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Preps
Cross country: Skinners help Wharton girls cruise; Jesuit boys win
By BRYAN BURNS, Times Correspondent
Published October 18, 2007
TAMPA - About the only thing that could stop Wharton's Katrina Skinner at the Gasparilla County Cup was loneliness.
Skinner was a step in front of her sister, Kathia, and side-by-side Berkeley Prep's Olivia D'Angelo at the midway point of the 5K Lake Park course Wednesday but started distancing herself from the lead pack around the 3,000-meter mark. From there, Skinner was all by herself and rolled to a rather easy win at the countywide competition in 19:17, nearly a minute in front of D'Angelo (20:13), who finished second.
"It's a whole other race when you run by yourself," Skinner said. "It makes the race more challenging. ... But my teammates help me through it, and I know my coach's training will help me stay strong."
Wharton placed four in the top six to win the girls race handily with 37 points. Plant, led by Lizzie Goodwin's 10th-place finish (20:56), finished second with 80 points with four in the top 20. Newsome was third.
Derek Wehunt of Sickles held off Jesuit's Connor Revord to win the boys race in 15:56, two seconds ahead of the Tigers junior. The duo crossed the halfway point together at 7:35 before Wehunt took a 15-yard lead entering the final 100 yards. Revord closed strong but couldn't make up the difference.
"When I'm running I can hear everybody saying, 'Come on, Connor,' " Wehunt said. "I know I always have to be running my fastest because he's going to be right behind me. If I die down a little bit, he'll take advantage of that."
Sickles had the first-, fifth- (Ciprian Mejia, 16:34) and 11th-place (Dan Wehunt, 16:52) runners, but the depth of Jesuit, which placed all five runners in the top 30, won out in the team competition. The Tigers' 77 points edged Plant for first place. The Panthers were led by Trenor Wilkins (16:42), who finished ninth overall. Sickles had 84 points to finish third.
Boys Team scores: Jesuit 77, Plant 81, Sickles 84, Wharton 109, Chamberlain 161, Newsome 163, Berkeley Prep 213, Brandon 253, Bloomingdale 269, Robinson 286, Alonso 316, Gaither 353, Tampa Prep 364, East Bay 391, Hillsborough 405, Durant 411, Armwood 424, King 528, Jefferson 540, Freedom 600, Riverview 658, Plant City 728, Spoto 774
Girls Team scores: Wharton 37, Plant 80, Newsome 99, Sickles 151, Berkeley Prep 152, Academy of the Holy Names 215, King 230, Brandon 264, Gaither 279, East Bay 292, Tampa Catholic 295, Tampa Prep 356, Bloomingdale 360, Riverview 385, Alonso 396, Durant 412, Hillsborough 437, Robinson 512, Freedom 531, Chamberlain 577, Leto 603
[Last modified October 18, 2007, 00:05:45]
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