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Suwannee runners Paul Gunter (middle left) and Morgan Mobley (middle right) take off at the Alligator Lake Invitational on Saturday. (COURTESY)
Branford freshman Anna Moore placed third at the 15th Alligator Lake Invitational on Saturday, finishing in a time of 19:39.90 behind winner Mackenzie Klein (Oak Hall, 19:14.40) and runner-up Madison Patchan (Tocoi Creek, 19:29.50).
Moore’s performance led the BHS girls to a 14th-place team finish with 371 points, while Suwannee placed an area-best 12th with 339 points behind Ryleigh Hermanson’s 26th-place finish in a time of 21:09.20. Oak Hall’s girls won with 67 points.
Also scoring for Suwannee were Montana Lewis in 64th (22:45.00), Brianna Woods in 76th (23:01.80), Lydia Gunter in 96th (23:45.90), Maddie McMillan in 97th (23:48.50), Arwen Haley in 101st (24:09.60) and Alondra Castro in 110th (24:33.00). Branford’s girls only had five runners, with Kelbie Snider placing 57th (22:29.80), Kayleigh Wardle placing 85th (23:23.20), Delilah Pope in 117th (24:45.20) and Brianna Barrs in 163rd (30:29.20) behind Moore.
Columbia’s girls finished last out of 20 teams, led by Morgan Golden in 92nd (23:38.80). Behind golden were teammates Kendall Todd in 119th (24:54.40), Laelle Thompson in 138th (27:06.10), Melanie Gordon in 141st (27:12.20), Kiara Thompson in 147th (27:41.10), Yulin Chen in 155th (28:10.30) and Kensi Shaw in 156th (28:15.90).
Morgan Mobley was the fastest boys runner in the area, placing 14th at 17:15.00 to lead Suwannee to an eight-place team finish with 227 points behind champion Fleming Island (39 points). The Bulldogs also got points from Issac Starling (36th, 17:58.70), Brig Scott (47th, 18:19.50), Paul Gunter (51st, 18:24.30), Elijah Littleton (112th, 20:01.40), Colton Rogers (119th, 20:19.00) and Kaydan Aultman (136th, 21:01.20).
Columbia’s boys placed 13th with 364 points, led by Nolan Martin in 33rd (17:54.70). Behind him were teammates Joshua Thompson in 76th (18:57.00), Nathan Mastubara in 77th (18:58.10), Brandyn Pope in 106th (19:53.90), Timothy Todd in 126th (20:29.00), Jacob McBride in 138th (21:05.00) and Jacob McLeod in 144th (21:27.50).
Branford’s boys finished 22nd out of 23 teams with only five runners. Nathaniel Rojas was the Buccaneers top finisher, placing 134th (20:55.10) ahead of teammates Matthew Lynn (150th, 21:44.00), Ayden Humphries (164th, 22:39.40), Zander Hegenauer (173rd, 23:11.40) and Brendan Hegenauer (189th, 25:12.00).