- April 19, 2024
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Runners splash through a puddle: FPC's Megan Swearingen (49) and Taylor Novak (44), Mainland's Hannah Gilbert (210) and Veronica O'Brien (217) and Fleming Island's Ava Hendrix (86). Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Jada Williams finished fourth in the girls' 5K race with a time of 20:56.5. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas' Zach Spooner finished finished 11th with a time of 17:52.4. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Runners in a pack early in the girls race. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Four Seabreeze runners finished in the top 20 of the girls' race: Mackenzie Roy (471), Ella Chandler (453), Ariana Roy (470) and Nicole Dane (456). Photo by Brent Woronoff
The start of the girls race. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Flagler County Fairgrounds course at the Spikes & Spurs Classic was a muddy mess with puddles so deep the water came up to the runners’ ankles.
Running through the woods was like running through a swamp, stench and all.
"Cross country is about getting gross and dirty and running your heart out.”
ZACH SPOONER, Matanzas
And Matanzas junior Zach Spooner loved it.
Spooner finished ninth among boys at the 10th annual meet hosted by Flagler Palm Coast High School on Saturday, Aug. 28. Times were slow for most of the 686 competitors, but Spooner ran a personal-record 17:52.4.
“I love this course,” he said. “It just rained and it was all muddy and the woods smelled disgusting. Cross country is about getting gross and dirty and running your heart out.”
Spooner led the Matanzas boys to a sixth-place finish among 14 teams. FPC finished fifth with Sean Gilliam leading the Bulldogs with a 15th-place individual finish, timing at 18:36.0.
FPC’s Jada Williams finished fourth in the girls' race with a time of 20:56.5.
“For my first race of the season I’m pretty happy with it,” said Williams, who finished 10th at the Class 4A state championships last season.
Williams finished 1.9 seconds behind third-place finisher Samantha Hansen of Ocala Vanguard.
“If I could have taken two or three more steps a little faster maybe I could have gotten her,” Williams said. “It was a really hard course, a lot of unavoidable puddles. The woods were very muddy. You had to keep your balance. You had to be very strategic where you step. But everyone had to deal with the same conditions.”
Seabreeze’s Tyler Herndon, who finished 14th among boys, said the gravel spread over the mud in the woods made the terrain feel like quicksand with pebbles.
“It was like running through a bowl of cereal,” he said.
“Your feet would sink in the water and your shoes would get really heavy,” Seabreeze’s Mackenzie Roy said.
“The hardest part,” said Seabreeze’s Ariana Roy was being able to pass people and pick it up and slow down on turns.”
Ponte Vedra won the girls’ team title with 46 points, followed by Ocala Vanguard (87) and Seabreeze (109). Seabreeze’s Nicole Dane (11th), Ariana Roy (15th), Mackenzie Roy (16th) and Ella Chandler (19th) all finished among the top 20.
FPC finished seventh and Matanzas was 10th with Olivia Kemp leading the Pirates with a 12th-place finish.
West Forsyth (Georgia) won the boys’ title with Vanguard finishing second.
