Cross Country IRC Open
Source/Author: Andy Warrener, Tampa Bay Times
September 04, 2015
The Indian Rocks Christian Open opened up on a sweltering summer evening Thursday.
The JV races went off first, giving varsity runners some extra minutes to prepare. As the Varsity girls race set off, Shorecrest junior Olivia R and Tampa Prep freshman Josie Garba began to out-pace the field.
The course at IRC took three laps around various landmarks. The starting chute went through the football field and the first loop wrapped around the baseball field, coming down through the parking lot and making a loop around the school before emerging onto the track with a sharp turn to the left onto the track, before starting into the second loop; each was roughly 1 mile.
Olivia and Garba were stride-for-stride through the first mile with a pack of Berkeley Prep girls holding down the third, fourth, fifth and sixth spots.
"(Olivia) made the move early and my plan was just to stick with her," Garba said. "I had to pace it out or I was going to die from the heat."
Around for the second loop, Olivia and Garba began to put seconds on the Berkeley pack. Into the third loop, Garba made her move.
"I started to wonder if I was going to be able to pass her or not," Garba said. "But then I felt her wear down, and then just past the baseball field I made my move and just tried to put space between us. I don't have a big kick so I wanted to make my move early enough."
The longer-legged Shorecrest Charger could have run down Garba in a finish-line kick but Garba made sure it didn't come to that as she raced across the finish in 19:43.30. Olivia, recently declared cancer-free from a battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, finished with a strong 19:53.90.
"The race felt good aside from the heat," Olivia said. "My arms started to seize up with three-quarters of a mile to go but I kept pushing through it."
Olivia was thrilled to knock 50 seconds off her time from Saturday's Jim Ryun Meet in Lakeland and claims she's "110 percent, feeling better than ever."
In the boys race, Shorecrest senior Luke P flew out to an early lead pulling the pack along with him. Around the baseball field the first time, it was Luke building a lead on Berkeley Prep's Leo Ochoa with Carrollwood Day School's Jack Pironti in third, a few seconds back.
"By the second loop, I just wanted to stay with him (Luke)," Ochoa said. "He went out so fast but I felt confident."
When the runners emerged at the 2-mile mark, the Shorecrest Charger had a good five-second lead on Ochoa, and Pironti was being challenged by IRC's Justin Nunamaker, roughly 15 seconds behind Ochoa. That's when Ochoa decided to challenge a much taller Luke P.
"Into that third loop, I started to close and I thought I had a chance," Ochoa said. "Once I got to him, I made a definitive move and just started to kick out from the point where I passed him."
Rememeber that sharp turn coming onto the track? Ochoa remembers as he ate it, just yards from the finish line. Yet Ochoa, skinned knees and all, got up and kicked it out, taking first with a time of 16:10.30, which moves into the third-best run in Florida in the season.
Luke came in second with a 16:19.10, fifth best in the state. Pironti fought off a stout challenge from Nunamaker to take third in 16:53.10 and Nunamaker finished in 16:57.20.
The male Chargers roared to a team victory with 47 points to runnerup IRC's 114. CCC's boys took third with 132.
Shorecrest senior Justin S took seventh for the Chargers, and senior Casey C grabbed 10th. All five Charger boys finished in the top 18.
The meet grew in 2015. IRC coach Bobbi LaBrant said that with the same number of schools as last year's meet, there were 100 more runners on Thursday.
The Berkeley girls were dominant, with Caroline Brown leading the way for the Bucs with a 21:20.3. Christiana Till was not too far behind her at 21:41.50. Abby Walters grabbed fifth in 21:58.7 with IRC's Ava Labrant breaking up the Berkeley string with a 22:02.80 for sixth.
The Bucs finished with a razor-thin 24 points, more than doubling up Shorecrest with 57. Host IRC was third with 89.
Photo thanks to Lindsey Porter '77. More photos coming in Friday's Ebytes with our coach's write-up!
Original story: http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/hometeam/cross-country-tampa-preps-garba-berkeleys-ochoa-prevail-in-irc-open/2244151
The JV races went off first, giving varsity runners some extra minutes to prepare. As the Varsity girls race set off, Shorecrest junior Olivia R and Tampa Prep freshman Josie Garba began to out-pace the field.
The course at IRC took three laps around various landmarks. The starting chute went through the football field and the first loop wrapped around the baseball field, coming down through the parking lot and making a loop around the school before emerging onto the track with a sharp turn to the left onto the track, before starting into the second loop; each was roughly 1 mile.
Olivia and Garba were stride-for-stride through the first mile with a pack of Berkeley Prep girls holding down the third, fourth, fifth and sixth spots.
"(Olivia) made the move early and my plan was just to stick with her," Garba said. "I had to pace it out or I was going to die from the heat."
Around for the second loop, Olivia and Garba began to put seconds on the Berkeley pack. Into the third loop, Garba made her move.
"I started to wonder if I was going to be able to pass her or not," Garba said. "But then I felt her wear down, and then just past the baseball field I made my move and just tried to put space between us. I don't have a big kick so I wanted to make my move early enough."
The longer-legged Shorecrest Charger could have run down Garba in a finish-line kick but Garba made sure it didn't come to that as she raced across the finish in 19:43.30. Olivia, recently declared cancer-free from a battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, finished with a strong 19:53.90.
"The race felt good aside from the heat," Olivia said. "My arms started to seize up with three-quarters of a mile to go but I kept pushing through it."
Olivia was thrilled to knock 50 seconds off her time from Saturday's Jim Ryun Meet in Lakeland and claims she's "110 percent, feeling better than ever."
In the boys race, Shorecrest senior Luke P flew out to an early lead pulling the pack along with him. Around the baseball field the first time, it was Luke building a lead on Berkeley Prep's Leo Ochoa with Carrollwood Day School's Jack Pironti in third, a few seconds back.
"By the second loop, I just wanted to stay with him (Luke)," Ochoa said. "He went out so fast but I felt confident."
When the runners emerged at the 2-mile mark, the Shorecrest Charger had a good five-second lead on Ochoa, and Pironti was being challenged by IRC's Justin Nunamaker, roughly 15 seconds behind Ochoa. That's when Ochoa decided to challenge a much taller Luke P.
"Into that third loop, I started to close and I thought I had a chance," Ochoa said. "Once I got to him, I made a definitive move and just started to kick out from the point where I passed him."
Rememeber that sharp turn coming onto the track? Ochoa remembers as he ate it, just yards from the finish line. Yet Ochoa, skinned knees and all, got up and kicked it out, taking first with a time of 16:10.30, which moves into the third-best run in Florida in the season.
Luke came in second with a 16:19.10, fifth best in the state. Pironti fought off a stout challenge from Nunamaker to take third in 16:53.10 and Nunamaker finished in 16:57.20.
The male Chargers roared to a team victory with 47 points to runnerup IRC's 114. CCC's boys took third with 132.
Shorecrest senior Justin S took seventh for the Chargers, and senior Casey C grabbed 10th. All five Charger boys finished in the top 18.
The meet grew in 2015. IRC coach Bobbi LaBrant said that with the same number of schools as last year's meet, there were 100 more runners on Thursday.
The Berkeley girls were dominant, with Caroline Brown leading the way for the Bucs with a 21:20.3. Christiana Till was not too far behind her at 21:41.50. Abby Walters grabbed fifth in 21:58.7 with IRC's Ava Labrant breaking up the Berkeley string with a 22:02.80 for sixth.
The Bucs finished with a razor-thin 24 points, more than doubling up Shorecrest with 57. Host IRC was third with 89.
Photo thanks to Lindsey Porter '77. More photos coming in Friday's Ebytes with our coach's write-up!
Original story: http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/hometeam/cross-country-tampa-preps-garba-berkeleys-ochoa-prevail-in-irc-open/2244151
