Jesuit's boys, Sickles' girls win Gator Invitational

By MIKE CAMUNAS, Times Correspondent
Published September 16, 2007

SPRING HILL - It was back to business for Sickles' Derek Wehunt.

The junior, who was named the 2006 Times' runner of the year and is arguably the best runner in Hillsborough County, cruised to a first-place finish at the Gator Invitational at Crews Lake Park on Saturday morning. Wehunt finished in 15 minutes, 52 seconds, just 11 seconds ahead of his friendly rival, Jesuit junior Connor Revord.

Wehunt said he trimmed his time from last year by 1:04.

"I'm really excited because I did really well this year," Wehunt said. "Last year I came in at 16:49.

"I know Connor has amazing kick, especially on the straightaway. I knew I had to get out early, or he probably would have beat me."

Revord, however, did beat Wehunt on Aug.24 at the Sunset 5K at Ed Radice Park. Revord edged out Wehunt by 3 seconds, 16:06 to 16:09.

"Well, I ran a pretty good race, but Derek ran a great race," Revord said. "He's good competition, and we were close for most of the race, until about the 2-mile marker. I can't complain on how he pushes me."

Gryphon teammates Cirprian Mejia (16:54) and Dan Wehunt (17:09), Derek's brother, finished sixth and eighth, respectively. Jesuit had Jordan Schilit (16:39) and Matt Tucker (17:21) finish fifth and 13th, respectively.

But it was the Tigers who grabbed a first-place team finish, scoring 59 points, with Crystal River (112) coming in second. Chamberlain was third (116) and led by Mark Parrish (16:46), who finished fifth individually. Sickles finished fifth (140).

"Last year, Sickles always got us," said Jesuit coach Greg Maurin, who is in his first year at the helm after a 10-year stint as an assistant. "Technically, it's not district or direct competition, but it is friendly neighborhood competition. But this year, it looks like we got them."

Sickles' girls cruised to its own first-place finish with 93 points, while Gulf (124) came in second and Wiregrass Ranch (135) in third. Academy of the Holy Names (139) was fourth, three spots ahead of Gaither (169).

The Gryphons were led by senior Amanda Newby, who came in third overall at 21:05, and teammate Emily Wehunt, Derek's sophomore sister, finished fifth at 21:23.

"We don't have that big superstar runner like some of these other schools," Sickles girls coach Dave Rittenour said. "We do have a good No.1 (Newby), and we have a good pack."

Sickles' pack included three top-15 finishes: Newby, Wehunt and Caitlin Owens, at 16th. But Rittenour said that's the key to the Gryphons' success, and he's not about to change it.

"It's early in the season, though. We're going to train hard and see what we can do," Rittenour said. "They can have the superstars, cause I'll take the pack."

[Last modified September 16, 2007, 01:34:49]