This past Friday brought costumes, candy, and fun, and not just because it was Halloween. For the handful of area runners who made their way to Maclay that afternoon to partake in the City Championship, the festivities got started early, and, as promised, there was most definitely mud.

The girls’ race saw Maclay taking first, Florida High second, and Lincoln third. The Marauder girls used the race as a nice home course tempo before heading into the post season. Jana Stolting (Maclay) led the way, finishing first in a time of 18:49. Teammates Shelby Salimone (20:39) and Kristin Sweeney (21:10) finished second and third respectively. Florida High had a strong block of runners, with Allie Murray taking sixth (22:50), Isabella Yue in eighth (22:57), and Amy Murray in tenth (22:59). Lincoln’s girls were led by a fourth place finish from Courtney Whitehead (21:17). Teammate Jennifer Zou finished seventh with a 22:53.

On the boys’ side, Lincoln took the overall title, with Marianna finishing second and Florida High finishing third. The Trojans were led by a first place finish from Connor Holcombe (17:33). Close behind was teammate Jacob Slupecki in second with a time of 17:42. Fellow Trojan, Cody Vincent, finished eighth with a time of 18:19. Marianna’s Mike Davis finished third with a time of 17:48, and teammates Joseph Gibson (18:44) and Chris Washington (18:46) finished thirteenth and fourteenth respectively. Just as they did in the girls’ race, Florida High’s boys had a very strong block of runners, taking fifth (Trey Edwards 17:52), sixth (Robert Abellera 18:01), and seventh (Anthony Mederos 18:12).

In the middle school 3k, the More Otters took the boys’ title, led by a win from Travis Covert (10:54). The girls’ race did not have any scoring teams, but Cece Williams finished first (11:05) and Stephanie Kurgatt was second with a time of 11:10.

Perhaps the most important title of the evening, the winner of the costume contest, went to Florida High. For full viewing pleasure, I suggest taking a look at the photo galleries posted at www.maclayrunners.com. The pictures of the runners passing through the holding pond section of the course are pretty entertaining.

Once again, it was another week of great running from area athletes. With the regular season now officially over, the countdown to State has begun. Districts will begin this coming week, and soon, Dade City will play host to the final showdown.