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Setting A Torrid Pace

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Sebring junior speedster Connor Bauer finished third in the Class 2A state cross country meet in Tampa to cap a brilliant season for himself and the Blue Streaks.

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By MARK PINSON Highlands Today

Published: December 28, 2008

SEBRING - Combining natural ability with an incredible work ethic, Sebring's Connor Bauer continued to set the pace in the Heartland for boys high school cross country this past season.

Bauer, a fleet-footed junior, finished second at the district meet, third at the regional competition and capped his remarkable season with an eight-place finish at the Class 2A state meet with a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 59 seconds over the five kilometer course.

"Connor is a natural runner and has the perfect build for cross country," said veteran Sebring coach Jeff Shoemaker. "He is very efficient with his running form and he covers a lot of ground easily.

"He is a hard worker, a tenacious competitor and is a delight to coach."

For his outstanding ability and accomplishments, Bauer has been selected, for the third consecutive year, as Highlands Today's 2008 All-Heartland Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.

"Connor continues to work to lower his times," said Shoemaker. "He is an elite runner and is only going to get better."

Bauer was happy to help his team reach their goals for the 2008 season.

"I was happy with how the season went," said Bauer. "We qualified as a team for regionals, which was our goal, and I was able to break the sixteen minute mark and finish in the top ten at state, which was my goal when the season began.

"I'm going to keep training hard and I'm looking forward to next year."

The Team

Vicente Ramos, junior, Lake Placid Ramos used his work ethic and enthusiasm for running to lead the Green Dragons to a successful season in 2008.

Ramos had a personal-best time of 18:44 and has the ability to go lower.

"Vicente is a natural runner and showed great leadership during the season," said Lake Placid boys coach Scott Morgan. "He is one of those kids that doesn't have to work hard to perform well, but he does work hard and is a pleasure to coach.

"He should be a force for us next year."

David Ontermaa, senior, Sebring Ontermaa was a co-captain for the Blue Streaks and ran a personal-best time of 19:28 in his fourth season of cross country competition.

"David has a great work ethic and he kept an even pace and lowered his time during his four years of varsity competition," said Shoemaker. "He always strived for his best and was a team leader on and off the course."

Alex Kennedy, senior, Sebring Kennedy, in his fourth year of varsity competition, ran a personal-best time of 19:38 and helped the Blue Streaks boys squad qualify for the regional meet with a fifth-place finish at districts.

"Alex gained a lot of upper body strength and is a real competitor," Shoemaker said. "He took on more of a leadership role as the season progressed and always gave a great effort.

"He was a consistent performer and was a key reason we made it to regionals."

Michael Polatty, junior, Sebring Polatty, in his third year of cross country, had a personal-best time of 18:46.

"Michael had a solid season and if he keeps working hard, has a chance to be a force for us next year," said the Blue Streak coach. "He's a tough competitor and combines that with a lot of talent."

Jimmy Polatty, senior, Sebring In his fourth year of varsity competition, Polatty, a co-captain, ran a personal-best time of 20:23.

"Jimmy really improved from his freshman year," said Shoemaker. "He slimmed down and became a solid contributor to the team.

"He loves to run long distances and that's important in cross country."

Taylor Martin, junior, Sebring Martin came on strong as the season progressed and gave he Blue Streak squad a boost with his times.

"Taylor really worked hard to lower his times and made a real contribution to the team," Shoemaker said. "His improvement was one of the reasons we were able to make it out of districts and qualified for regionals.

"He has a good work ethic and I'm looking forward to seeing how much he improves by next year."

Honorable Mention

Donavon White, freshman, Sebring White made quite an impact as a first-year runner for the Blue Streaks with a personal-best time of 20:22.

"It usually takes freshmen a while to get the hang of varsity competition," said Shoemaker. "But Donavon came on strong and worked hard to get better.

"He is very coachable and is only going to get better."

Colton Dillon, freshman, Sebring Dillon improved tremendously over the course of the season and finished with a personal-best time of 20:28 for the Blue Streaks.

"Colton is a quick learner and proved that during the season," the Sebring coach said. "He has a good work ethic and gives us another solid runner coming back next year.

"We're going to lose some talented runners to graduation, but we've got a talented nucleus of runners coming back to build around."

Coach Of The Year

For providing guidance and veteran leadership for a boys team that qualified for regionals with a fifth-place finish at districts, and helping to develop the talent of phenom Connor Bauer, Sebring's Jeff Shoemaker has been selected as Highlands Today's 2008 All-Heartland Boys Cross Country Coach of the year.

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com.

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