Soto runs away with win at Zak Lukas Invite

Although the Land O'Lakes star crossed the finish line 30 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor, Crystal River edged the Gators for the team title.

By DEREK J. LaRIVIERE, Times Correspondent
Published September 23, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Land O'Lakes' Felix Soto wasn't expected to have much competition when he crossed the finish line at Tom Fisher Stadium for the 31st annual Zak Lukas Invitational.

He delivered on that expectation.

Soto, who did not face a legitimate contender in the field, won the individual crown with a time of 16 minutes, 21 seconds - 30 seconds better than his nearest competitor. The whole field got off to a slow start, but Soto was satisfied in the end.

"My time could have been much better after that bunched-up start," Soto said. "It's difficult to push yourself when no one is around you, so I am somewhat happy how I ran."

Soto's performance was not enough, however, to deliver a team title for his Gators. Crystal River (50 points) defeated Land O'Lakes (61) in a close battle. Despite having two runners finish in the top five, Soto and Matt Schwartz (17:04), the Gators couldn't surpass a Pirate program that had the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-place finishers overall.

Hernando, the event's host and defending region champion, was expected to be in rebuilding mode this season after losing six of its eight top runners in the offseason. The biggest shock of the race might have been the runnerup finish of relatively unknown Tyler Maier. The senior, not even a varsity runner last season for the Leopards, took second with a time of 16:51.

"Most of the credit for my improvement has to go to coach (Ernie Chatman)," Maier said. "We all push each other in practice, but Coach really knows how to get the best out of us."

Ridgewood's Steven Landreth (16:58) and Lecanto's Jon Junkins (17:07) rounded out the top five with third- and fifth-place finishes, respectively.

[Last modified September 23, 2007, 00:21:53]