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JOHN SCHWARBThree weeks after state, Ben Martucci runs his best time at the Foot Locker South Regional.
For the younger members of the Hernando cross country team, the Foot Locker South Regional race has been a staple of the season since 1992.
The Leopards would train for one more week after the state meet then travel out of town to compete against some of the best runners from the Southeast.
This year, there was a twist, with three weeks between the Nov. 8 state meet and the Foot Locker race, Nov. 29 in Charlotte, N.C. As Hernando coach Ernie Chatman said, it can be a bit tougher to keep the squad together for the extra time as other activities and holidays start to interfere.
Ben Martucci certainly did not have a problem, however.
The freshman turned in a personal best of 17 minutes, 24 seconds over 3.1 miles in the Foot Locker freshman race, placing 26th overall and third among Floridians. The time was 28 seconds better than his effort at the Class 2A state meet and 18 seconds faster than his previous best, a 17:42 at the Oct. 18 conference meet.
"I was quite pleased with it," Chatman said. "He got behind early. He was late to the starting line and had some masses to work through. Had he gotten a little more contact with the top 20, I think he would have stayed there."
Ben's twin brother, Andrew, finished 55th (18:10), and Thomas Mountain, now playing on the Leopards soccer team, finished 132nd (20:03). In the juniors race, Bret Chatman finished 118th in 17:50 on a 38-degree day. "Certainly when they were shivering and couldn't tie their shoelaces, I didn't know what to expect," Chatman said.
"But it's a good experience to see that type of running environment. Hopefully, we can use it as motivation for track and cross country next year."