Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 19, 2001
Central's boys ran in the Leto Pre-State Invitational on Saturday at Ed Radice Park to preview the course before next month's state meet.
But, in many ways, the meet served as a review of the Bears' up-and-down season.
One runner arrived late for the bus, and coach Vic Cervizzi prohibited him from competing. Shorthanded again, Central finished a disappointing 18th.
"We haven't reached our full potential yet as far as Central goes," Cervizzi said. "It seems each week something new crops up in terms of adversity."
Central entered the season ranked third in the state in Class 3A by flrunners.com. But injuries, sickness and disciplinary problems led to several subpar finishes, and the Bears fell out of the top 15.
Joel Crandall, Central's No. 2 or 3 runner, missed four weeks with shin splints. Joey Costanzo (No. 4) was sidelined with allergies, an upper respiratory infection and chest pains.
Adam Dixon (No. 4 or 5) has struggled with allergies and asthma. Kurt Lee missed a meet because of problems with his wisdom teeth.
The absences have led to inconsistent performances.
Central followed a season-opening win at Land O'Lakes with a disappointing seventh-place finish at Ridgeview.
The team rebounded with a victory at South Sumter and third-place showing at the Bear Invitational but faltered at the flrunners.com and Leto meets.
The Bears have two weeks to regain their footing.
Cervizzi will rest his starters for Saturday's Lecanto Invitational to prepare for the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference meet on Oct. 27. Central then will host the district and region meets before traveling to Tampa for the Nov. 17 state meet.
"Those ailments have really hurt our chances to do anything, so we just hope it comes around by conference time," Cervizzi said. "That's when it really matters."
SO CLOSE: Ninth-place Logan Emerson (16:43) and 10th-place Zac Lucas (16:44) finished one second apart as Hernando's boys placed fourth at Saturday's Citrus Invitational.
Mike Umholtz's seventh-place showing helped Springfield to fifth. Umholtz finished in 16:36.
In the girls race, Keri Costanzo (21:42) placed 25th to lead Central to fifth. The Bears were followed by Springstead (ninth) and Hernando (10th), which received a 21st-place performance from Katee Lukas (21:35).