Saturday's Gator Invitational is the real starting point for cross country season in the area, and this year's edition will prove to be the biggest ever.
Land O'Lakes boys coach Kris Keppel said more than 500 runners representing 24 schools have commited to attend the 5-kilometer race at Crews Lake Park in Shady Hills.
"This is the most ever," Keppel said. "I think it will be the largest meet in Pasco County, period."
The race will be a welcome change for many runners.
The season started Aug. 30 and Wesley Chapel already has hosted a small meet. But otherwise the weather has not cooperated. Practice time has been lost, and so was last week's small meet at Hudson, thanks to Hurricanes Charley and Frances. Keppel said he and his kids are certainly ready to start running.
"We're pretty antsy about it," he said. "We're anxious to run and there's going to be a lot of good competition out there."
The Plant boys bring a strong team, one that is coming off a second-place finish to a loaded Jesuit team at the Aug. 31 West Hillsborough Invitational. Sam Gibbons leads his Panthers, finishing sixth there in 17 minutes, 12 seconds.
But the favorite will be Mitchell's Jeff Masterson, the county's top runner, who ran a 17:16 to win the the Aug. 31 Wesley Chapel meet. Masterson is coming off a title win in the 3,200 meters at the Class 3A track meet.
Wesley Chapel's Stephanie Amerman is the top returning female runner in Pasco County, and she won her home meet in 21:08. She'll battle last year's Gator Invitational champion, Gaither's Amanda Quick, who won in 19:11. Her teammates are deep, too, as the Cowboys bring about 30 girls to the meet. Lecanto brings about 25, led by Taylor Cooke.
Weather could still be an issue. Keppel said he hopes the meet won't be affected by approaching Hurricane Ivan.
Last year's Gator Invitational was pushed back from a Saturday to Tuesday because of Tropical Storm Henri.
The race course had to be cleaned up after the storm, and the delay conflicted with the following week's USF/Jesuit Invitational. Many runners held back on the throttle and on their times, knowing they had to run two big meets in five days.
