While some teams such as FSU High School, JPII, Lincoln, Maclay, and North Florida Christian remained in town this past weekend to train and prepare for the end of the season, other teams generated speedy times on the road. Both Chiles and Leon entered the competition at the Little Everglades Pre-State Invitational held on the state course in Dade City.

The girls of Chiles had impressive performances in the elite race. Lily Williams completed the course in a quick time of 17:44, earning her second place. Teammate Carly Thomas dropped below the eighteen-minute barrier for the first time with her fourth place 17:55. Jodie McGuff ran an eighteenth place 18:44 helping to secure the team’s third place. The Leon ladies participated in the large schools competition, and Brooke Eubanks finished in 20:36 for twenty-fourth place. Autumn Wable (20:51) earned thirty-seventh, and their team placed fifteenth. In the elite competition for the boys, Riley Dougherty ran a time of 15:36 which put him in fifteenth. Twenty seconds later, his teammate John Hazelton stopped the clock at 15:56. About a second later, Taylor Buzzard (15:57) of Chiles finished in thirty-second. In this race of over two hundred competitors, the Lions claimed sixth place and the Timberwolves came in twenty-fourth.

At the 2nd Annual Mosley Dolphin Dash in Lynn Haven, Astrid Martinez (27:10) of Godby was the first finisher for her team in thirty-second. Godby’s Dieumy Duclos crushed the competition by over forty seconds with his 16:54. In thirteenth place, George Stoney, also of Godby, ran an 18:24. Two Godby freshmen, Jarod Hoffman (20:04) and Josh Colvin (20:22), received thirty-second and thirty-sixth respectively. Overall, Godby earned fifth place. Rickards was led by Malchom Ford (20:55), and the team was eleventh. A little closer to Tallahassee, the Panhandle Cross Country Championships will be held in Marianna this Saturday. Expect some fast times and close races, especially after the times posted this weekend!