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Streaks Lead The Pack

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Sebring junior Connor Bauer took the lead and never looked back in winning Tuesday’s season-opening cross country meet at Lake Placid.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: September 18, 2008

LAKE PLACID - A veteran cross country coach like Sebring's Jeff Shoemaker isn't one to get too excited about the results of the first meet of the season.

But after watching the Blue Streak girls finish first and the boys second in Tuesday's opening meet of the season at Lake Placid, Shoemaker was cautiously optimistic.

Sebring, which finished first with 40 points in the five-team meet, was paced by seniors Maxine Copley and Heather McIntyre, who finished 1-2, with Copley running the hilly terrain in 22:06 and McIntyre in 22:50.

"Those two girls prove that there is no substitute for hard work," said the Blue Streak coach. "Those are excellent times and they're in great shape for this early in the cross country season because they've been training and running twice a day.

"I'm excited and pleased with our performance, but we have plenty of room for improvement."

Lake Placid senior Erica Resendiz - who joined the Dragons just this week - led LP with a third-place finish in a time of 23:30.

"That's a pretty good time for Erica considering she hasn't been practicing," said fourth-year Green Dragon girls coach Dennis Berard. "She's a natural runner and it won't take her long to hit her stride.

"She has one speed and that's fast."

Sebring's Amanda Kennedy, Caitlyn Moulds and Lisa Ontermaa rounded out the team scoring and all showed great promise.

"Amanda had a great practice on Saturday and I knew she would run strong," said Shoemaker. "Caitlyn and Lisa really surprised me with their times and I can't wait to see how much we improve over the course of the season."

Lake Placid sophomore Thalia Espinoza came in fifth with a time of 24:15, junior captain Jessica Landers ran a 25:43, co-captain Brandy Landers came in with a 27:15 and sophomore Micaela Martinez rounded out the Green Dragon scoring with a 29:23.

"Thalia ran an easy race today," Berard said. "We don't want our kids to go out and kill themselves the first meet of the season.

"But to have Jessica, Brandy and Micaela run under thirty minutes in the first meet of the season is an excellent base for us to work from."

Clewiston placed second in the girls meet with 53, LaBelle scored 61, Lake Placid finished fourth with 63 and DeSoto had 143.

LaBelle won the boys meet with 30 points, Sebring placed second with 38, Clewiston scored 70, Lake Placid had 90 and DeSoto finished with 136.

Blue Streak junior Connor Bauer led the way with a first-place time of 16:29, which was more than 20 seconds ahead of second place.

"I'm surprised my time was that low," said Bauer. "The hills hurt my form and it's difficult to get in any kind of rhythm on this course. "I took the first mile easy, but then I kicked it in and I felt pretty good.

"This summer I trained to get in shape instead of racing to get in shape and it's made a big difference."

Sebring's Michael Polatty had a strong run, Daniel Lee was solid, David Ontermaa finished on a positive note and Taylor Martin and Alex Kennedy showed lots of potential.

"Connor is in midseason form and this is a great start for our team," said Shoemaker. "If. we work hard and things fall together, this team could do something special.

"Some of our younger guys don't have much varsity experience, but this kind of performance is something the entire team can build on."

Lake Placid's Vicente Ramos ran a team-best time of 20:20.

"I'm pleased with my performance because that's the best time I've had on this course," Ramos said. "I'm not in top shape yet and my goal is to run under nineteen minutes this season.

"I tried to keep up with Connor, but he's really fast and I've got a long ways to go to stay with him."

Julian Martinez had a good showing, Joey Forest ran hard and Brendan Orozco finished strong for the Green Dragons.

"I'm encouraged by our showing," said fourth-year Lake Placid boys coach Scott Morgan. "We don't have a lot of kids out for the team, but the ones we have are working hard to get better.

"Vicente looked good, but he isn't in top shape and if we can get the other boys to continue to lower their times, we'll be in good shape by the time the districts roll around."

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

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