Lady Eagles Fly High Again

It took a tag-team partnership between Springstead runners Jackie White and Kailey Genrich for the Eagles to take third place Saturday in the Crystal River Invitational.
White, a junior whose best time this year was 21:15 last week at the Mitchell Invitational, and the freshman Genrich, whose previous best time was also last week (21:41), finished in seventh (20:44) and ninth place (20:50) respectively to give the Eagles their high finish.
"The first five girls all ran their personal best times this year," said Springstead coach Josh Criner. "They all work hard and give it everything they have."
Springstead (80) came in behind Ocala-Vanguard (59) and Land O' Lakes (63).
Central finished fourth in the 11-team meet with 86 points while Hernando came in 10th with 248.
For the Lady Bears, all five runners finished within 22nd place, led by Mikayla Bogulski, who ran a 21:22.17 to finish 13th.
Behind her, Melia Orrell was 14th, Anna DeAngelis was 18th, Bryana Eady came in 19th and Caroline Northup was 22nd.
For the Lady Eagles, the idea of running together came up early in the race.
"We took off and during the first mile and she (White) said, 'Why don't we stay together?' So we did the whole way," said Genrich.
Wright, who finished in 21st at the Zak Lukas Invitational and sixth at the Mitchell race, said having a partner along during the race helped a lot.
"I'm really happy because I made my goal as far as time goes and my teammate Kailey came in ninth," White said.
"We usually don't do it (run together) at practice," said White. "But now since we realized how close we are and how we can push each other, it's working out great because we're both getting personal bests every meet."

Crystal River Invitational
Team scores: 1. Ocala-Vanguard (OV), 59; 2. Land O' Lakes (LOL), 63; 3. Springstead (SPG), 80; 4. Central (CEN), 86; 5. Lecanto (LEC), 152; 6. Crystal River (CR), 152; 7. Citrus (CIT), 186; 8. West Port (WP), 231; 9. The Villages (TV), 243; 10. Hernando (HER), 248; 11. Seven Rivers Academy (SRA), NTS.

Top 10: 1. Tori Lawson (OV), 19:23; 2. Gretchen McMillian (WP), 19:27; 3. Alyssa Brandt, (LOL), 19:49; 4. Chloe Benoist (SRA), 20:22; 5. Nicolle Forcier (LOL), 20:37; 6. Renea Porsch (LOL), 20:43; 7. Jackie White (SPG), 20:44; 8. Kraigen Matcher (OV), 20:46; 9. Kailey Genrich (SPG), 20:50; 10. Brandi Nichols (CIT), 20:53.

Hernando County Schools
3. Springstead (80): 7. Jackie White 20:44.91; 9. Kailey Genrich 20:50.24; 20. Mirelys Pizzaro 22:15.33; 21. Taylor Tuomey 22:20.52; 23. Caroline Monzo 22:26.21; 28. Sasha Spalding 22:57.43; 59. Sheralee Leonardo 27:03.17.
4. Central (86): 13. Mikayla Bogulski 21:22.17; 14. Melia Orrell 21:50.46; 18. Anna DeAngelis 22:08.78; 19. Bryana Eady 22:10.64; 22. Caroline Northup 22:22.27; 23. Kady McCandless 22:26.21.
10. Hernando (248): 37. Jamie Gabisch 23:42.53; 47. Emi Stephens 25:00.06; 51. Cassandra Brower 25:56.07; 55. Kacey Holcomb 26:21.56; 58. Victoria Stackpoole 26:35.43.