Suwannee girls, Columbia boys, Branford girls qualify for regionals
For just the second time in program history, the Suwannee boys are district champions.
The Bulldogs won the District 1-2A title on Friday at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee thanks to four top-12 finishes. Morgan Mobley led SHS in fourth place with a time of 17:12.60, while Issac Starling was fifth at 17:28.20, Brig Scott was seventh at 17:40.00, and Paul Gunter was 12th at 18:08.80.
Suwannee finished with 71 points to edge Pensacola Catholic, which tallied 87. Also scoring for the Bulldogs was Kaydan Aultman in 46th (19:56.60), while Andres Gomez in 49th (20:15.60), and Colton Rogers in 56th (20:59.80) weren’t far behind him.
Wakulla’s Henry Lewis won the boys individual title in a time of 16:12.60.
“I’m so proud of how our guys ran, but even more proud of the way they’ve pushed each other to be their best all season,” Suwannee boys coach Brian Bullock said. “They definitely brought their very best at this meet. They knew they had the opportunity to go and win a district championship if they ran their best and that’s exactly what happened.
“Morgan was the star, running a 17:12 and finishing fourth for us, but Issac Starling and Brig Scott came up huge for us, finishing right behind him. Those were big finishes. Then there’s Paul Gunter who finished in the top 15, which we had to have. We had to have one more guy to finish inside the top 50 for us to take the title and that was Kaydan Aultman who ran a 19:56. He was the one who sealed it for us.”
The Suwannee girls placed third to advance to regionals, tallying 90 points behind champion Wakulla (57) and runner-up Florida High (61). Ryleigh Hermanson led the Bulldogs with a fifth-place finish in a time of 20:05.80.
Behind Hermanson were five other SHS runners who placed in the top 30, including Sadie Siemon in 17th (22:20.90), Montana Lewis in 19th (22:43.00), Arwen Haley in 22nd (23:09.00), Brianna Woods in 27th (23:29.70) and Maddie McMillan in 28th (23:37.00). Lydia Gunter was Suwannee’s seventh runner with a 38th-place finish (24:38.90).
“This is the best any of those girls have ever run on this course and actually any girl on any Suwannee team has ever run on that course,” Suwannee girls coach Amy Bullock said. “We beat teams that we have never been able to beat before and I am so impressed with how hard the girls ran. To be third in this extremely tough and competitive district is a huge deal. If the girls run next Thursday like they did this weekend, then we have a better chance than ever at making it to the state meet for the first time in school history.”
Margaret Bartlow from North Bay Haven won the individual title in a time of 18:42.10.
The Region 1-2A meet is Thursday at Alligator Lake in Lake City.
COLUMBIA BOYS ADVANCE TO REGIONALS
The Columbia boys managed to qualify for regionals on Saturday, placing seventh at the District 2-3A meet at Ponte Vedra thanks to four top-50 finishes.
The Tigers were once again led by Nolan Martin, who placed 33rd at (18:00.00) to help his team finish with 77 points. Fleming Island won the district title with 31 points behind an individual title from Graham Meyers, who finished in 15:51.00.
Martin was followed by CHS teammates Nathan Matsubara in 42nd (18:23.00), Joshua Thompson in 44th (18:25.00), Brandyn Pope in 48th (18:38.000), Timmy Todd in 69th (19:35.00), Dylan Aspenwall in 78th (19:54.00) and LaWarren Newton in 95th (20:33.00).
The Region 1-3A meet is Nov. 11 at Matanzas.
“Nathan, Brandyn, and Timmy all had season-best times,” Columbia head coach Lawrence Davis said. “Dylan and LaWarren finished in personal records. In order to qualify for the state meet, I suspect that the boys will have to continue to achieve PRs and season-best times.”
The CHS girls were not as fortunate, placing 12th of 13 teams with 330 points as their season came to an end. Abigail Candler was the Tigers’ only runner to finish in the top 75, placing 43rd in a time of 22:29.00.
Also scoring for the girls were Laelle Thompson in 76th (24:43.00), Kendall Todd in 85th (25:01.00), Mallory Golden in 92nd (25:43.00) and Melanie Gordon in 96th (26:38.00). Yulin Chen finished 97th (26:35.00) and Kiara Thompson in 98th (26:41.00) closed out Columbia’s top seven runners.
The Tigers ran the meet without No. 2 runner Morgan Golden, who was out due to injury.
“I believe that the girls chose to have a bad meet on the wrong weekend,” Davis said. “They were appearing to be headed for being in peak form prior to the district meet. One main problem was not having the No. 2 runner available due to an injury. That was a huge loss for the girls team. We were just not able to overcome that hurdle.”
Ponte Vedra won the team title with 21 points, led by an individual title from Lindy White (18:24.00).
LADY BUCS PLACE THIRD TO MOVE ON
The Branford girls qualified for regionals on Thursday with a third-place finish at the District 3-1A meet at Alligator Lake, scoring 77 points behind champion Oak Hall (32) and runner-up (66).
Anna Moore led the Buccaneers in fourth place, crossing the finish line in 20:02.80. Kayleigh Wardle and Kelbie Snider both placed in the top 20, finishing 13th (21:47.20) and 18th (22:39.50), respectively, while Ella Harris was 33rd (24:32.20), Delilah Pope was 34th (24:55.40), Kalyn Osgood was 43rd (25:41.90) and Callie Harris was 46th (26:38.10).
Mackenzie Klein won the individual title in 19:10.30, one of seven Oak Hall runners who placed in the top 9.
The season ended for the Branford boys, who placed 13th out of 16 teams with 320 points. Nathaniel Rojas led the Bucs and just missed qualifying individually by 18 seconds, finishing in a time of 20:10.90.
Also scoring for the BHS boys were Zander Hegenauer in 59th (20:57.80), Matthew Lynn in 65th (21:39.80), Ayden Humphries in 100th (23:51.10), Brendan Hegenauer in 101st (23:57.20), and Kalix Smith in 120th (26:40.80).
Oak Hall won the boys title with 32 points ahead of St. Francis Catholic, which tallied 66.