County middle school girls crosscountry championship at Markham Park in Sunrise. Foster recorded a winning time of 13 minutes, 45.40 seconds over the 3,200-meter distance, while Berndt finished second, .40 of a second later.
The race, which featured 169 girls, was held as part of the Broward County Athletic Association high school cross-country championship meet. Middle school cross-country was introduced to the county this year.
“This is amazing and it is an amazing experience that I was been able to participate in the BCAA championship and it was really fun,” said Foster, 12, of Coral Springs. “It was very tiring at first. I think I went out a little too fast in the beginning. At the end, I just kind of felt my pace and I was just getting into my stride. It just eased up throughout the way, and the sprint out was just amazing.”
Berndt, 13, said being a part of the event with the high schoolers was daunting. Muddy conditions from intermittent rain didn’t help, either.
“You feel a little pressure at first, but then you start the race and you forget all about it,” said Berndt, also of Coral Springs, who helped the Panthers place third in the meet. “Just being able to race against other competitors and other schools and knowing that you are top out of all of them is pretty cool. It is great to make history. Being the first at anything feels good.”
Lauderdale Lakes Middle School seventh-grader Sucar Tanelus, 13, was third in her third-ever crosscountry meet.
“I like that we get to race against other people,” Tanelus said. “You get to see other schools and I like how we have to fight hard and I know when to finish strong.”
Tanelus helped the Vikings to a fourth-place finish with 152 points, six points ahead of Tequesta Trace.
“At first I felt a little nervous,” said Tanelus, who runs the 100-meter hurdles, 400 meters and 800 meters for the school’s county champion track team. She also placed sixth in the 800 and third in the hurdles this summer at the Junior Olympics competition.
“My heart was beating fast and I had to fight hard and do it for my team,” she said. “I had to do it for my coach and I had to do my best. I was happy with how I did. It was my first time running cross-country this year and I finished third. I am proud of myself.”
Pioneer Middle School placed four runners in the top 16 to win the girls’ title with 76 points. Westglades Middle School was second with 110 points, while Coral Springs Charter took third with 132.
Pioneer Middle School seventh-grader Kennedy Lerner was eighth overall with a time of 14:47.10, while Eagles teammate Paige Dourvetakis was ninth (14:50.50). Pioneers eighthgrader Claire De Lacoste (15:23.20) and sixth-grader Isabella Tellez (15:32.80) were 14th and 16th overall, respectively.
Pioneer cross-country coach Kelly Brennan couldn’t pinpoint one word to describe the emotion of winning the first girls crosscountry title in county history, so she used several.
“Proud can’t even begin to describe it,” Brennan said. “I was overwhelmed with emotion. I was excited for them. I was elated, overjoyed. … It was surreal. When they called our name as the first-ever middle school girls county champion, I couldn’t even process it. “I am waiting to fall off this cloud, I am still floating on it,” said Brennan, who said she will be working with Cooper City High School, which Pioneer feeds into, on a running program. “These kids are so strong-willed. They were passionate and dedicated. Their attendance was almost perfect, which is saying a lot because it is difficult to get kids to want to run two miles.”
Other runners in the top 10 included Lyons Creek seventh-grader Gianna Potenzano (14:16.70, fourth); Coral Springs Charter seventh-grader Mya Berndt (14:24.00, fifth); Tequesta Trace Middle School sixthgrader Kaya Dinda (14:33.40, sixth); Indian Ridge sixth-grader Regan Morall (14:40.10, seventh); and Westglades Middle School eighth-grader Sabrina Fortney (15:07.10), who finished 10th overall for the Wolves.