White in, Lady Eagles out

Jaclyn White stood with her ribbon in hand, already armed with the knowledge she would have an opportunity to run at the state meet.

But as the team standings were announced, all she could do was watch as her Springstead teammates, sitting in front of her, lowered their heads in collective disappointment.

Yes, the Lady Eagles' lone senior had qualified for the following weekend's FHSAA Finals, taking place just a short drive through Dade City at Little Everglades Ranch.

But the team didn't make it out of Saturday's Class 3A, Region II Meet at Withlacoochee River Park, placing seventh with 200 points. Just the top six teams and top 15 runners moved on.

"It kind of brings down my going to states," White said. "We were hoping. We thought we had a pretty good shot. I guess people just ran faster than we thought. We've had a pretty good season."

White's season will continue thanks to a 14th-place 20:34.79. This will mark her first time at states in her final prep race.

"I ran good," White said. "I made my paces. I made my time. I did what I was supposed to do.

"It's going to be real nerve-racking (at states) since it's just me. I don't have my teammates. But I feel good. I guess I'll just try to PR (personal record) and see what I can do my senior year."

Teammate Mikayla Bogulski finished 35th in 21:48.48. Kailey Genrich posted a 22:25.70 for 47th and Sasha Spalding a 22:41.90 for 53rd.

Devon Rennie's 69th-place 23:17.47 rounded out the scoring for Springstead, a program that had never made it this far with its full team.

Wiregrass Ranch won easily with an 81. Mitchell snagged the last state berth in sixth with 166.

"I hate seventh," Springstead Head Coach Joel Myers said. "But the girls did well. We've never been to regions before. We knew it was going to be a dogfight.

"We knew we had to beat three times. We got two of them, but we had to beat Mitchell or George Jenkins (fifth, 156) and we didn't get either of them."

Central also was among the 16-team girls field, coming in 13th tallying 284. Melia Orrell ran the Lady Bears' fastest time, 22:19.37 in 45th.

Bryanna Eady (51st, 22:36.71), Makayla MacKenzie (58th, 22:53.64), Jen Maynard (74th, 23:33.46) and Michelle Nunez (76th, 23:38.36) accounted for the remaining team score.

In the boys race, Nature Coast concluded a tenuous few weeks with an eighth-place, 199 showing.

Bruce Federico finished 17th (17:27.41), Tyler Harrison 28th (17:38.43), Jeff Van Natter 48th (18:12.97), Cody Van Natter 56th, (18:25.54) and Tyler Moore 64th (18:33.75).

3A-II Girls Cross Country Results
at Dade City's Withlacoochee River Park
Final Team Results - 1. Wesley Chapel-Wiregrass Ranch (WGR) 81, 2. East Lake-Lake Region (LR) 121, 3. Land O' Lakes (LOL) 136, 4. Tampa-King (KNG) 145, 5. Lakeland-George Jenkins (GJ) 156, 6. Mitchell (MIT) 166, 7. Springstead (SPG) 200, 8. Gulf (GUL) 220, 9. Lecanto (LEC) 233, 10. Citrus (CIT) 258, 11. Bartow (BAR) 265, 12. Tampa-Sickles (SIC) 272, 13. Central (CEN) 284, 14. Seffner-Armwood (ARM) 309, 15. Lakeland (LAK) 337, 16. Plant City-Durant (DUR) 388.
Top 15 Individuals - 1. Anne-Marie Blaney (Belleview) 19:05.73, 2. Sarah Hartman (SIC) 19:28.19, 3. Chloe Benoist (LEC) 19:43.27, 4. Kelli Williams (MIT) 19:48.95, 5. Nikita Shah (WGR) 19:55.48, 6. Dayna Cline (KNG) 19:57.96, 7. Jessica Ortiz (LR) 20:03.30, 8. Ariel Grey (WGR) 20:17.42, 9. Hilary White (KNG) 20:18.92, 10. Danielle Newsome (ARM) 20:23.35, 11. Renea Porsch (LOL) 20:26.54, 12. Brandi Nichols (CIT) 20:29.65, 13. Morgan Parker (Hillsborough) 20:33.56, 14. Jaclyn White (SPG) 20:34.79, 15. Morgan Keppel (LOL) 20:48.19.
SPRINGSTEAD (200) - 14. Jaclyn White 20:34.79, 35. Mikayla Bogulski 21:48.48, 47. Kailey Genrich 22:25.70, 53. Sasha Spalding 22:41.90, 69. Devon Rennie 23:17.47, 71. Natasha Haglund 23:26.78, 99. Brittany Gosine 26:08.67.
CENTRAL (284) - 45. Melia Orrell 22:19.37, 51. Bryanna Eady 22:36.71, 58. Makayla MacKenzie 22:53.64, 74. Jen Maynard 23:33.46, 76. Michelle Nunez 23:38.36, 83. Autumn Riley 24:14.65, 98. Layla Schuster 25:54.85.

3A-II Boys Cross Country Results
at Dade City's Withlacoochee River Park
Final Team Results - 1. Wesley Chapel-Wiregrass Ranch (WGR) 70, 2. Lakeland-George Jenkins (GJ) 80, 3. Land O'Lakes (LOL) 118, 4. Ridgewood (RW) 145, 5. Sunlake (SUN) 152, 6. East Lake-Lake Region (LR) 158, 7. Seffner-Armwood (ARM) 172, 8. Nature Coast (NCT) 199, 9. Tampa-Sickles (SIC) 228, 10. Mitchell (MIT) 237, 11. Plant City-Durant (DUR) 277, 12. Citrus (CIT) 278, 13. Gulf (GUL) 285, 14. Bartow (BAR) 366, 15. Tampa-King (KNG) 372, 16. Tampa-Hillsborough (HIL) 402.
Top 15 Individuals - 1. Matt Schwartz (LOL) 16:28.57, 2. Alex Foss (GJ) 16:34.43, 3. Ryan Pulsifer (WGR) 16:40.20, 4. Delonzo Sharp (WGR) 16:42.98, 5. Benjamin Hilton (ARM) 16:53.98, 6. Gary Salomon (LR) 16:57.33, 7. Fransua Estrada (LR) 17:04.22, 8. Timothy Wenger (CIT) 17:06.63, 9. Samuel Olds (GJ) 17:08.25, 10. Hendrix Lafontant (LOL) 17:12.01, 11. Jose Perez (Haines City) 17:12.30, 12. Taylor Hawks (MIT) 17:13.15, 13. Joseph Lonsway (LOL) 17:13.97, 14. Tyler Camacho (RW) 17:15.05, 15. Mason Chilmonczyk (RW) 17:15.30.
NATURE COAST (199) - 17. Bruce Federico 17:27.41, 28. Tyler Harrison 17:38.43, 48. Jeff Van Natter 18:12.97, 56. Cody Van Natter 18:25.54, 64. Tyler Moore 18:33.75, 77. Jason Black 19:03.34, 92. Stephen Murphy 19:35.03.