TAMPA - Alonso's Matt Broderick was in position to reclaim his title at the Millard Shumate Invitational. But Plant's Jeremy Meyer denied him Tuesday, pulling away to win in 17:01 and defeating the defending champion by 11 seconds at Picnic Island Park.
"Jeremy's a good runner," Broderick said. "For him, that was like a training run. I'm not disappointed. We have Florida Runners (meet) on Saturday so that's something to look forward to."
Meyer and Broderick were within a few feet of one another from the start. The pair stayed in the main pack, then passed Jefferson freshman Evander Jones for the lead at 2 miles. Jones finished fourth at 17:53.
"We got to the second mile and they cut in front of me and they were way in front of (Riverview's Matt Sprigg). The whole time we were even and I went ahead. Then, they caught me. It was real good strategy."
Sprigg led a contingent of three Sharks in the top six, as Riverview outpaced Plant by 36 points for the team title.
On the girls' side, Sara Petrick led a one-two Academy of the Holy Names finish. Aileen Fletcher finished in 21:08, 13 seconds behind Petrick, as AHN finished second. Top honors went to Sickles, which placed four of five runners in the top 11. Fourth-place Shannon Kelly, second as a freshman in 2002, led the way, rounded out by Jenny Snyder at 22:13.
Bloomingdale sweeps team titles at Wharton meet
TAMPA - Paige Williams of East Bay and Ryan Courtoy of Armwood won the individual portions of the Wharton Invitational on Tuesday.
Williams defeated runnerup Jacklyn Johnson of Bloomingdale by 21 seconds. Courtoy nipped Kyle Koontz of Bloomingdale by .42 seconds, 18:03.10 to 18:03.52.
Johnson and Koontz led Bloomingdale to both team titles. The Bulls placed three girls among the top 10 finishers and four among the boys.
