Hernando Comes Out On Top

With Joe Wright, Jesse Balogh and David Worthington all finishing in the top 10 Saturday, the Hernando Leopards won their first team title of the season Saturday in the Crystal River Invitational.
With Felix Soto of Land O' Lakes winning his third race of the young season in a time of 16:28.68, Wright came in second (16:44.61), Balogh eighth (17:40.99) and Worthington ninth (17:42.59) for the Leopards.
Hernando, with 53 points, beat Land O' Lakes (67), Ocala-Vanguard (88), Citrus (124) and Central (130) in the 11-team meet.
Central junior Mason MacKenzie finished behind Wright in third in a time of 16:49.66. Springstead, led by junior Drew Fulcher in 12th, finished ninth in the team standings with 209 points.
"It's always good to win, but we're aware Central had some people taking tests today and Land O' Lakes was missing a couple of people too," said Hernando coach Ernie Chatman. "But at the same time, our times were better and that's what you look for."
The race ended up being one for second place as Soto beat Wright by 16 seconds at the finish.
"At the first mile, Soto wasn't among the leaders. Then he went just like he did at the Zak Lukas race, so when he went, I went," said Wright.
Besides MacKenzie's third-place finish for Central, the Bears were missing top runners Josh and Mike Shannon. Jawara Jarrett came in 20th for Central Saturday while Jacob Stough was 33rd, Jacob Wright was 36th and Brandon Malone was 38th.
"We ran pretty well last week at Lecanto, (a second-place finish for the Leopards), and we ran better than we did last week," Chatman said. "I think it was because we had two good weeks of practice."

Crystal River Invitational

Team scores: 1. Hernando (HER), 53; 2. Land O' Lakes (LOL), 67; 3. Ocala-Vanguard (OV), 88; 4. Citrus (CIT), 124; 5. Central (CEN), 130; 6. Lecanto (LEC), 158; 7. The Villages (TV), 160; 8. Crystal River (CR), 168; 9. Springstead (SPG), 209; 10. Seven Rivers Academy (SRA), West Port (WP), NTS.

Top 10: 1. Felix Soto (LOL), 16:28.68; 2. Joe Wright (HER), 16:44.61; 3. Mason MacKenzie (CEN), 16:49.66; 4. Justin Sblano (OV), 17:04.30; 5. Derick Hannigan (CR), 17:08.60; 6. Tim Wenger (CIT), 17:21.63; 7. James Slack (OV), 17:26.06; 8. Jesse Balogh (HER), 17:40.99; 9. David Worthington (HER), 17:42.59; 10. Matt Schwartz (LOL) 17:45.22.

Hernando County Schools
1. Hernando (53): 2. Joe Wright 16:44.61; 8. Jesse Balogh 17:40.99; 9. David Worthington 17:42.59; 13. Jeremy Wright 17:58.34; 21. Jeff Vrosh 18:23.71; 25. Parker Steinkamp 18:32.68.
5. Central (130): 3. Mason MacKenzie 16:49.66; 20. Jawara Jarrett 18:23.31; 33. Jacob Stough 19:05.65; 36. Jacob Wright 19:16.97; 38. Brandon Malone 19:23.40.
9. Springstead (205): 12. Drew Fulcher 17:53.01; 37. Mike Rosenweig 19:17.46; 41. Craig Brice 19:45.62; 57. Steven Walker 22:08.28; 62. Cody Goldstein 26:31.00.