Dark and early Saturday morning, lanterns and floodlights shone through a thick mist giving Tallahassee’s Apalachee Regional Park an eerie atmosphere. As the buses and cars continued rolling up, a gorgeous sunrise slowly rolled the fog off the course, revealing its excellent condition. Volunteers have worked tirelessly to continually improve the ARP in hopes that runners will be able to enjoy racing on this Tallahassee park. Their hard work came to fruition Saturday at the FSU Invitational. Teams trekked from all over to compete at this venue, and the fact that there were six packed races clearly suggested that both the course and the event were a success!

At 7:45, the gun sent the boys’ invitational race flying. Coming across the line first from Tallahassee, Taylor Buzzard of Chiles finished twelfth with a time of 16:17. He led Chiles to seventh overall in this highly competitive race. Next in the rankings, Leon was eleventh, and their leading pack included Ben McMahon (16:44 – 31st), Zac Buchholz (16:45 – 33rd), and Will Henderson (16:48-37th). Both Jacob Slupecki (16:29) and Trevor Touchton (16:36) placed well for Lincoln in seventeenth and twenty-third, and they helped their team to thirteenth. Led by Travis Covert (16:56 -45th), Maclay was sixteenth.

As the sun and humidity became a bit more pronounced, the girls’ invitational began. Once again, Chiles was the first team represented from Tallahassee. Passing the second and third place girls near the end, Lily Williams claimed first place in 18:00. With her teammates Carly Thomas (18:27) in fourth and Rachel Givens (18:58) in sixth, the lady Timberwolves brought home gold! Stefanie Kurgatt was fifth in 18:41, which helped Maclay’s ladies to sixth. In this aggressive field, Lincoln was eighteenth, and Florida High was nineteenth.

After the first two waves of fierce invitational competitions, there were varsity boys’ and varsity girls’ races. Despite the steadily increasing temperature and the unbearable humidity, Florida High’s team was tenth in the boys’ race, followed by NFC in eleventh. Godby was sixteenth, and John Paul II was nineteenth. Individually, Luke Strickland was the area’s first finisher with his thirteenth-place 17:58. In the ladies’ section, Leon was fifth, and John Paul II was twelfth. Autumn Wable of Leon was third in the race!
It is rare for all of Tallahassee’s teams to compete in one event, but this weekend showcased some stiff competition and fast times. The hard work that has been put into the course was much appreciated by the athletes from near and far, and as always, the race day crew did a fantastic job!