Columbia’s boys cross country team finished runner-up at the District 2-3A Meet on Saturday at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee to qualify for regionals, just behind champion Leon.
Aaron Morse led the Tigers with a fourth-place finish, posting a personal-best time of 17:34.47.
“Aaron Morse has made one of the most remarkable leaps in the cross country season by dropping his initial time at the Florida Horse Park Invitational back in early October in which he ran 21:12.4 to being on the verge of breaking 17 minutes for the 5K run,” Columbia coach Lawrence Davis said. “That is an incredible progression and I can only imagine if he had ran all four years while in high school. He chose to run his senior year and is a testament to what can happen if a young boy or girl simply tries something for the first time and is willing to put in the work to get better.”
Cole Chancey finished 14th with a PR of 18:41.97, with A.J. Kihei coming in 15th (18:48.93) and Thomas McBride taking 16th (PR of 18:50.53) for Columbia. Behind that trio was Rhett Feagle in 27th (PR of 19:46.09), Gavin Satterfield in 33rd (20:16.96) and Connor Kazmierski in 43rd (21:59.04).
“The focus on advancing as a team is what propelled the boys to their major accomplishment and I am so proud of all of them,” Davis said.
Columbia’s girls team placed fifth and came up short of qualifying for regionals as a team, but Audrey Fender and Mackenzie Conklin both advanced on as individuals.
Fender led the way once again for the Lady Tigers with a personal-best time of 21:23.60 to finish sixth overall, while Conklin took 20th with a personal-best time of 23:23.73.
Suzannah Raines narrowly missed qualifying by one spot, placing 21st with a time of personal-best time of 23:33.47. Behind her were Morgan Golden in 24th (PR of 24:01.40), Abigail Candler in 33rd (25:39.59) and Emily Flugrath in 38th (26:20.84).
Leon’s girls joined the boys in winning a district title.
The Region 1-3A Meet is scheduled for next Saturday at Alligator Lake in Lake City.