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Injured Leopard helps out Pirates

By DAVID MURPHY
Published October 19, 2006

Hernando entered Saturday's Hernando/Citrus Classic at McKeethan Lake Park ranked No. 4 in Class 2A by Flrunners.com, two spots ahead of Crystal River.

But a case of shin splints sidelined the Leopards' No. 2 runner, Drew Martucci, and Crystal River ended up knocking off Hernando by seven points.

Senior Ben Martucci, Drew's twin, dominated the field, finishing four seconds short of a personal record while winning by 32 seconds. His 15:55 was the fastest he has run this season and is nine seconds faster than he ran at the same event last season.

But Crystal River placed four runners in the top 10, led by Joe Greer's 16:27, to record the victory. SAME TEAMS, SAME PLACE: Hernando and Crystal River will get a chance to square off again in the not-too-distant future. McKeethan Lake Park is the host for the Class 2A, District 3 match next Thursday. HCAC PREVIEW: Though Hernando was trumped by Crystal River, Saturday's event left little doubt about the Leopards boys teams' prospects entering today's Hernando County Athletic Conference meet at Central.

The top six runners from Hernando County were all from Hernando, led by Ben Martucci's 15:55. Central's Alex Yettaw 17:59 was the top finisher not from Hernando.

The girls results were a little more even. Central finished fifth, Springstead sixth and Nature Coast seventh. Hernando only had four runners compete.

David Murphy can be reached at dmurphy@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1407.

RESULTS

Hernando/Citrus Classic

Boys: Hernando

1. Ben Martucci 15:55

4. Joe Wright 16:42

7. Tyler Baldwin 16:54

12. Christ Martin 17:25

17. Pavel Stuchlek 17:41

Central

21. Alex Yettaw 17:59

22. Brad Henderson 18:02

24. Josh Shannon 18:13

33. Bob Davis 18:53

34. Mike Shannon 18:55

Springstead

23. Ben Sanders 18:05

35. Jon Santana 18:57

40. Rich Everhorn 19:15

41. Devin Hall 19:35

49. Jacob SPate 19:53

Nature Coast

54. Corey Duplain 20:14

Girls: Hernando

1. Anna Gray 19:50

11. Erica Roessler 22:15

39. Michelle Martin 26:11

40. Kaitlyn Royal 26:13

Central

9. Liz McGeehan 21:52

15. Ashley Tombrink 22:29

24. Jen Mihok 24:02

32. Courtney LeCours 24:40

33. Bryana Eady 24:41.2

Springstead

16. Mirels Pizzard 22:41

18. Richelle Dyer 23:05

26. Racheal Flynn 24:20

34. Taylor Tuomey 24:41.4

52. Ariel Hoover 29:06

Nature Coast

19. Candice Lopez 23:16

37. Nashala Duplain 25:32

42. Solianna Herrera 26:21

48. Jessica Jufko 27:59

54. Chelsea Garton 29:35

[Last modified October 18, 2006, 21:25:10]