Three meets to go. That's the goal for the lucky few teams and individuals as the Florida high school cross country draws to a close. District meets will be scattered across Southwest Florida beginning on Thursday with Class 3A teams meeting at Estero Park and Class 1A teams running at SFCA. On Saturday Lehigh will travel to North Port for their District meet while Bishop Verot heads to Englewood for its 2A showdown.
Lehigh has two outstanding runners competing at Class 4A. Sophomore Gianna Del Pizzo has enjoyed a solid season and should be able to advance through the District and Region meet on to Tallahassee. The same can be said of Lightning senior distance ace Evan Meyer. He was forced to miss last week's LCAC meet due to a scheduling conflict with the SAT's which is a big whiff on the part of the athletic leaders of the Lee County School District. Athletes shouldn't have to make a choice between competition and tests This would have never happened if it involved football. Lehigh competes Saturday in North Port.
The girls of Bishop Verot can lay claim to being the top team in Lee County. Coach Jorge Fleitas has done a great job of building the Viking program. Verot will compete at Class 2A on Saturday in Englewood and the girls lead by Julia Reitz, Mackenzie De Lisle and Kylie Thomas are on a path to Tallahassee. If the squad can peak in three weeks they could land a top ten finish at State. The boys squad is in a tougher spot and will be fortunate to qualify to Region with the hope of moving an individual or two on to State. Freshman Andrew Marino and Zielke are peaking at the right time.
Hayden Tank of SFCA is the most improved boy in Lee County. Winning Thursday on his home course at the Class 1A District would mean a major upset as he faces one of the top runners in Florida, Tristan McWilliam from Out of Door Academy. Tank's SFCA squad should advance to Region and appear in form to go to State. Charlie Meagher from Canterbury should advance as well. On the girl's side at the same meet is Lee County's top star Ava Povich. She has no peers. She will advance to Tallahassee where she will face the toughest field in the state of Florida. A top five finish for Povich will be nothing to be ashamed of. Canterbury's Gabriella Santucci figures to advance to Tallahassee as well.
When it comes to a boys time title Fort Myers is finally getting healthy and looks to be in the drivers seat. Naples will give the Green Wave everything it can handle. When it comes to other potential qualifiers from that District Dunbar, Cape Coral, Palmetto Ridge and Ida Baker should be in the mix.
The girl's individual race looks to be a bit more muddled. Naples freshman find Tara Watkins appears to be the favorite but Olivia Olney a junior from Fort Myers showed what smart racing looks like in taking the LCAC crown last Saturday. And the team title will boil down between Naples and Fort Myers. Given the injuries that have crippled the Green Wave this season it would appear that Naples would have the upper hand. Both teams are almost sure bets to advance to Tallahassee.
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