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NCT, Central Finish Top Five

Staff photo by DAVE CASEY

Joe Wright is the first Hernando High boy to cross the finish line Saturday in the Zak Lukas Invitational at Hernando High.

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By MARTY MILLER

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: September 20, 2008

Updated:

BROOKSVILLE - On a foggy, humid Saturday morning, the start of the 2008 season began for Hernando County schools as the Zak Lukas Memorial Invitational at Hernando High.

Nature Coast Technical finished fourth and Central came in fifth in the 20-school field that was classified as very tough by most coaches.

Nature Coast, 14th last year in the state meet, was led Saturday in the 5K road race by senior Matt Lambert, who finished sixth overall with a time of 16:58.33.

Junior Mason MacKenzie of Central came in seventh with a time of 16:59.97 while Hernando senior Joey Wright came in 10th with a time of 17:12.89.

Wharton won the meet with 92 team points, beating out Wiregrass Ranch and Land O' Lakes, who each had 93.

A tiebreaker counting the sixth runner of each school gave Wiregrass Ranch second.

Besides Nature Coast and Central, Hernando came in sixth while Springstead was 17th.

Other top 20 finishers from Hernando County were Nature Coast runner Bruce Federico, who finished 13th, Central's Josh Shannon in 17th and his brother Mike Shannon in 19th.

Nature Coast coach Armen Merjanian said after the race that his team showed tons of improvement from last year.

"Looking at these times, our average times are under 18 minutes, and we didn't get there until the district meet last year," Merjanian said.

Merjanian also said that the district the Sharks are in will be difficult.

"We've got a long way to go but it's a good starting place," Merjanian said. "Today the only district team that we lost to was Wiregrass Ranch, so I'm excited."

ZAK LUKAS INVITATIONAL

Team scores

1. Wharton (WHA) 92; 2. Wiregrass Ranch (WR) 93; 3. Land O' Lakes (LOL) 93; 4. Nature Coast Technical (NCT) 148; 5. Central (CEN) 180; 6. Hernando (HER) 196; 7. Ridgewood (RID) 205; 8. Citrus (CIT) 212; 9. Sunlake (SUN) 255; 10. Ocala-Vanguard (OV) 260; 11. Pasco (PAS) 263; 12. Mitchell (MIT) 268; 13. Crystal River (CR) 316; 14. Lecanto (LEC) 353; 15. The Villages (TV) 366; 16. River Ridge (RR) 407; 17. Springstead (SPG) 478; 18. Zephyrhills (ZH) 480; 19. Wesley Chapel (WC) 522; 20. Seven Rivers Christian (SRC) 583.

Top Ten Finishers

1. Felix Soto (LOL) 16:01.62; 2. John Grellner (WHA) 16:41.98; 3. Ryan Pulsifer (WR) 16:55.79; 4. Jake Morken (LOL) 16:57.79; 5. Derick Hannigan (CR) 16:57.57; 6. Matt Lambert (NCT) 16:58.33; 7. Mason MacKenzie (CEN) 16:59.97; 8. Nick Swain (WHA) 17:06.38; 9. Justin Sblano (LEC) 17:10.81; 10. Joe Wright (HER) 17:12.89.

Hernando County Team Results
4. Nature Coast Technical (148): 6. Matt Lambert 16:58.33; 13. Bruce Federico 17:19.66; 22. Tyler Harrison 17:48.41; 49. David O'Quinn 18:47.96; 61. Britton Cox 19:01.52; 97. Jacob Harlow 20:10.84.
5. Central (180): 7. Mason MacKenzie 16:59.97; 17. Josh Shannon 17:33.61; 19. Mike Shannon 17:38.12; 64. Edward D'Angelo 19:06.46; 77. Brent Hatley 19:17.34; 78. Jawara Jarrett 19:19.75
6. Hernando (196): 10. Joe Wright 17:12.89; 29. Jesse Balogh 18:08.92; 40. David Worthington 18:33.60; 51. Jeremy Wright 18:49.34; 70. Parker Steinkamp 19:11.32; 72. Jeff Vrosh 19:12.13.
17. Springstead (478): 36. Drew Fulcher 18:27.58; 104. Michael Rosenzweig 20:40.48; 110. Craig Brice 21:04.24; 115. Chris Conrad 21:38.70; 125. David Boylan 21:31.52; 135. Cody Goldstein 24.50.35.

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