Page 2B – THE WAKULLA NEWS, Thursday, October 29, 2015 thewakullanews.com CROSS COUNTRY
Wakulla hosts its first-ever district meet By PAUL HOOVER WHS Track Coach
On Tuesday, October 20, Wakulla High School hosted the 2A District 2 Cross Country Meet at a newly developed course at the 3Y Ranch just outside Crawfordville. This is the first time the District Meet has been held locally and was made possible because of the generosity of 3Y owner, Skip Young. The course traversed open fields, woods and sand beds and was well received by both visiting runners and coaches. The boys varsity race kicked things off at 3:30 p.m. under clear skies and un-seasonably high temperatures. It was close to the mid-80s when the race began and the heat was definitely a factor in the times that were run. As the runners turned into the second hay field just past the 400 meter point, four runners had already separated themselves from the pack. There were two Rickards runners, one from Suwannee High and WHS’s Bryce Cole. Close behind was the “pack” of WHS runners the boys have become known for this season. As the runners emerged from the woods, just past the 2 mile mark, and entered another hay field, the lead group
had broken up somewhat, with Cole holding 4th place and the drive for the finish line was on. Then, about 40 seconds back, the “pack” once again emerged, with the other six WHS runners still working together. As the runners crossed the finish line in front of the outdoor arena, the two Rickards runners, Solomon Stevens and Evan Garrison, led the way, with Suwannee’s Timothy Choe in third. Cole ran tough, finishing in fourth place. A Suwannee runner grabbed fifth place and then the other WHS boys streamed across in 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th places. Those runners were Caleb Wiedeman, Dylan Pebbles, Dalten Wood, Albert Smythe, Alex Smythe and Evan Guarino. When the scores were tabulated, the WHS boys rather handily won the District title, scoring 34 points to Suwannee High’s 68, Rickards 70 and Florida High’s 71 points. The WHS boys average time for the five scoring runners was 18:38, while runnerup Suwannee aver aged 19:47. By virtue of its win, the boys team qualified for this week’s Regional Meet in Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 31 and all the boys placed in the top 15 and were named to
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The Wakulla High School girls team, above, and boys team.
the 2015 All-District Team. Up next was the girl’s varsity race. From the beginning, WHS’s Haleigh Martin went out hard and challenged anyone to run with her. Teammate Connie Lewis was also running well and was not far behind in third place. As they exited the woods for the final mile, Martin had about a 14 second lead on the second place runner, Tonie Morgan, from Florida High. As the runners tra-
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Lewis not far behind in third. WHS freshman, Alyssa Langston ran a strong race, finishing in 6th place. The other scorers for the local squad were Emily Lawrence (20th) and Hannah Wheatcraft (23rd). The girls team finished as District Runner-up to Florida High School. Martin, Lewis and Langston were named to the All District team for finishing in the top 15 overall. The WHS ladies will also advance to the Regional
MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOTBALL
By EDDIE METCALF
IS ON THE AIR
versed the west boundary of the hay field, Morgan began to close the gap on Martin. With a half-mile to go, she had closed to within 8 seconds of Martin and it looked like she might actually catch the WHS junior. However, Martin’s strength and racing savvy took over and she held her lead through the finish. In the process, Martin claimed her second consecutive individual District Championship. Morgan held on for second place, with
Meet in Lake City. In the last race of the day, the JV/Open, it was once again a str ong showing by the WHS boys. First place in this race went to open runner Matt Mizereck, a six-time state champion in high school and former runner at both the University of Florida and Florida State. After he finished, it was once again a “pack” of WHS boys streaming across the finish line. They were led by freshman runner, Chris Porter, who finished in 18:46, a time that would have made him the third fastest WHS runner in the varsity race! Running alone and leading all the high school runners from the beginning and his age, made his per formance even more amazing. The next five runners to cross the finish line were from WHS and included Dalton Gray, James Story, Colton McCulley, Sam Roddenberry, and Scott Lloyd. Interestingly, the average time turned in by the top five boys was 26 seconds faster per runner than the average time by the runner -up school in the varsity race. WHS parent Nancy Lewis, Connie’s mom, was the first female in this race, with WHS Coach Emily Smith finishing in second place and junior Alissa Anthony was third. Both the boys and girls teams will travel to Lake City to compete in the 2A Regional Meet on Saturday, Oct. 31.
The Wakulla Middle School Wildcat football team won the Western Division of the Big Bend Middle School Conference on Tuesday and will face Taylor County Bulldogs for the conference championship on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. The Wildcat offensive line, consisting of Hunter Nichols, Chandler Crum, Andrew Carter, Sebastian Gafney, Brody Hodge and Billy McMullen, enabled
the offense to run the ball 29 times for 353 yards. Keyshawn Greene had 7 carries for 237 yards, 5 touchdowns and 4-2 point conversions, Colton Nichols ran 7 times for 24 yards and a touchdown, Mykel Keith had 5 carries for 25 yards and a 2 point conversion, Sage Bowell rushed 3 times for 15 yards and added a 2-point conversion and Jaylon Worsham had 3 carries for 34 yards. Worsham also returned a Marianna kickoff 52 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
The Wildcat 2nd team offense took the second half kick-off and drove the ball for the entire third quarter, scoring on the first play of the 4th quarter. The 2nd team offense, led by quarterback Desmond Greene and linemen Ricky Godines, Garrett Harvey, Thomas Deprospero and Jackson Osteen, controlled the line of scrimmage and played penalty and turnover free football. The defense was anchored by defensive lineman Thomas Robertson and linebackers Sage
Bowell, Colton Nichols, and Blake Reeves, while safety Zak Turner knocked down several passes and made some big hits. The win improved the Wildcats’ record to 7-0 on the season and extended the consecutive win streak to 23 games. The win clinched the Western Division title and will set up a rematch of last year’s championship game, which was a hard-fought battle between the Wildcats and the Bulldogs of Taylor County.
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