Springstead A Surprising Second

Before this year's cross country season began, Springstead coach Joey Myers told people that his team was young but had the chance to show a lot of improvement.
Two weeks into the 2008 season, Springstead showed just how much it can improve as the Eagles finished a surprising second Saturday in the Mitchell Invitational, held at Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey.
Last week in the Zak Lukas Invitational, Springstead came in fifth while its lead runner was junior Jaclyn White in 21st place.
Saturday, things were different as White came in sixth overall while teammate Kailey Genrich was 11th, Mirelys Pizzaro was 25tj and Taylor Tuomey was 28th.
"I was a little surprised because I really didn't know what to expect in the race today," said Myers later. "This was something I was hoping for, I didn't know if we could get it in a big meet like this or not."
Sarasota Riverview won the 18-team meet with 89 points while Springstead had 112. Central was fifth with 142 points and Nature Coast Technical was 13th with 328 points.
In the 5K race, Katherine McMeekin of East Lake won the race with a time of 20:21.06. White finished sixth, 44 seconds behind the winner.
Asked about the race, White said the difference in the course, which was sandy at the start before going on asphalt and then back to sand, was an adjustment.
"It went pretty good, it's a tough course," White said. "But right now I'm not really worried about places but my times."
Central had three runners in the top 25 Saturday. Mikayla Bogulski came in 12th while Anna DeAngelis was 22nd and Caroline Northup was 23rd.
"We're basically right where we need to be in this point in time," said Central coach Erin Courtney. "We're in good position to move up in the world. The times are going to drop. We are working them out hard now, but when we begin to ease up the times are going to drop."
MITCHELL INVITATIONAL
at Starkey Wilderness Park, New Port Richey.
Team scores: 1. Sarasota Riverview (SR), 89; 2. Springstead (SPG), 112; 5. Central (CEN), 142; 13. Nature Coast Technical (NCT) 328.
Individual places: 1. Katherine McMeekin (EL), 20:21.06; 2. Kelly Williams (MIT), 20:54.99; 3. Julissa Lopez (GA), 20:56.34; 4. Leeann Eble (PAS), 21:03.89; 5. Sandra Pratt (GA), 21:10.98; 6. Jaclyn White (SPG), 21:15.37.
2. Springstead (112): 6. Jaclyn White 21:15.37; 11. Kailey Genrich 21:41.55; 25. Mirelys Pizzaro 22:40.88; 28. Taylor Tuomey 22:47.11; 42. Caroline Monzo 23:25.64; 73. Sasha Spalding 24:32.69.
5. Central (142): 12. Mikayla Bogulski 21:45.17; 22. Anna DeAngelis 22:34.36; 23. Caroline Northup 22:36.05; 41. Bryana Eady 23:24.92; 44. Devon Rennie 23:27.21.
13. Nature Coast Technical (328): 46. Brittany Aemisegger 23:36.77; 49. Solianna Herrera 23:39.63; 66. Candice Lopez 23:13.44; 84. Kristen Turney 24:57.00; 86. Jazmin Turney 25:01.97; 94. Traci Wood 25:32.17; 95. Annette Donato 26:01.46.