NXN Florida Preview: Gibbons Looks For All-American Honors, Avery Creek Hopes To Stop Sunshine State Team Woes

Florida XC 2015: Nike Cross Nationals
Todd Grasley



Two-time Nike Cross Nationals finalist Rafaella Gibbons of Park XC Club (Winter Park) and first time team Avery Creek Running Club (Trinity Prep) landed in Portland, Oregon Wednesday afternoon. The nine hour flight from Orlando and three hour time change will definitely be an adjustment for both groups, but with a day to regroup, get in some runs and soak in the Pacific northwest weather they should be as ready as they can be.

Rafaella Gibbons won the 2014 4A cross country state championship as a freshman, was sixth at NXNSE, and was 27th at NXN in her first year in Portland. The 2015 season started out strong, but ended on a sour note as she slipped to 5th in the final race in Florida for the year. While others might have been frustrated, it was fuel to the fire for Gibbons who said after her NXNSE third place finish, that that race left a sour taste in her mouth. She clocked the fastest time ever by a Floridian at the meet and the second fastest time ever in her young high school career of 17:30.80. Coach McWilliams says Rafaella is incredibly fit, strong, and ready to go.

"She's coming off the 10:27 2 mile time trial workout and an incredible race at NXN Southeast. This week we have lightened the work load a little and she should be ready for a very strong race. I don't really want to go into specific workouts, but  we did hill work throughout the season, we did 400 repeats on hills at Clermont, 7 to 10 miles on hilly clay loop at Clermont, and bridge sprints after mile repeats or other workouts. Last year, she missed All American designation by a couple of places and she is determined to go after it. If you have followed Rafey's running career, when she goes after a goal, the results are usually pretty special."

The Avery Creek Running Club's road to Nike Cross Nationals was formed with a pack running mentality that worked for the members of the team all season long which was comprised of runners from Trinity Prep, who went undefeated in the state of Florida winning their third straight 2A title. At NXNSE, junior Trent Mandato and senior Chas Cook guided the squad to a runner-up finish in one of the closest regionals of them all with third place only five points behind, and fourth only six!  They are the fourth team to ever make it to Portland from the state of Florida. To say the Sunshine State hasn't fared well in the Pacific Northwest would be an accurate statement. The 2004 Winter Park boys were 20th out of 21st, 2009 Columbus boys were 22nd out of 22 teams, and the 2011 Belen Jesuit boys were 20th out of 22 teams. That's not a knock on them by any means as they were some of the best squads Florida has seen in the last decade. However, it does show you the strength of the other team's in the field and the possible impact the long travel and unideal weather conditions can have effect them. No matter what though, Avery Creek junior Trent Mandato says the boys will be ready to run on Saturday.

"Thursday, we did a nice lil warm-up to literally warm-up. Then, we hit the beautiful track to run 3x500s with 400m jog between each. The purpose is to get some turnover and confidence that you can hit your pace. We then cooled-down for a little bit on the nice trails. Our goal is to finish top 10; it is a realistic goal which we are capable of accomplishing. We're looking forward to ever minute of this experience."

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