FALL ALL-AREA: Suwannee's Morgan Mobley named LCR's Boys Runner of the Year

LIVE OAK — Everything Morgan Mobley had been working for the entire season, or really the past two years, appeared ready to fall to the wayside.

On Nov. 2, the night before the District 1-2A meet, Mobley was sick, running a fever and generally not feeling well.

Entering the season, the Suwannee senior wanted to win the individual district title while also helping the Bulldogs win the team title and get back to the state meet as a team once again.

Now, sick, it all was about to be gone.

“Of course, this is going to happen before district,” Suwannee coach Brian Bullock remembered thinking when he heard Mobley was ill.

But nothing, not even an illness, was going to stop Mobley.

He shrugged off the illness to run a 17:12.6 5K to finish fourth individually at Apalachee Regional Park to help Suwannee to the team title. A week later at Alligator Lake, the Bulldogs finished fifth to earn that state bid.

But it also started with that gritty performance at districts, one that helped Mobley also take home the title of Lake City Reporter Boys Runner of the Year.

“It just showed his drive, the focus he had because it was a goal he had set for himself,” Bullock said. “That was huge for us.”

Mobley said it all changed when he woke up that morning. While still not 100%, it was a night and day difference from how he had felt the night before.

It also helped, he said, that he remembered failing to advance as a sophomore thanks to being sick. He wasn’t about to let it happen again.

“Basically I just knew I couldn’t let that happen again especially with being a senior and the top guy,” he said. “You can’t back out of it then.

“It really felt a lot better when I got out there.”

That sophomore season, his first to run cross country as a way to stay in shape for soccer, was also the moment when Bullock first realized he had something special in Mobley. It also provided the inspiration for Mobley to switch sports that he focused on as well as the drive to really dedicate himself to his craft.

When Mobley first joined the SHS team in 2021, Bullock said it didn’t take long to see that he was talented. In fact, when Mobley stayed close to a returning senior, one of the Bulldogs’ top runners, at an early practice that Bullock remembered thinking, ‘This could get interesting.’

In fact, Bullock thought there was a chance Mobley could be Suwannee’s top guy by the end of the year.

Instead, it took Mobley just three or four meets to become the fastest Bulldog.

“I think that really built his confidence up and from there, he just took off,” Bullock said.

Still, Mobley felt like he had cheated himself and the team that year.

While he’d had a good year – he placed in the top 40 at the district meet that year and 70th at regionals with a best time of 19:17.3 – he knew that he could do better.

So prior to the summer going into his junior year, he approached Bullock to come up with a workout plan to help him take the next step.

“I just kind of felt like the whole time I was kind of slacking and going off natural talent and not doing as good as I could be,” he said. “I guess something clicked and I was ready to actually focus like I should be.”

Bullock said he provided a plan that Mobley then far surpassed. For example, he’d ask Mobley to run 20-25 miles in a week. Mobley would instead crank out 40 to 50 miles.

“He wanted to be the best,” Bullock said “He wanted to lead that team to reach new heights and he was able to do that.

“It all began that summer and he just kept going.”

It kept going last summer, Mobley said, throughout with Enoch Nadler in Gainesville. Nadler, who runs Team Florida Track Club (Team FTC), helped improve Mobley’s form while also working on improving his cadence and provided new workouts.

It all paid off for the returning all-area runner.

After posting a personal-best 17:20.7 at the regional meet last year, Mobley topped that in the first meet of Suwannee’s season at Clay County on Sept. 9, placing fourth with a 17:14. In fact, he only had one race this year with a worse mark, posting a 17:26.4 at the FSU Invite in late September.

Mobley’s favorite meet, he said, was the North Florida Classic at North Florida College in Madison on Oct. 21. Finishing third, Mobley set a new school mark, finishing in 16:19.2.

It was another day where he was sick. It didn’t matter. Mobley’s mission that day was to try to take off with Wakulla’s Henry Lewis, a runner he said usually was way faster than him, usually beating him by more than a minute.

Not feeling well, Mobley kept saying there was no way he could stick with him. That day, though, he did.

“At the end I caught up with him and we kicked that last 100 and he got me by a second, but I was able to push through that and overcome the sickness,” Mobley said.

 

ALL-AREA TEAM

Morgan Mobley

Suwannee, senior

The LCR’s Boys Runner of the Year set a new program record at 16:19.20 to place third at North Florida Classic. Placed fourth in District 1-2A (17:12.60), 17th in Region 1-2A (17:10.50) and 44th at Class 2A state (17:08.70) — all team bests. Also had two more top-five finishes, placing third at the Suwannee County Invitational and fourth at the Clay County Invitational.

Brig Scott

Suwannee, junior

Ran a season-best 17:03.90 to place sixth at North Florida Classic. Placed seventh in District 1-2A (17:40.00), 33rd in Region 1-2A (18:08.60) and 102nd at Class 2A state (17:56.50). Also placed ninth at the Suwannee County Invitational.

Paul Gunter

Suwannee, senior

Ran a season-best 17:19.30 to place 10th at North Florida Classic. Placed 12th in District 1-2A (18:08.80), 24th in Region 1-2A (17:58.20) and 173rd at Class 2A state (18:58.70). Also placed fifth at the Suwannee County Invitational.

Issac Starling

Suwannee, senior

Ran a season-best 17:28.20 to place fifth in District 1-2A. Went on to place 29th in Region 1-2A (18:01.40) and 107th at Class 2A state (18:00.60). Also placed seventh at the Suwannee County Invitational.

Nolan Martin

Columbia, sophomore

Ran a season-best 17:54.70 at the Alligator Lake Invitational. Placed 17th at the District 2-3A meet (18:00.00) to help the Tigers qualify for regionals, where he finished 74th in Region 1-3A (18:40.50). Also won the Tiger Run.

Joshua Thompson

Columbia, junior

Ran a season-best 17:32.40 to place eighth at the Suwannee County Invitational. Placed 44th in District 2-3A (18:25.00) and a team-best 64th in Region 1-3A (18:22.40). Also runner-up at the Tiger Run and placed sixth at the Bradford Invitational.

Nathan Matsubara

Columbia, junior

Ran a season-best 18:23.00 to place 42nd at the District 2-3A meet and then placed 76th in Region 1-3A (18:47.40). Also placed seventh at the Tiger Run.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Brian Bullock, Suwannee

Led the Bulldogs to the District 1-2A title and a fifth-place finish at the Region 1-2A meet to qualify for state for a third straight season, where they finished 22nd for their best finish in program history. His team also won the Suwannee County Invitational, was runner-up at the North Florida Classic and placed third at the Clay County Invitational.

HONORABLE MENTION: Columbia: Brandyn Pope, Timothy Todd, Dylan Aspenwell; Suwannee: Kaydan Aultman, Andres Gomez, Colton Rogers; Branford: Nathaniel Rojas