Bears Take Bear Run

The Central Bears picked a good time and perfect place to claim their first meet of the season.

Hosting the Bear Run at the Bears' Den, Central had five runners finish in the top eight, including a sweep of second through fifth place, to take Thursday's five-team event with a team score of 22.

"We haven't won a meet yet this year," Central Head Coach Eric Milholland said. "It was a great opportunity for us on our own course. It's nice to do that.

"We haven't run on our course a whole lot. I'm glad we toughed it out and ran as well as we did. A couple boys PR'd (got a personal record) today and this is a tough course."

Mason MacKenzie paced the Bears with a second-place time of 17:54. Twin brothers Josh and Mike Shannon came in right behind in 17:57 and 18:29 respectively.

Ed D'Angelo finished fifth (18:30) and Jawara Jarrett came in eight (18:46) to complete the team scoring.

However the meet winner came from Hernando, who finished second with 36. Senior Joe Wright crossed the finish line at 17:39.

"I think I'm doing pretty good. Better than last year, obviously," Wright said. "I think I'm finally running smart instead of running with an ego.

"We were going to use this as a practice. Coach didn't want me to run too fast. But I had a chance to win at the end so I took it."

Jesse Balogh came in sixth for the Leopards (18:31) with David Worthington right behind in seventh (18:42). Jeremy Wright finished ninth (18:57) and Jeff Vrosh 13th (19:21).

"We tried to have certain individuals hang with certain people today and it didn't materialize," Hernando Head Coach Ernie Chatman said. "But Central ran well today.

"...Joe and a few others worked hard this week in preparation for next week (the Hernando/Citrus Classic). I still thought we'd run better than we did. Hopefully that will help us for next week."

Springstead came in fourth with a 144. Drew Fulcher had the Eagles' best time of 20:18, good for 20th place. Mike Rosenweig finished 28th (20:59), David Boylan 29th (21:15), Craig Brice 31st (22:33) and Steven Walker 36th (23:29).

BEAR RUN
Team results
1. Central (CEN) 22, 2. Hernando (HER) 36, 3. Gulf (GUL) 68, 4. Springstead (SPG) 144, 5. Zephyrhills (ZEP) NTS.

Individual results
1. Joe Wright (HER) 17:39, 2. Mason MacKenzie (CEN) 17:54, 3. Josh Shannon (CEN) 17:57, 4. Mike Shannon (CEN) 18:29, 5. Ed. D'Angelo (CEN) 18:30.

1. Central (22): 2. Mason Mackenzie 17:54, 3. Josh Shannon 17:57, 4. Mike Shannon 18:29, 5. Ed. D'Angelo 18:30, 8. Jawara Jarrett 18:46, 17. Brent Hatley 19:48, 23. Brandon Malone 20:23.

2. Hernando (36): 1. Joe Wright 17:39, 6. Jesse Balogh 18:31, 7. David Worthington 18:42, 9. Jeremy Wright 18:57, 13. Jeff Vrosh 19:21, 15. Parker Steinkamp 19:26, 18. Jon Phillips 20:03.

4. Springstead (144): 20. Drew Fulcher 20:18, 28. Mike Rosenweig 20:59, 29. David Boylan 21:15, 31. Craig Brice 22:33, 36. Steven Walker 23:29, 40. Kenneth Wilson 25:54.