This past weekend, local prep runners participated in their respective district meets. There were fast times and plenty of area qualifiers coming out of the Big Bend.

In the 3A district one meet, Lily Williams of Chiles ran a blazing time of 17:43, blowing away her competition for the win. In second was her teammate, Carly Thomas with a time of 18:32. Fellow Timberwolf, Kaia Hampton, took third with a time of 18:51. The Chiles girls easily took first overall.

The Leon girls were led by Claire Stodghill, who finished seventh in a time of 19:15. Teammate, Allison Clark, was sixteenth in a time of 20:02. Overall, the Lions took third, and will be moving on to the region meet.

Lincoln was led by a strong performance by Courtney Whitehead, who finished nineteenth in a time of 20:37. Unfortunately for Lincoln, however, their tenth place finish will not be enough to take them on to the region meet. They have had a fantastic season though, and should be commended for their dedication and perseverance.

On the boys’ side in the same meet, Leon dominated, with Matt Mizereck taking first in a time of 15:44 and Will Stanford in second with a time of 15:49. They easily secured the number one spot.

Chiles took fourth overall, led by Brandon Lingerfelt’s sixteenth place finish (16:53). Close behind were teammates, Sam Sutton (16:55), and Daniel Ross (16:55). They will be moving on to the region meet.

Lincoln’s boys were led by Jacob Slupecki’s 17:11, but sadly will not be moving on to the region meet, as they placed eleventh overall. Once again, this team deserves recognition for all their hard work this season, and they should turn out to be quite a formidable force next year.

Back home in Tallahassee, the 1A district one meet proved to be a less competitive, but still thrilling event. The host team, Maclay, took first on both the boys’ and girls’ side, asserting their local dominance. North Florida Christian’s girls’ team squeaked into the sixth spot to gain passage on to the region meet. Whitney Strickland led the boys of North Florida Christian to third place with his overall win (in a time of 16:27). Billy Naylor of Wewahitchka secured himself an individual spot at the regional starting line with his third place finish (17:16).

In Pensacola, both Godby teams moved on to the Class 2A regions (the boys were second overall and the girls were fifth overall). Dieumy Duclos was the first male Godby finisher with a second place finish in 16:47. Kendall Matthews was next with a third place finish in 16:56. Godby’s third finisher was Brandon Alexander (sixth with a 17:33). The first finisher for the girls was Christine Poole-Trice, who finished thirteenth with a 22:10. She was followed by teammate, Sonya Mitrutzova who finished in nineteenth place with a 22:51.

Overall, it was yet another fantastic showing for this area’s athletes. Next weekend, the Miccosukee Greenway will sing its swan song as the regional meet venue. With that kind of finality, you can count on area runners to make the last time through Eden Field a fast one.