Bartram High School coach David Frank billed it as a classic, and it was certainly that. Between the first race and the last, 818 runners from 30 teams gave hundreds of spectators ample opportunity to yell themselves hoarse. Lining a course that can best be described as flat and hard, they shifted this way and that, in tandem with the long line of runners that streamed along like quicksilver on a smooth surface. There wasn’t a single race that didn’t end without excitement, and with each of the four finishes came scores of PRs.
In the girls’ varsity opener, the sun had hardly cleared the trees when Spruce Creek’s Mandy Perkins found herself in the race of her life against Chloe Kowalski of Pensacola Catholic. Perkins, who up till now seemed to shed competition as easily as a duck sheds water, simply could not keep Kowalski behind her. Mandy took the early lead, but Chloe pulled even, then ahead at around the mile mark.
“I was second,” explained Perkins. “It was probably at 1 ½ to 2 miles when she began to pull away. I didn’t run the second mile like I should have and she got about 80 meters on me. My coaches kept saying ‘Catch her!’ But I thought I was done for.”
“A girl named Sarah (Davis, a sophomore at Bishop Kenny who finished third in 19:06.22) was behind me, but I wasn‘t sure how close. I didn’t want to fall to third place, so I picked it up.”
Still, with just over 200 yards to go Kowalski seemed to have the race won. She led Perkins along a chain link fence and around a low hill that hid all but their torsos. Kowalski, then Perkins, momentarily disappeared from view in a corner where the fence turned at a right angle. Kowalski reappeared, still chugging right along. But when Perkins emerged, she looked like a different runner. Her face creased in determination, arms pumping and knees rising almost to her chest, she suddenly looked like she might be able to catch up.
“I guess I used whatever stored energy I had left.”
A sudden roar went up from the crowd, and at that point Kowalski probably knew that Perkins was closing in on her. She too kicked, but it was too late. Despite her best effort to fight Perkins off, the Spruce Creek senior edged past and won by two seconds (18:55.66). (When the movie version comes out, this is the part that will be shown in slow motion, with the accompaniment of inspirational background music.)
“I ran 18:54 last week, but today was much more comfortable. With the lack of humidity you could actually breathe,” said Perkins.
That, and the cooler, early morning temperature might have been what propelled Brooke Baumann (Deland) to a PR by 37 seconds. With splits of 6:05 and 12:25, she also feels that the competition had a lot to do with her performance.
“Other than the state meet my sophomore year…and maybe regionals….this was definitely up there in competition. I think Mandy was in the lead group and then that girl passed her at the mile. The rest of the leaders stayed in a pack and I tried to stay on them.”
The result was a ninth place finish in 19:21.84, which landed her in pretty select company.
“I was at a 6:10 pace. If I could have kept that pace I might have gone under 19.”
Not far behind Baumann, and with a lot of time to improve, was seventh grader Danielle Dunn of St. John’s Country Day School, a 1A school with 800 students, pre-K through twelfth grade, in Orange Park. Although in her second year of competition, the 12 year old seems unfazed at running against girls as much as seven years older. It could be the 12:10 two-mile school record she set in her very first race last spring as a sixth grader. Then again, it might be her experience at Mesa Running Camp in San Luis, Colorado, this past summer. The camp site is at 8800 feet, but that is nothing compared to her run up Pike’s Peak (14,000 feet). After that, what are a few hay bales, more or less?
“I tried to stay out with the leaders, but I got tired and fell back.” She managed to regroup and, “I was able to pick it up and finish eleventh.”
According to Danielle, she was highly motivated towards her new 19:40.21 personal best.
“I’m getting a prize for doing that; a new puppy! I haven’t picked out a name yet, though.” She still has time before its December arrival.
The Girls Varsity team championship was claimed by the host school, Bartram Trail, with 65 points. In the process, they defeated Bishop Kenny (82), Chiles (86) and Spruce Creek (88), three of the best teams in the state.
The Boys Varsity race was easily won by Robert E. Lee High School’s John Esteban…if you consider running a PR of 16:02 easy.
As John explained his pre-race strategy, “Today I was planning on pacing myself for the first mile and pushing hard on the second mile. At the Ridgewood meet two weeks ago I found out that my second mile is my slowest. So I pushed it today and used whatever I had left on the third.”
Esteban felt that his strongest competition was Alex Schanen, from Fletcher. “The last time I ran against Alex, he beat me. Today I was afraid he would catch me, and so when there was a gap between us, I tried to keep it. With about 400 yards left I tried to push it.”
Although Schanen tried to match Esteban’s pace, he was unable to close the gap and finished second in 16:13.24.
In third was Daniel Miletich of Chiles (Tallahassee). His race plan was to go out easy and save something for next week--the Panhandle Meet in Mariana, which is the Big Bend Championship.
“It’s always better to go out a little easier. If you go out too fast and you die, you can’t do anything about it and you’re stuck out there. I have to think about the team first and not do something selfish.”
To Miletich’s credit that proved to be sage advice. His 16:25.45, while a couple of places off the individual championship, helped bring coach Scott Galan the team title with 59 points, beating both Bertram Trail (98) and Bishop Kenny (100).
In the Girls JV race, Bishop Kenny took the team title with 51 points, doing so with a solid team performance. Their top finisher was Chelsea Mago (fourth in 21:36.22). The race was won by Stanton’s Gwyneth Alonso in 20:34.34, a time that would have placed her 26th in the varsity girls race.
The day’s final race was the Boys’ JV. In the ever-changing world of who runs the last couple of spots of varsity and who runs JV, senior Chase Burke (who this year has experienced both) couldn’t have performed any better. Not only did he win the final race of the day, but his one point went a long way towards Bartram’s team victory.
“I started the race out in front, but there were two guys ahead of me at one point. I passed them and was in first by the baseball field. Then my friend Arthur (Potttenger, second in 17:58.99) came up and passed me. We went back and forth until the two mile point, after which I stayed ahead.”
He took the overall title with a time of 17:47.29 and feels that it was in no small part due to this being his home course.
“This was our big meet. We represent ourselves here. We took first in varsity girls and JV boys, 2nd in varsity boys and JV girls. This was against Chiles, which is tough and one of the best in the state in any class. Bishop Kenny is always good, but especially this year. Their team is huge. They’re also deep, doing well in both varsity and JV.”
GV:152 BV:172 GJV: 244 BJV:250 Total Finishers:818