New favorites primed to race for SAC titles

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 19, 2001

SHADY HILLS -- Saturday morning's Sunshine Athletic Conference meet at Crews Lake Park should see a changing of the guard.

The Ridgewood boys' team is unlikely to win its seventh individual title and 10th consecutive team championship.

A Gulf girls' runner would be hard-pressed to continue that school's streak of four consecutive individual awards. Nor is the Ridgewood girls' team likely to win its third consecutive team title, its ninth in 11 seasons.

The real drama: which runner will inaugurate the new Mitchell boys dynasty, freshman sensation Jeff Masterson or junior Danny Sheehan; can the River Ridge girls get between Gulf and the team championship; and just how hard can the Bucs' Cindy Wade push prohibitive favorite and close friend Lizzie Sheridan of the Rams down the stretch?

Most would be surprised if Mitchell, ranked No. 13 in Class 3A by flrunners.com, and Gulf don't jog away with titles.

"Yeah I think we can win it," Mustangs coach Bill Napolitano said. "If we just run like we've been running, with Sheehan and Masterson being the (top) runners in the area, that's a tough combination to break."

Rams coach Glenn Cable, known for pulling off a surprise or two in his career, said he doesn't believe anyone can challenge Mitchell or Gulf. Not even his Ridgewood team.

"I don't see anyone stopping them," he said.

The only thing that has slowed Sheridan, ranked No. 12 among Class 3A individuals, is a 2-week-old cold. A week off should have her rested and ready, perhaps primed to beat her school-record time of 18 minutes 53 seconds.

"Can anyone catch Lizzie Sheridan?" Lofton wondered. "It would take a very good race by someone to catch Lizzie Sheridan."

Most likely it will be Gulf team captain Wade chasing Sheridan down the stretch as usual. But Wade's eyes will be set on a more important goal, as she, Melissa Dattoli, Ashley Shuhart and Dawn Selvidge focus on the SAC girls title.

Lofton is most wary of River Ridge coach Erik Hermansen's team. Led by Danielle Coyle and Samantha Jacobsen, the Royal Knights are the Bucs' toughest competitors.

"I believe it's going to be between the two of us," Hermansen said. "I don't think we're going to be able to challenge Gulf this year. They're a little too deep for us. They were the team to beat and they're still the team to beat, but we'll give them a good run on Saturday."

But being the favorite won't protect his team from complacency, Lofton said.

"I told our kids to keep an eye out," he said. "Because if (another team) wants it bad enough, if we don't go in there primed and ready, they could snatch it away from us."

SAC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP

WHEN: Saturday; girls race at 8 a.m., boys race at 8:35. Junior varsity races at 9.

WHERE: Crews Lake Park

AT STAKE: All-SAC honors for the first 14 boys and girls. Two additional all-conference members could be named after the season at the coaches meeting, which is where the conference championship plaque will be awarded.

WATCH OUT FOR: GIRLS -- Lizzie Sheridan, Ridgewood, best time of 18:53 (at Red Mule); Cindy Wade, Gulf, 19:32 (Citrus); Melissa Dattoli, Gulf, 19:34 (Citrus); Danielle Coyle, River Ridge, 19:38 (Red Mule); Samantha Jacobsen, River Ridge, 19:41 (Citrus). BOYS -- Jeff Masterson, Mitchell, 15.33 (Central); Danny Sheehan, Mitchell, 15:47 (Central); Chris Hurtado, Hudson, 16:32 (Red Mule); Bryan Gibbs, Land O'Lakes, 16:32 (Red Mule); Kurt Able, Wesley Chapel, 16:35 (Red Mule).

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