LIVE OAK — It was going to take the Suwannee girls cross country’s team absolute best to earn a repeat trip to state.
Fortunately, the Bulldogs had a not-so-secret weapon.
Going into the Region 1-2A meet at the Cecil Field Golf Course in November, Suwannee was on the outside looking in.
“We definitely weren’t a shoe in to make it to state at all,” SHS coach Amy Bullock said. “We weren’t even right on the outside. Either another team had to not do well or we had to run the best race of the season.”
With those stakes in front of them, the Bulldogs delivered, led by sophomore Olivia Hermanson, whose ability to rise to the occasion to lead Suwannee helped earn her the title of the Lake City Reporter’s Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
With their backs against the wall, Hermanson cranked out a season-best time of 19:41 to finish 20th in the region and help earn the Bulldogs that trip back to state.
It wasn’t a surprise to Bullock, who said her competitive drive is what separates Hermanson from most other cross country runners.
“That competitive edge she has, that’s always the case,” Bullock said. “So she runs really well when she knows there’s a pay off or there’s a reason. Regionals, obviously, is the race where we have to place a certain place to make it to state. I think it was her best race and I think part of the reason she ran her best race is because she knew the team needed it. She lives up to the moment.”
That wasn’t just the case at regionals, either.
When her older sister Ryleigh decided not to finish her senior season this fall, that elevated Hermanson into the top position on the SHS team.
It made for a different season and some learning points along the way.
Hermanson noted that she often used her sister as a gauge to keep her on the right pace. That had to now change.
“So just picking people from different teams that I knew were close to my pace and sticking with them,” she said.
It also meant there was no longer the clear competition at the top of the lineup to see who would be Suwannee’s top runner.
That also ended up working out OK for Suwannee.
Bullock, who has coached Hermanson since she was in middle school where she was dominant, said the elevation to the lead position and the expectations that come with it were not a problem for the sophomore.
“She’s a confident runner anyway but I think maybe she had a little extra confidence in that she was leading the team on her own,” Bullock said.
That confidence and leadership carried Hermanson to four top-10 finishes on the season, including at the Suwannee Invitational (third), Dueling Summits (fourth), New World Fall Spectacular (seventh in the B division) and FSU Pre-State (ninth in the A division).
She also placed 25th in the district meet before the top-20 regional finish and then followed it up with a 73rd-place finish at state in 20:49.3.
As great as her regional race was, Bullock said those finishes at district and state as well as the HOKA Nights of Thunder, where she also was in the top 20, also showed exactly what type of runner Hermanson can be, even if sometimes her times didn’t show her growth.
That season-best 19.41 race at regionals was less than five seconds off her PR that she set as a freshman.
Bullock said it struck her as odd that Hermanson wasn’t able to reach that same time this fall.
But those finishes, more so than the times, showed who Hermanson is on the course.
“Our region is, I always call it the region of death, it’s every single amazing private school you could ever run against,” Bullock said. “Being in the top 20 in a region like that, I think is just insane.
“To be in that top 20, at the end of the season I think is when you could really see her being a leader and she was going to do her thing.”
Doing that as the result of months of work, staying consistent with her conditioning and nutrition, Hermanson said, adding that competing in track last spring helped in that regard as well.
So did that competitive nature, or what she labeled as her determination.
“I’m very determined to do well and to be helpful to my team,” she said, noting she gets that determination naturally as her family is “very competitive.”
But as much as she wanted to be helpful to her team, they also were helpful to her too.
The team is close-knit, Hermanson said, which helps provide fun times in addition to the work.
Those teammates, who also were mostly underclassmen alongside her, also kept providing more of a challenge to her as their times kept creeping closer.
For the competitive Hermanson, that is exactly what she needs.
“It definitely helps with staying sharp with my skills,” she said. “Being the best is obviously not east. It definitely gives me a lot more determination to be better.”
Bullock agreed. As other runners improve, it pushes Hermanson, who then in turn provides motivation for the others.
“It works really well on both ends,” she said.
And if there ever needs to be a little more motivation, all Bullock has to do is release that competitive drive that burns inside Hermanson, the one that gives her an edge on race day.
“Olivia just wants to beat other people,” Bullock said, noting most runners are motivated by beating their own times rather than those around them. “I think that gives her an edge in this sport because she’s not going to let someone beat her…If she wants to beat somebody, she will beat them.
“That’s a big deal and I think that’s what makes her special.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
Olivia Hermanson
Suwannee, sophomore
The LCR’s Girls Runner of the Year ran a season-best 19:41.0 (less than five seconds off her freshman PR) to finish 20th at the Region 1-2A meet after placing 25th in District 2-2A (20:09.0), and she went on to take 73rd at Class 2A state (20:49.3). She was the area’s top runner all season and posted four top-10 finishes, including at the Suwannee Invitational (third), Dueling Summits (fourth), New World Fall Spectacular (seventh in B Division) and FSU Pre-State (ninth in A division).
Aubrey Johnson
Suwannee, freshman
Ran a personal-best 21:27.0 to finish 44th at the District 2-2A meet before finishing 57th in Region 1-2A (21:29.1) and 151st at Class 2A state (22:29.2). Her best finish came at the Suwannee Invitational, where she placed eighth, and she also had a top-20 finish at the Dueling Summits (16th).
Madison Chamberlain
Suwannee, sophomore
Ran a personal-best 21:27.8 to finish 56th at the Region 1-2A meet after placing 50th in District 2-2A (21:46.0), and she went on to finish 157th at Class 2A state (22:35.3). Her best finish came at the Suwannee Invitational, where she placed ninth, she also had a top-15 finish at the Dueling Summits (14th).
Kennedy Jennings
Suwannee, senior
Ran a personal-best 21:46.0 to finish 49th at the District 2-2A meet before finishing 70th in Region 1-2A (22:27.2) and 148th at Class 2A state (22:25.7). Her best finish came at the Suwannee Invitational, where she placed 13th.
Virginia Mayhew
Suwannee, junior
Ran a personal-best 21:50.8 to finish 63rd at the Region 1-2A meet following a 58th-place finish in District 2-2A (22:22.0), and she went on to finish 189th at Class 2A state (23:20.3). Her best finish of the season came at the Suwannee Invitational, where she placed 10th, and she also placed 12th at the Dueling Summits.
Addison Bricker
Suwannee, freshman
Ran a personal-best 22:21.0 at the New World Fall Spectacular and had two top-20 finishes at the Dueling Summits (13th) and Suwannee Invitational (15th). She finished 68th at the District 2-2A meet (23:36.0), 73rd in Region 1-2A (22:39.0) and 173rd at Class 2A state (22:57.50).
Kelbie Snider
Branford, sophomore
Ran a personal-best 21:47.1 to finish 28th at the Region 1-1A meet to help the Buccaneers qualify for state as a team for the first time ever following a 30th-place finish in District 2-1A (22:54.6), and she went on to place 93rd at Class 1A State (22:37.1). Her best finish came at the Suwannee Invitational, where she placed 16th.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Amy Bullock, Suwannee
Bullock’s Bulldogs qualified for state as a team for the second straight season, finishing 29th in Class 2A following a seventh-place finish in District 2-2A and an eighth-place finish in Region 1-2A. Suwannee also won the Suwannee Invitational and was runner-up at the Dueling Summits under Bullock’s watch.