Balogh is Hernando High's primary hope

Hernando High's post-season team aspirations will most likely vanish after Wednesday's expected 14-team, Class 2A, District 3 Cross Country Meet at Crystal River High School.
The girls' event is set for 4 p.m. followed by boys' 3.1-mile race approximately 35 minutes later.
Only the top six finishing boys and girls teams, along with the Top 15 individuals, will qualify for the Nov. 14 Class 2A-II Meet at Titusville's Chain of Lakes Complex.
The expected field includes schools from eight different counties featuring teams from Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Lake, Marion, Alachua, Levy and Putnam Counties including Holiday-Anclote, Crystal River, Eustis, Brooksville-Hernando, Interlachen, Keystone Heights, Mount Dora, Dade City-Pasco, Alachua-Santa-Fe, Tavares, Ocala-Trinity Catholic, Umatilla, Wesley Chapel and Williston.
Hernando County's lone entry, the Leopards, have had a difficult season due to a lack of numbers and injuries.
How difficult?
On the boys' side, HHS is 0-for-the-season in team scores (0-for-6). They haven't had enough runners (five) to even compete as a team.
Junior Jesse Balogh, the county's third ranked runner, however, is a solid bet to advance to regionals and beyond. Balogh has competed in seven races for the Leopards with a team-best 17:18.21 clocking at the Lukas Invitational in Brooksville. He's placed in the Top 15 five times.
By comparison, freshman Charles Worthington has missed three meets due to an assortment of ailments, sophomore Parker Steinkamp has missed two races and senior David Worthington has missed one race.
Of the above trio, only Steinkamp has placed within the Top 15 once at the Central Invitational (12th overall).
"I think Jesse (Balogh) can finish in the Top 15," said first-year Head Coach Ken Dent. "In fact, he could go Top 10. He's been that consistent. Parker is a long shot (to qualify)."
Overall?
"We've had an up and down season," explained Coach Dent. "Parker seems to be running lately with renewed energy."
On the girls' side, the Boswell sisters (Alexandria and Brianna) haven't missed a race this year.
"Those two girls have progressed a great deal," commented Coach Dent. "It's amazing. Now, if they could only run on the weekends."
HHS' finest runner, senior Sarah Gillis, has been beset by injuries. She's also missed two races. She enters the district meet with a team-best 23:05.60 clocking at the Lukas Invitational.
Junior Jessica Jernigan has missed two races but junior Kasandra Brower has missed four races, including the past two weekends.
"We haven't heard a peep from Kasandra," recalled Coach Dent. "Nobody can get in touch with her and she hasn't explained anything to anyone. So we still don't have enough runners for a team score."
The HHS girls have recorded no team score in 6-of-7 races and placed 12th-out-of-13 in the Citrus Invitational at Whispering Pines.