Madness in Miccosukee

It is quite a sight – almost 190 high school runners mixed in with another 120 or so of their elders, streaking across a grass field. Cross country is a sport for tough guys and girls; you can almost imagine the streaking runners above as an army sprinting across the meadows and fields to do battle. There was in fact a general who quickly separated himself from this mass. Godby High School’s Joe Franklin made a statement that he intends to lead the warriors in cross country the same way he did in track – with complete command. He started the 2007 season with a 16:13 win in the 5K; it should be fun watching to see where he ends it. The top girl was Maclay’s Emily Ness who broke the 20 minute barrier on this tough course by running 19:56. Joe was followed in the 5K by Angelo Lupurdo who ran 17:04. Gary Droze proved even injured old men can make a go of it by taking third in 17:08. Emily was followed to the line by Micah Adriani who ran 20:24 and teammate Katy Swain who was one second back at 20:25.

It is a hard thing to watch all those 5K runners head for the finish just past the three mile mark before starting up the grass hill toward the woods on the other side but that is exactly what you have to do if you are running the 8K. The fourth mile may not have the biggest hill, but it is the longest mile in the 8K. There were 109 hearty souls who took the challenge and climbed that hill to finish the longer race. Seth Proctor did it best and he took the men’s title with a time of 27:42. Sheryl Rosen ran past me to take the women’s title in 32:31. Second place in the men’s race went to Reynolds Griner in a time of 30:20. Manny Gutierrez-Lovett grabbed the third spot in 30:58.

While the day may have had just a slightly cooler start than some of the hot ones we have had lately, it was boiling by 9:10 or so when the 3K started. That didn’t stop Sam McManama from winning in a time of 11:58. What almost did stop him though was Carly Thomas who was only one second back in 11:59 and the top female runner. Will Henderson, 12:01, Travis Covert, 12:04, and Rachael Givens, 12:49, rounded out the top five.

Thanks to all the hard working volunteers working under the direction of Tom Perkins and Mike Sims. A tip of the hat again to Paul Heirs who first had the idea of making this race a joint venture with the high school teams and GWTC. Tom and Mike have made it special. And thanks to Mike Rupp for donating so many shirts for the high school runners.

Complete results

Fred’s photos, well worth the look: http://picasaweb.google.com/Freddecka/MiccosukeeMadness07