Streaks Run Into Regionals

Connor Bauer breezed to a second-place finish, and the Sebring boys and girls cross country teams qualified for regionals together for the first time since 2005 on Thursday at the Class 2A-District 5 meet at Lake Park.

Bauer found a comfortable place early and was never pushed for second place in 16 minutes, 30 seconds, a time coach Jeff Shoemaker said is hardly his talented junior's best.

"It's a good time," Shoemaker said. "He has two more races, so it's not going to be an all-out affair until state.

"That's when he'll be shooting for the 15s."

The Sebring girls are headed to regionals for the second straight season behind seniors Heather McIntyre and Maxine Copley, who finished 11th and 12th, respectively, to qualify individually.

The Blue Streak pair crossed the finish just one second apart (McIntyre in 21:56 and Copley in 21:57), with McIntyre closing at the end.

"Heather didn't lead until the last 400 yards," Shoemaker said, chuckling about the close finish. "There's not any kind of grudge match there. They're both captains, but for all they knew, one or two places could've made the difference (to make the top 15)."

Caitlyn Moulds ran a personal-best 23:16 to boost a Sebring team missing junior Amanda Kennedy, who was injured. Sophomore Lisa Ontermaa followed with a 24:54, while freshman Emily Smith rounded out Streaks's scoring with a 27:24.

"Caitlyn has really improved this year," Shoemaker said. "She's running her best right now, and it's definitely the right time."

The Sebring boys finished sixth with 157 points to make a date for regionals, paced by senior David Ontermaa, who was second for the Streaks in 19:27, while Alex Kennedy finished in 19:37, followed by junior Michael Polatty in 19:51 and freshman Colton Dillon ran his personal best to round out Sebring's scoring with a 20:28.

The Class 2A-Region 3 meet is set for an early 7:30 a.m. start (boys start at 8:15 a.m.) on Nov. 14 at Estero Community Park.

"For these kids, this is our bowl game," Shoemaker said. "It's a good reason to train hard for another week. It's a fun thing for them, a reward for seniors and motivation for underclassmen.

"It shows if you take it seriously, it's something you can stride for."