LECANTO - Just try finding fault with the Lecanto girls' performance at the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships.
Hmmm ... well, despite the team's cleaning of its home bleachers after the meet Thursday, there were a few stray pieces of popcorn remaining. Also, the Panthers did not score points in the 100 meters and only one point in the 200.
Nitpicking? Sure. The rest of Lecanto's day was darned near perfect. The Panthers repeated as girls GCAC champions, scoring 177 points to easily handle rivals Crystal River (142) and Citrus (92). Central led the Hernando County contingent with 67.
On the boys side, Citrus defended its title with a six-point win over Lecanto, but the first- and second-place coaches' demeanors belied the results.
Citrus coach Tom Darby, frustrated with several Hurricanes performances, declined comment. Lecanto coach Dan Epstein, however, flashed an ear-to-ear grin.
"We're very pleased," Epstein said. "We're closing the gap."
Leading the way for Lecanto were multiple-event winners Lisa Bonadonna (100- and 300-meter hurdles) and Nick Norton (800, 1600). Norton, a sophomore, clocked an impressive 4 minutes, 42.63 seconds in the 1600. It was just two seconds off his personal best, which he ran in last year's conference meet in a second-place effort against former Citrus standout Tony Lyons.
"This year it was a tougher race, I got boxed in and I didn't get out until the second lap, almost halfway through," Norton said. "Once I did, my legs just felt good and I had a strong kick."
Leela Hadsock had the same for Hernando in the girls 1600, clocking 5:26.80 to win and take a dozen seconds off her personal best. During the race, the junior stayed a step behind Lecanto freshman Taylor Cooke most of the way, then made her move with about 300 meters left.
"I just had to go, I'm undefeated so far for this season and I wasn't going to let her stop me," Hadsock said. "(The time) was a shocker. I couldn't have done it without Taylor though."
Crystal River senior Ieshia Natteal had the best individual day, claiming the 100, 200 and long jump. In both running events, she held off Nature Coast sophomore Kerry Gardner by .14 and .71 seconds, respectively, and in the long jump solved a technique problem.
"I couldn't get my steps right," Natteal said. "I'll be on the board, the next minute I'll be behind it, and I just wasn't jumping good. But on my last jump I was like, "I gotta do it,' so I jumped 15 (feet) 11 (inches). It was my personal best."
