Five Big Things: Week 1

Track and field have gotten underway to Southwest Florida.  I am going to attempt to stay on top of the Lee County distance scene while noting former area athletes who are competing elsewhere as we head into the season with Five Big Things that I take away from the results of the week.

Thing 1:  Canterbury's Jessica Edwards appears ready and loaded for bear.  She started the week with a respectable 11:32 3,200, an event she loathes and fashioned a fine 4:51 and 2:17 1,500 and 800 double at Ida Baker.  Folks, she's made the opening statement that she's the class of Lee County distance running.

Thing 2:  The Missing in Actions this week were ECS and Oliveira twins.  They were scheduled to compete at Neumann but did not.  The other MIA was Ida Baker's Franklin Caceres who didn't run at his home opener.  Let's hope he's healthy.

Thing 3:  Fort Myers senior Stephy Ormsby ran a puzzling 800, 3000 double at Ida Baker.  It appears she sandbagged her 800 head to head with Edwards running 2:43, a jog for her and opted for a hard effort just minutes later in the 3,000 running a 10:46 which equates to a sub 11:30 3,200.  She's still on pace for some fireworks as the season progresses.

Thing 4:  The return of Estero's Kolton Pickard could be something. He popped off a fine 9:14 3,000 opener at Ida Baker which is well under 10 minutes for 3,200. He's a runner with fire in the belly and I want to once again apologize to him for letting him down last week at the Strides 5K when he was trying to accomplish something special.

Thing 5:  Fort Myers senior Ryan Murphy was on the roads this weekend running a solid 17:36 at the Edison Festival of Lights 5K.  No, Ryan's not going to set the world on fire but I've watched him work over the last four years and finishing second at this race is nothing to sneeze at.  Way to go Ryan.

I could do a whole Five Things on the start of Krissy Gear's season at Arkansas, but I think we'll save that for the SEC indoor championships.