Myers eighth in Georgia XC
Fleming Island High junior cross country runner Graham Myers added to his top 10 finishes against top competition with an eighth place finish at the Wingfoot XC Classic in Cartersville, Ga., on September 24.
With many of the top Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama teams in attendance, Myers registered a 15 minute, 27.10 second finish for eighth against the winning time of 15:06.20 set by Holy Innocents Episcopal School senior Joe Sapone. Holy Innocents boys team was second in Georgia last year. Sapone was top state finisher in sixth place last year.
Second place went to Maxwell Hardin of Auburn High in Alabama (6th in Alabama 7A last year) in 15:07.10 with Tommy Latham of Marist High, Brookhaven, GA, third at 15:14.10. Latham, only a sophomore, ran a 15:10.8 last week in Huntsville, AL.
In the packed field, the top 23 runners finished in under 16 minutes with Myers the lone Florida athlete.
Fleming Island finished seventh in the field of 24 teams with 274 points while Brentwood High (TN) won with 70 ahead of St. Anthony’s 129 as runnerup. Brentwood, the Tennessee Large Class two-time state champion last year and third-ranked in the southeast in 2022 (Creekside High second and Belen Jesuit Prep, both in Florida, are number one), had three runners in the top 15. Brentwood’s Brody Chapman, fifth in Tennesse last year, took fifth at Wingfoot in 15:20.50.
For the Golden Eagles, John Keester IV finished at 32nd with a 16:08.30 split for one of his fastest times of 2022 with Danny Sakowski 7u8th as the Golden Eagles third finisher in 16:47.10, also a fast time.
Fleming Island had a third finisher under 17 minutes; Jacob Campbell, a sophomore, in 16:54.70 for 90th.
In the girls championship race, Fleming Island finished 13th of 24 teams led by
Katelyn Thompson’s 19:54.40 for 52nd, Reese Scott at 55th in 19:55.50 and Allie Knotts in 58th in 19:58.00.
In the supercharged top finishers of the field, Marist High’s Ruby Little scorched for the win in 18:08.50 with Carmel Yonas of South Forsyth second in 18:13.30. The top 15 were all under 19 minutes.
Auburn High won the girls team title with 106 points just ahead of Brentwood at 115 and Marist at 188. Fleming Island finished with 356 team points.
In a freshman only race, Fleming Island’s Brooke Reynolds won the overall title in 20:55.00 with teammate Chloe Bourre 11th in 21:35.70.

OHS Barrera 11th at Caples XC
Oakleaf High senior Sierra Barrera finished 11th at the Katie Caples XC Invitational at Bishop Kenny High on September 24 to lead area runners at that event.
Barrera, in the elite girls race, finished in a pack of four runners that charged the finish line just under the 19:20 mark with the overall win going to Ponte Vedra junior Lindy White in 18:29.00 in a decisive front running win over Ava Wyant of Master’s Academy in Orlando who was second in 18:37.34.
In the varsity boys race held separately, Orange Park finished fifth and St. Johns Country Day School was seventh behind winner Bartram Trail who missed a cross country shutout (15Pts) with 18 points. Bartram Trail had all five scoring runners in the top 10 finishers between 17:27.76 and 18 minutes.
St. Johns Richard Nichols was top area finisher in ninth at 18:32.83 with Orange Park’s Ethan Cobb at 17th in 19:21.76.
In the girls varsity race, St. Johns sophmore Rebecca Stratton was third in 21:45.74 with Clay High’s Kaygen Williamson sixth in 22:09. St. Johns was second to Bartram Trail, 33-64, in team points.
For Middle School boys, Jack Strombeck of Oakleaf Junior High, was seventh in 10:44l82 for 3Km.
In varsity boys, 5Km, Oakleaf senior Duane Lee was top finisher in seventh at 17:55.21.

KHHS Griffin second at Suwannee XC
Keystone Heights High junior Tyler Griffin finished second in 17 minutes, 27.20 seconds at the Suwannee County XC Invitational held September 24 at Heritage Park and Gardens in Live Oak, FL.
Keystone Heights boys finished sixth in the field of eight with Suwannee landing four runners in the top 10 for the team title with 37 points; Columbia second with 51.
In the girls race, Olivia Griffin, an eighth grader at Keystone Heights, was top finisher in eighth place in 22:44.80. PK Yonge had four finishers in the top 10 led by twin freshman sisters Paulina and Ellie Cervantes coming in 1-2 at 20:54.90 and 21:19.30.

Joel Nesi tabbed as PBC Runner of the Week

ST. AUGUSTINE - Flagler College’s Joel Nesi was selected as the Peach Belt Conference Runner of the Week for the first time in his career, released by conference officials on Tuesday. Nesi is a graduate from Ridgeview High School in Clay County. Nesi, a two-time all-conference runner, opened his season at the Eastern Florida State College Fall Classic on Saturday, Sept. 10. Nesi crossed the finish line of the 8-K course at 26:00.5 to secure fifth place on the 78-man field. The junior ran an average 5:13.9 mile and holds the fastest 8k time in the Peach Belt this season so far by almost a full minute. Nesi helped lead the Saints to a third-place finish among seven teams.

KHHS Guy 26:31 for Mocs
SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Florida Southern men’s cross country team used a strong team performance to take second place at the Abbey Invitational hosted by Saint Leo University Saturday morning. The top-five Moccasin finishers all placed inside the top-20 to outpace the host Lions for second. The only program to finish ahead of the Mocs was Embry-Riddle whom FSC faced in the opening meet of the season as well. Former Keystone Heights High School cross country and track standout Alex Guy, a Florida Southern senior, finished just over a second behind in eighth place in 26:22.71.
Freshman Anthony Matthew led a group of four Mocs who finished seventh through 11th to score valuable points for the team. Matthew took seventh overall after completing the 8K course in 26:21.31. Freshman Christian Giller finished two spots back in 10th at 26:31.48 while junior Bryson Yamnitz just missed out on a top-10 showing with an 11th place finish after stopping the clock at 26:33.30.