Pickard's Back

We've hit the midway point of the Florida high school cross country season.  Things haven't unfolded as one would have suspected among the Lee County squads, mainly due to injuries.  That could shake things up, especially on the girl's side.

Estero senior star Kolton Pickard is back.  A freak injury thanks to the stupid a coach and his girl's team deciding to cross the Fort Myers Invitational course in front of the lead pack of boys led to Pickard tweaking his hamstring.  Pickard now has back to back wins at Lely and at the Hoka FlRunners meets to show that his form is just fine.

The surprise of the season on the boy's side is Hayden Tank of SFCA.  He's picked up right where big brother Ethan left off. Tank finished a respectable 5th in Lakeland, just 30 seconds behind Pickard.  With Cooper Banks ditching cross country for soccer, Tank, just a junior, appears to be the top small school harrier in Lee County.

When it comes to which Lee County boy's team will lay claim to the number one spot, standby.  Fort Myers and Dunbar aren't exactly shining right now.  Both teams appear ready to make a run to State but neither has raced particularly well.  Fort Myers made a decent showing at North Port two weeks ago with Dunbar notably in need of a stronger number five runner.  Neither team raced particularly well this weekend at Hoka FlRunners.

The biggest surprise among the Lee County ranks is a diminutive freshman from Bishop Verot.  Mackenzie De Lisle gave up gymnastics to take up running.  She's helped turn the Vikings into the top girl's cross country squad in Lee County.  De Lisle has shown progress week to week and Verot's depth has helped them leap frog past Fort Myers and Estero.

If Fort Myers can be healthy they could top Bishop Verot.  Senior Amy Meng, a top five finisher at State last year, has been dealing with nagging injuries.  One of the Green Wave's other top runners, sophomore Elizabeth McHugh, is on the comeback trail from a stress fracture.  Fort Myers can still make a run to State without two of its top runners as could the Estero girls.

A lot of inter-county bragging rights will be on the line this weekend at the Bishop Verot Invitational on Saturday.  Assuming all of the top runners in Lee County participate, the meet will mark the last time schools both large and small will face off against each other.

Injuries upending the form chart for Southwest Florida high school cross.

We're a third of the way through the march to post-season high school cross countries and injuries are playing a significant roll in two areas. The expectation that Fort Myers High's girl's cross country team will dominate Southwest Florida seems a bit suspect.  Green Wave ace harrier Amy Meng struggled through a summer of  injuries.  Meng is in shape.  Just not the type of shape that conforms to her high standards and that leaves Fort Myers vulnerable.  

Then there are the ongoing calf issues nagging promising sophomore Elizabeth McHugh.  Fort Myers can afford to lose one of these two talented runners but a run to state will be dependent on at least one of these young women getting healthy.  Naples is its usual solid self and Estero is showing signs of life after last seasons disappointments.  Cape Coral and Palmetto Ridge could have a say on who makes to State by seasons end if those squads solidify their number four and five runners.

While Meng is on the comeback ECS junior Ava Povich has ascended to the top of the Southwest Florida cross country scene and it's not even close.  She has the ability to break 18 minutes for 5 kilometers by seasons end. The surprising newcomer of the season is Bishop Verot freshman Mackenzie De Lisle.  A complete novice to the sport, you can see her learning at each meet and growing in confidence claiming her highest finish to date claiming fifth at the Fort Myers Invitational.  If Bishop Verot's four and five show some improvement they certainly lay claim as the best girl's cross country team in Lee County.

The boy's side of things took a nasty tumble Saturday night.  Estero's senior star Kolton Pickard was clipped in a stupid accident when an unknown girl's team led by their ignorant coach tried to cross the narrow course in the middle of the boy's race.  Pickard went down with what appeared to be a nasty hamstring injury.  A minor hamstring issue will take at least two weeks to mend, a major one could take a month or more.

Pickard's misfortune opened the door for Palmetto Ridge junior Bernardo Barnhart to take the win.  Fort Myers #1 Colsen Palmer wasn't far behind in second.  Those three look to be the top trio in Southwest Florida assuming Pickard heals quickly.  The impressive part of Saturday night's race came from Lehigh senior Evan Meyer.  Early in the race he looked out of it but he picked his way through the field to finish fifth behind Southwest Florida's most improved runner, Hayden Tank from SFCA.

The top boys from Dunbar who should figure in the mix have been laying low the last couple of weeks.  The Dunbar team along with Fort Myers and Naples will face off this weekend in North Port.  This race will answer a lot of questions about where things are headed as we make it to qualifying for State in six weeks.

So It Begins

I'm not planning on blogging every week about the high school cross country season but since the News-Press decided that the season opener was only worth a slew of great photos, and yes they were great, I thought I should write something.  Before I dive into what I saw in Buckingham I want to write about Robert Chatham.  You've never heard of him.  He was my first high school cross country coach.

Mr. Chatham passed away over the weekend.  He was a great biology and a great cross country coach in Abilene, Kansas.  I only got to run part of my freshman year for him as our family moved back to Lawrence.  The team was a good one finishing third in the state.  He nurtured my love of the sport by sharing his knowledge and even a book, "The Long Green Line," by legendary York XC Coach Joe Newton.  

Now as to the Dunbar Tiger Jamboree.  The course was short, probably by more than 100 meters.  It was seriously muddy in parts of it.  But for a mid-August morning the weather was fairly forgiving.

The girl's race went according to form.  ECS junior Ava Povich won easily.  The top returning area runner, Fort Myers senior Amy Meng is coming off an injury and finished 7th.  I think Meng will be back to her dominating self by the end of the season but I don't think Povich is going to lose very often this season.  Their rematch at the Fort Myers Invitational in three weeks will be a better test.

The surprise of the meet was a diminutive freshman from Bishop Verot. In her first ever cross country race Mackenzie De Lisle finished tenth.  She's a former gymnast who appears to have loads of upside.  Verot appears ready to give Fort Myers all it can handle for bragging rights in Lee County.

The boys race didn't go according to form.  The pre-meet hype focused on Osceola senior William Stone.  But Fort Myers senior Colsen Palmer wasn't having any of it cruising to an easy victory and leading his Green Wave squad to a team title.  Fort Myers is going to be tough this year but if Dunbar ever finds a fifth runner things could get interesting.

 

Cross County 2021

If you read the Fort Myers News-Press/Naples Daily News preview of the upcoming high school cross country season, you have a pretty good idea of the athletes who should be making an impact this fall.  The News-Press changed my copy a bit because I declared that the King and Queen of Southwest Florida XC are coming back this fall.  That would be Kolton Pickard of Estero and Amy Meng of Fort Myers, both seniors.

I don't see anyone challenging Pickard for supremacy on the boys side this season.  The next two, three, four and five will be a real interesting mix of some pretty solid seniors.  Evan Meyers of Lehigh and Colsen Palmer of Fort Myers seem like the two guys of giving Pickard a real run for his money.  Meyers has took Pickard's scalp once last season.  Then if Dunbar coach Ray Romero peaks his guys like he did last season, Ryan Livingston and Ivan Marin-Padilla will have a say in the matter.

The thing that could hurt Pickard this season is a lack of a supporting cast.  The ranks on the boys side at Estero are painfully thin.  Fortunately for the Wildcats, the girls team is loaded with talent and should make a run at making it to Tallahassee for States.

Speaking of girls, Amy Meng is the consummate cross country runner.  She's not afraid to run big miles.  The question this fall is whether ECS junior standout Ava Povich has packed on enough mileage from her summer in Michigan to close the gap between the Green Wave senior and herself. The battles between Meng and Povich should be epic. 

The strongest team boys or girls on paper should be Fort Myers.  The Green Wave return a stellar top three with Meng, Olivia Olney and Elizabeth McHugh.  The next two, Lily Harris and Rory Pandini are no slouches either and Dinah Ceilley along with Elsa Marcet will give them depth.  And don't get me started on the incoming freshmen.

The cross country talent across Lee County is strong.  The fireworks begin this Saturday with the Dunbar Tiger Jamboree.  Running 5,000 meters in the August heat is insane but that's what makes it interesting, it's like Survivor, you find out who's really smart and fit.

It Can Only Get Better

I had planned on writing something sooner about the real end of the track season for Southwest Florida but I lacked both motivation and desire.  The high school and collegiate post season landed like a thud.  And don't even ask me about the Olympic Trials.  Add the events of this week which was truly awful and well.

We'll start with the good.  Canterbury's Jessica Edwards ended her storied career at the end of May clocking a 2:08.06 at the Golden South series for the win.  Arkansas's Krissy Gear a, Fort Myers High grad, landed another All-American honor placing 5th at the NCAA 1500 and then sticking around Eugene, Oregon for the Olympic Trials.  The wear and tear of a long season was in evident as Gear soaked in the experience of running the 1,500 and Steeple heats while failing to advance at the Trials.  We're predicting fireworks for Gear in 2022 with the World Championships being hosted in Eugene.

Least we forget Sierra and Moriah Oliveira, mere freshmen at the University of Miami, helped lead their 4x400 squad to the NCAA's.  Unfortunately the Hurricanes didn't make it into the finals.  Finally Fort Myers grad Jacob Lemmon scored All-American honors with a fifth place finish in the discus for the University of Virginia.

So there was plenty to write more than two weeks ago when the Trials wrapped up but inspiration was lacking.  Then this week happened.  Dunbar coach Guy Thomas died from COVID.  News quickly followed that Lely coach Mark McGarity had lost his battle with cancer.  I didn't know McGarity.  I just knew that he was a driving force in the Collier County running community.

Coach Thomas I had gotten to know about six years ago.  I had gone to him at a cross country meet offering him help with his kids who didn't have spikes.  I'm pretty sure he thought I was a loon.  It took a couple of years but Coach finally came around and believed me when I said I would do what I could to help his program.  Guy Thomas was a force of nature.  He worked hard to help his community and to help his athletes achieve their best.

This past season may have been his crowning achievement as his boys team finished 3rd and his girls 6th at the Florida State High School Track and Field Championships.  Hurdlers Leonard Mustari and Lucheyona Weaver were the two jewels of the Tiger program.  Both athletes are headed to collegiate spring powerhouse, North Carolina A&T.

Given the weeks events one wouldn't have been surprised if Mustari and Weaver might not put in good performances at this week's AAU national championships.  But both athletes captured their respective events and Mustari added gold in the long jump.  It was a fitting tribute to their great coach.  It was an uplifting way to end the week.  

It's going to be a long month of introspection as we head to the high school cross country season which begins in a mere month.     

Track 2021

The end of the 2021 Florida high school track and field season was marked by the end of an epic career of one of Southwest Florida's greatest runners. Lee County has had an incredible string of  middle distance runners over the last half decade.  Krissy Gear of Fort Myers, Hugh Brittenham of Estero, and Sierra Oliveira of ECS enjoyed fantastic success at the prep level.  Gear's 2017 triple gold performance over 800, 1600 and 3200 meters is the Mount Everest of Lee County success.  Last Friday Jessica Edwards of Canterbury did her best to emulate Gear's feat.  

Edwards made some tough choices given the tight schedule and the tough distance corps from Cambridge Christian.  Justifiably she went team first in choosing the 4x800 relay and 4x1600 relay along with her signature event, the 800, over a tough 1600 field in Class 1A.  Edwards flew through the 4x800 pulling her team from sixth to third with a 2:13 split.  

The 800 followed in the midst of the brutal midday heat.  It was not her finest effort, in fact Jessica Edwards ran one of her worst 800's of the season to win easily 2:16.79.  The race left Edwards spent and throwing up after the finish.  It seemed there wasn't much gas left in the tank as she prepared to anchor the Cougar's 4x400 team.  

Down 40 meters when she received the baton, Edwards showed remarkable composure, easing into the race rather than blasting at away in pursuit of her rivals.  The gap was the same with 300 meters to go as Edwards began her stunning run down the back stretch, closing the gap to 10 meters with 150 to go.  The Florida bound athlete rolled past the two other competitors helping her team win gold with a 55.3 split.  It's easily one of the best relay legs I've ever watched and cemented her place as a Lee County middle distance great.  The hug at the finish from big sister Emily says it all. 

The season was so much more than Edwards.  Ava Povich showed more grit and determination after a disappointing 9th place finish in the 1,600.  The ECS sophomore endured the searing heat to run 11:08.63 in the 3200 to grab third place and record the fastest time by any Lee County girl this season at that distance.  A sub-11 minute performance awaits Povich's junior campaign.

Estero junior Kolton Pickard was undoubtedly disappointed with his fifth place finish in the 1,600.  His time of 4:22.84 fell short of the early season promise that Pickard displayed over 1600 and 3200 meters.  He undoubtedly was the best distance runner among Lee County boys this season.  Sub 4:15 and sub 9:10 has to be the goals for the 2022 season.

While I focus this blog on the distance scene in Lee County I would feel remiss in not mentioning the great season across the board shown by the boys and girls at Dunbar High School.  The Tigers hurdle duo of Leonard Mustari and Lucheyona Weaver are two of the best Lee County hurdlers ever seen and rate among the nation's best at both the sprint hurdles and 300 hurdle events.  It took a state record in the long jump by Curtis Williams to keep Mustari from triple gold.  I would have to think Mustari's 24-9 3/4 jump may be the best the county has ever seen.  Both Mustari and Weaver are headed to national sprint power North Carolina A&T.

Hopefully we'll have one more track blog as many of these super athletes head into the post season.

Three Big Things: Fear and Loathing on the Road to State

Forgive me for I have sinned.  In the previous two blogs I completely failed to mention Lehigh and their distance standout Evan Meyer.  I won't make that mistake again.  Evan is one of 14 individuals who will make the journey to Jacksonville to compete in the Florida High School Track and Field Championships.  Many of those 13 will be part of the 4x800 relay teams competing in the four classes that Florida serves up for the sport.

1.  If you were going to wager money on any of these races the sure bet is Canterbury senior Jessica Edwards in the Class 1A 800.  She clocked a 2:09.13 over the weekend for an easy win.  Her teammate Giana D'Altrui also qualified as did the Cougars' 4x800 team.  Edwards split a 2:12 in the relay along with a 55 in the 4x400.  Another Cougar, Gabrella Santucci clocked a fine 11:58.05 to join ESC sophomore standout Ava Povich in the 3,200.  Povich ran a PR 11:16.26 along with a qualifying time in the mile of 5:19.65.  Both girls will have their hands full against the superb distance squad from Cambridge Christian.

2.  The Class 3A qualifiers from Lee County is a who's who of the best boys and girls in the county.  Estero junior Kolton Pickard easily held off Ida Baker's Jacob Fritz with a 4:22.03 in the 1,600.  This time came a couple of hours after he split 1:55 to qualify the Wildcat squad in the 4x800 along with Dunbar in a race won by Fort Myers High led by a 1:56 split by senior Liam Holston.  The Green Wave was just a half second off the school record.  The Fort Myers and Cape Coral girls qualified their 4x800 teams with Fort Myers junior Amy Meng the only distance qualifier as an individual in the 3,200 clocking a 11:58.23 in the sweltering heat while Dunbar senior Ogler Bartolon also advanced in the boys race running 9:57.2.

3.  Lehigh competes in the state's largest class 4A.  Evan Meyer, a junior, ran 4:26.63 to qualify in the 1,600 where he will face Nease superstar Rheinhardt Harrison.  Meyer also helped his Lightning team qualifying in the 4x800.  In Class 2A, Bishop Verot qualified a pair of 800 runners, sophomores Cooper Banks for the boys and Julia Reitz for the girls.  Verot's boys qualified their 4x800 team but shockingly the girls just missed out on making it to Jacksonville.

Editor's note:  I failed to mention the fact that the Canterbury boys squad qualified in the 4x800 as well.  They did it with sophomore standout Charlie Meagher unknowingly running on a stress fracture.  Here's to a super fast recovery for Charlie.