Two weeks from today could be the start of something big or just another day along the miserable path that is 2020. The Fort Myers XC Invitational is scheduled for Friday, September 4th. It should have been the third meet of Southwest Florida's cross country season. Thanks to COVID 19 it stands to be the season opener.
I have no idea how they plan to pull it off. I suspect in the end Fort Myers XC coach Yancey Palmer will be forced to downsize this meet, which is generally the largest meet every year in Southwest Florida. It's a giant sized headache for Palmer, the administrators at Fort Myers High School and for the Lee County School District at large. By the 4th we will be just five days into the 2020-21 school year. A sudden COVID outbreak could bring it all to a screeching halt.
How many athletes can you congregate across the large soccer complex where the meet is run? How do you control the parents who will want to come and watch their children compete in the first athletic event in our area since early March. I was at the last road race in Lee County on March 7th which also happened to be the first day we learned that two local residents had died from COVID 19. The death toll is nearing will be well over 400 by the time the cross country season starts.
Holston is fortunate to have a teammate that can push him through workouts. Junior Colsen Palmer is capable of a top 10 finish at State. The question for the Green Wave is whether they have the depth to compete against their rival Estero.
The Wildcats, as always, is loaded. Junior Kolton Pickard stands as the biggest threat to Holston's dominance in cross country. Estero will field a loaded team helped along by senior Brian Robinson. Fellow senior Jared Olitsky came on strong at the end of the season last fall to put the Wildcats in a position to compete against Fort Myers.
A quartet of other boys are on the radar to make a mark on the 2020 season. First, there is SFCA senior Ethan Tank. The lean blonde has been piling up the miles over the summer. He should be the top small school harrier in Southwest Florida. Canterbury sophomore Charlie Meagher will be a handful for Tank. Both athletes could land in the top ten at State at the end of the season.
Two other runners that should compete for the top spots are a couple of juniors. Lehigh Acres Evan Meyer was having a great track season before the virus shut everything down. Dunbar's Ogler Bartolome shows a great deal of promise too.
On the girl's side one name stands above everyone. Canterbury senior Jessica Edwards is a fine cross country runner with sprinter's speed. She has the ability to put her name alongside cross country legends like Estero's Kacy Smith and big sister Emily, a cross country state champion for Fort Myers. Can she emulate last fall's incredible running by Florida bound Stephy Ormsby? I wouldn't bet against it.
Five other girls are on my radar as we head into the start of the season. A pair of Fort Myers seniors, Anna Fischler and Sarah Laboda should keep the Green Wave atop the county for another season. The top runner on that squad should be junior Amy Meng.
Bishop Verot would love nothing more than to take Fort Myers down. The Vikings will need some strong running from sophomore Kylie Thomas. Cape Coral should be competitive as well with junior Natalee Jones and senior Jenny Jacoby returing for the Seahawks.
Let the running begin. Let it mark the end of this horrible stretch of five months of no racing. Hopefully high school country can show the way back to some sense of normalcy.
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