Local Sports

Streaks run well at North Port

Photos

Highlands Today
Published: September 26, 2012

The Sebring boys and girls cross-country teams competed in the North Port Invitational on Saturday and had some solid efforts, especially for still being early in the season.

The Blue Streak girls finished fifth out of 16 teams and were paced by Taylor Tubbs, who finished second out of 116 runners with a time of 18:53.

"I accomplished my seasonlong goal early in, and now I'm just looking forward to see what the rest of the season has in store for me," Tubbs said.

Hannah Schroeder was ninth in 20:46, followed by Ashley Castelli (37th, 23:24), Febe Murillo (54th, 24:14), Laura Eshelman (67th, 24:48), Katie Stoll (89th) and Cassandra Marentes (90th).

"It was a nice course and the weather was pretty good," Castelli said. "I enjoyed the race a bunch."

Sebring coach Krista Schult said it was a good effort from the team.

"From a coach's viewpoint, this was an absolutely wonderful race," she said. "Having two girls place in the top 10 at this competitive meet is amazing. Almost all the girls, varsity and JV, either lifetime PR'd or season PR'd. This race was definitely a confidence booster for the rest of our season."

The Blue Streaks JV team placed ninth out of 12 teams and was led by Ashley White, who was 57th out of 152 runners in 26:16.

The Sebring boys placed 15th out of 21 teams in the team standings and were led by Eric Foster, who crossed the finish line in 17:21, followed by Wesley Koning, who set a new personal record with a time of 18:05.

"I was shooting for mid-17s and that's what I got. I could not be any happier," Foster said. "My goal for the season would be to break 17 and run a 5k in the 16s."

Damian foster placed third on the team with a time of 18:31, followed by Grey Lawrence (19:18) and Timothy Koning (19:48).

"I could not be any more proud of my boys," said Sebring coach Renee Marin Gomez. "They are a dedicated group and the season has just begun."

The Blue Streaks will head to Titusville on Friday for the Flrunners.com Invitational 2012.

"It will be the largest meet we attend all year and we look forward to running like we did at North Port there," Gomez said. "We have a tough couple of days ahead of us, but by Friday we will be ready."

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