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Hernando Today

Parity Holds Serve

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By TONY CASTRO SPORTS EDITOR

Hernando Today

Published: January 4, 2009

How much parity was there in boys cross country this past season in Hernando County?
Unlike most of the past seasons when it was Hernando High in front with everyone else trailing, three of the county's four programs shared success.
Springstead was not included in the success as the Eagles had troubles just fielding a team.
Considering Hernando and Central each enjoyed nine Top 10 finishes and Nature Coast Technical registered eight — that's a distribution of wealth, and not a monopoly.
With input from the local coaches three programs each had two runners named to this season's Hernando Today All-County Boys Cross Country Team featuring three seniors and three juniors: Central's senior Josh Shannon and junior Mason MacKenzie, Hernando's senior Joe Wright and junior David Worthington and NCT's junior Bruce Federico and senior Matt Lambert.
Lambert edged out Hernando High's four-time state qualifier, Wright, for the prestigious Runner of the Year.
And Hernando County champion Central High had one other honor bestowed upon it as Eric Milholland was tabbed Coach of the Year.
Bear trio
Fifth-year Head Coach Milholland rebuilt a squad that captured two meets (Bear Invitational and the Hernando/Citrus Classic), finished sixth in districts (3A-3) and finished seventh in regionals (3A-II). Had the Bears finished sixth in regionals, they would have qualified for states.
"I had two goals before the season," explained Milholland, a mathematics instructor at CHS. "We had three decent runners returning and our No. 4-5 runners were new. We wanted to be competitive and we wanted to reach states. We just missed on the latter.
"Because of the work we put in this year, I think we'll have a good group returning next year."
Hernando High's 27th-year Head Coach Ernie Chatman agreed on the Bear work ethic and voted for Milholland for COY.
"Three of the county's programs were competitive," recalled Chatman. "(NCT Head Coach) Armen (Merjanian) really brought his team along. But in cross country you need two things: you need to get the kids out and then you've got to coach 'em up. I thought Eric (Milholland) lost a lot of good runners from the year before.
"I thought they'd be in a rebuilding mode," added Chatman. "They did not look as strong before the season as they did when it ended. I thought the key was Central was able to bunch their top five guys together."
Shannon competed in nine of the Bears' 10 meets —all but the Crystal River Inv. He finished in the Top 10 twice and posted the county's fifth fastest 5K (3.1-mile) time of 16:48.28 during the Hernando/Citrus Classic.
On Shannon, "Josh put in the time," explained Coach Milholland. "He ran in the morning and at night. He put in 500 miles during the summer to be prepared this season. I would describe him as very intelligent, but not real aggressive. His No. 1 goal was to break 17 minutes and he did that. He started as a freshman and matured every year. He's a real success story. He's very dependable. If you told him something, he just did it, no questions asked."
MacKenzie was Mr. Consistency. He competed in 9-of-10 Bear meets, missing only the Pre-State Meet in Dade City. In each race he competed, he was the Bears' No. 1 finisher each time. He notched the county's sixth-best time in 16:49.66 at Crystal River.
On MacKenzie, "Obviously, he was very consistent," marveled Coach Milholland. "He had a great season. He broke 17 minutes a couple of times and really learned this season about race tactics — especially about not coming out too fast during the first mile."
Leopard duo
Unlike the steady MacKenzie, Worthington was up and down all season.
On the plus side, he notched four Top 10 finishes. Worthington was one of four thinclads — out of 46 varsity runners — who competed in 10 meets this fall.
On the odd side, Worthington finished 29th or worse five times.
Yet, in the biggest race of the season — the Class 2A State Finals at the Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City — Worthington placed 44th overall but post a career-best 16:47. That time served as the county's fourth-best.
On Worthington, "When he finished states, the first thing I asked him was 'Where've you been?'" recalled Coach Chatman. "He regularly practices like this (posting good times), but for some reason it didn't always translate during a meet.
"At states, he ran for himself and look at the results," Chatman said. "Next season starts right now. And right now, David and (sophomore) Jesse (Balogh) are equals. They're not really No. 1s, they're more like two No. 2s."
Each coach thought Wright had a tremendous season, but did not finish the season in dominating factor.
This season, Wright posted nine Top 10 finishes highlighted by individual medalist honors at the Central Inv. and Hernando/Citrus Classic.
Wright also competed in a county-high 10 meets and posted the county's third-best time of 16:35.87 during the Pre-State Meet in East Pasco County. In each of his 10 races, he was always the first Leopard to cross the finish line.
Unfortunately, in his final race, where he was ill all week, Wright finished 37th overall in 16:43.
On Wright, "He's a four-time state qualifier," pointed out Coach Chatman. "That in itself says a lot. He had another rewarding season. He's shown great dedication to our program.
"At states, he didn't have a bad race, but a lot of variables came into play," described Chatman. "I think he would agree he could have run better at states had he not been under the weather. He ran well, he just didn't place as high as he would have expected."
Sharks' 1-2 punch
For most of the season, NCT's Federico was known as that 'other guy.'
That 'other guy' played second fiddle to Lambert. Yet, upon closer inspection Federico represents the future of the program.
Federico competed in 8-of-9 Shark meets, missing only the Hernando/Citrus Classic.
In those eight events, Federico placed in the Top 10 five times. Most importantly, he peaked at precisely the right moment.
In the 2A State Finals, Federico was First Team All-State by placing ninth overall in a county-best 5K time of 16:06.00.
In the process, he shaved almost 14 off his previous best of 16:20.23 in the 2A-3 Meet at McKethan Lake.
On Federico, "Last track season, I thought Bruce was even with Matt (Lambert)," recalled Coach Merjanian. "Then Bruce went to California for the summer and when he came back Matt had put in all this road work, so he was ahead of Bruce. I think mentally that broke Bruce down.
"We slowly built up his confidence and his stamina and by the end of the season he was racing side-by-side with Matt," added Merjanian. "It was like everything broke right for Bruce at the end of the season. Now, he's so excited for track (he'll compete in 1,600-meters and anchor the 4x800 relay), it's unreal. But because of the success he had this season he's already psyched for cross country next year."
For his part, Lambert notched seven Top 10 finishes in eight meets. He was also the Sharks' first performer to the finish line in all but two races. He didn't compete at the Hernando/Citrus Classic and finished 24th at states.
On Lambert, "He was a hard working kid," described Coach Milholland. "I was very impressed with him. Before the season, I thought he was more of a wrestler. The two best guys this year were Joe Wright and him. I'd give it to Lambert based on what he did all season."

2008 Hernando Today All-County Boys Cross Country Selections
Name School Year
Federico, Bruce NCT 11th
Lambert, Matt NCT 12th
MacKenzie, Mason CEN 11th
Shannon, Josh CEN 12th
Worthington, David HER 11th
Wright, Joe HER 12th
Runner of the Year - Matt Lambert (NCT).
Coach of the Year - Eric Milholland (CEN).

Sports Editor Tony Castro can be reached at 352-544-5278 or online at acastro@hernandotoday.com.

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