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Nothing goofy about Gulf's season

By IZZY GOULD
Published October 5, 2006

Gulf coach Dean Lofton likes to mix it up every now and then to keep his runners fresh.

This week, it's an overnight trip to Walt Disney World for a stay at the All-Star Sports Resort and a night in downtown Disney. The Bucs will take care of business Saturday in the Walt Disney World Classic.

Gulf's girls are coming off a solid performance at the flrunners.com Invitational.

"We ran exceptionally well in the small schools race for girls," Lofton said. "I don't know why we were in the small schools race, but we ran it."

Lofton had registered for the large school race. The Bucs still finished fifth overall with five girls finishing among the top 40. Gulf junior Jaci Pustelnik continued a promising 2006 campaign finishing 23rd with a 21:58.02.

"The other girls continue to show improvement while she stays at a steady pace," Lofton said. "She was already at a pretty high level. The other girls have been catching up."

Two of those girls are freshman Colleen McAuliffe (22:10.47) and sophomore Brittany Bennett (22:25.02).

"The newer runners are going to show a lot of significant gains," Lofton said.

THE MENDOZA LINE: Quietly making his way into the upper echelon of county runners is Pasco sophomore Evaristo Mendoza, also known as Barry.

Pasco opted to skip the flrunners.com Invitational because of Homecoming, but Mendoza has proven impressive in plenty of other meets. He finished 40th at the Gator Invitational (18:55), followed by a 31st-place finish at the Lecanto Invitational (18:43.79) and 13th at the Zak Lucas Invitational (17:17.24).

"He just plugs on," Pirates coach Barry Grayling said. "He gets a little faster each time."

Mendoza's top time at the Zak Lucas puts him among the top three runners in the county following the Land O'Lakes duo Felix Soto (16:26) and Jake Proudfoot (17:02.73), both coming off their fastest times at flrunners.com in the Race of Champions.

"I think he's just trying to compete and get up with the better ones in the county," Grayling said. "He can qualify in district and go to regionals."

READY AND EBLE: Pasco sensation Leeann Eble has resumed her training schedule and will compete in the Walt Disney World Classic. Eble missed one meet since she was hospitalized after her collapse in the Lecanto Invitational. She is wearing a monitor so doctors can study her heart. Doctors discovered an irregular heartbeat three years ago and want to rule out heart problems.

"We'll have to see how it goes," Grayling said. "We have to get her ready for conference and district. They are the important races."

[Last modified October 4, 2006, 23:04:54]