Rough day in the office

The swirl of controversy continued to trail the Nature Coast Technical boys cross country program at the crowded 17-team Class 3A, District 3 Meet Thursday evening at Crews Lake Park.
On the positive side, no discipline was issued for the three thinclads (Bruce Federico, Tyler Harrison, Tyler Moore) for opting out of competing in the Nov. 29 Hernando/Citrus Classic at McKethan Lake.
The trio was facing the threat of in-school suspensions for the actions that afternoon in not participating in the race.
Another runner, junior David Cross, did compete at McKethan Lake, but shouldn't have.  He broke a county rule in the process because he failed to attend school prior to the race that day.
Because Cross ran in the race (he did well finishing 10th overall), NCT's first year Athletic Director Kristin Peeples interceded and forfeited the Sharks' Hernando County Championship.
As the story broke in Hernando Today, the first-year Head Coach Trevor Barlow, who failed to check Cross' attendance last Thursday, abruptly resigned.
Peeples, a former cross country coach, took over the reins of the program on the fly Thursday morning.
"He's (Barlow) got a lot on his plate right now," explained Peeples on why Barlow suddenly quit coaching. You'd have to ask him for specifics.
"He was at a point where he was gonna make a decision (to either stay or go)," added Peeples.
How'd the kids' react to Barlow resigning?
"We really didn't talk about it," she said. "It wasn't discussed. We came out here to compete."
Fortunately for NCT, the Sharks arrived with Federico, Harrison, Moore and Cross in the starting line-up.
The Sharks fared well as Federico (fourth) and Harrison (eighth), finishing among the Top 10. The Van Natter brothers, Cody and Jeff, followed in 26th and 27th place respectively. The team appeared to easily earn third place.
But then more controversy.
NCT's fifth runner, Cross, used a right-arm shiver at the finish line against another competitor to apparently earn 43rd place. But the shiver happened in plain view of several coaches. A jury of appeals was called and Cross was ultimately disqualified from the race. His point totals were expunged for a second straight race.
Because of the disqualification, instead, of finishing third, NCT finished fifth overall as the Sharks' fifth finisher was Moore in 59th place.
Despite the DQ, NCT finished within the Top 8 teams to advance to Class 3A, Region II Meet set for Nov. 14 at Withlacoochee River Park in Dade City.
Neither Central, which was edged out by three points by Citrus for eighth place, nor Springstead (13th) advanced from Crews Lake officially ending their season.
Central skipper Eric Milholland, who ran the meet, said afterward, "We knew it was gonna be close. And it was. But a couple of guys didn't run like they're capable of. These things (not qualifying) happen."
  
Reaction to the proceedings
 
Federico, who posted a 3.1-mile 17:02.55 clocking said after his race, "I felt alright. I was glad we were able to run today," said the 18-year-old. "I feel like I didn't run to my potential. As a team, we did well. My goal next week is finish top three."
Like Federico, Harrison is also a senior, potentially running his final prep race.
"The weather helped today; it was nice and cool," said Harrison, who turns 18 on Sunday. "Overall, this is a tough course. But the biggest thing was us just being allowed to run. We've been fighting (thought of not running in districts) all week. It was tough. It's really hard to focus when you don't know if you're running or not. I'm glad we were able to run."
"We're very proud of them (advancing)," commented Coach Peeples. "It was kinda a relief to put a team out there. We had a disqualification today. But he can run if the team makes states."
Next week's goal?
"At this point, we have to look at where we are," she replied. "Then we'll formulate a plan. It's been a long day. We need to get some stuff in place before next week."

3A-3 Boys Cross Country Results at Shady Hills' Crews Lake Park
Final Team Results - 1. Wesley Chapel-Wiregrass Ranch (WGR) 39, 2. New Port Richey-Ridgewood (RW) 98, 3. Land O'Lakes (LOL) 99, 4. Land O'Lakes-Sunlake (SNL) 110, 5. Brooksville-Nature Coast Technical (NCT) 351, 6. NPR-Mitchell (MIT) 185, 7. NPR-Gulf (GF) 208, 8. Inverness-Citrus (CIT) 231, 9. Brooksville-Central (CEN) 234, 10. Candler-Lake Weir (LW) 239, 11. Leesburg (LEES) 302, 12. Lecanto (LEC) 322, 13. Spring Hill-Springstead (SPG) 354, 14. Belleview (BELL) 364, 15. NPR-River Ridge (RR) 368, 16. Dunnellon (DUN) 436, 17. Zephyrhills (ZHS) 503.
Top 15 Individuals - 1. Matt Schwartz (LOL) 16:32.88, 2. Ryan Pulsifer (WGR) 16:44.60, 3. Delonzo Sharp (WGR) 16:44.95, 4. Bruce Federico (NCT) 17:02.55, 5. Tyler Camacho (RW) 17:04.40, 6. Timothy Wenger (CIT) 17:08.11, 7. Joshua Reilly (WGR) 17:09.53, 8. Tyler Harrison (NCT) 17:12.21, 9. Tyler Best (GF) 17:16.91, 10. Hendrix Lafontant (LOL) 17:17.94, 11. Robert Carlisle (LEES) 17:18.91, 12. Mason Chilmonczyk (RW) 17:20.40, 13. Ian Cassette (WGR) 17:20.91, 14. Ermias Bireda (WGR) 17:24.12, 15. Logan Selzer (WGR) 17:27.71.
Fr Anthony Plourde (PAS) 16:29.5, 2. Nathaniel Buchanan (KH) 16:35.4, 3. Brandon Kempton (CR) 16:48.7, 4. Derik Hannigan (CR)
NATURE COAST (123) - 4. Bruce Federico 17:02.55, 8. Tyler Harrison 17:12.21, 26. Cody Van Natter 17:50.30, 27. Jeff Van Natter 18:02.39, 59. Tyler Moore 18:53.62, 61. Jason Black 18:56.55, David Cross-disqualified.
CENTRAL (234) - 33. Jacob Stough 18:14.07, 44. Mason MacKenzie 18:31.36, 46. Ed D'Angelo 18:35.19, 51. Tyler Stambaugh 18:42.15, 64. Zachary Hall 19:17.18, 92. Gabriel Wineburger 20:44.84, 101. Steven Muriel 21:25.02,
SPRINGSTEAD (354) - 29. Drew Fulcher 18:05.66, 58. Michael Rosenzweig 18:51.02, 79. Michael Hogeland 19:45.81, 90. Jovaniel Decene 20:24.32, 102. Caleb Shellabarger 21:28.51, 109. Mark Lombardi 21:59.81, 112. Andre Chamizo 22:22.30.