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Talent for Central boys, girls runs deepBy GREG AUMAN © St. Petersburg Times, published November 7, 2000 BROOKSVILLE -- Central had the third-fastest boy and girl in Saturday's Class 2A, District 4 meet. But the key to both teams' strong showing was depth, with slower runners coming up with fast times to keep the scores down. Central girls coach Lisa Bilodeau had Erin Courtney (third), Melissa Bastien (10th), Star Shiflett (12th) and Gina Daly (13th) in the top 13, but the Bears' 24-point win wouldn't have been as dominating without sophomore Amanda Adams stepping up to finish 18th in 22:20. "That was big time," said Bilodeau, who was without freshman Jaime Costanzo (knee injury) and had senior Amber Hammond limited by illness. "Amber said she was coming down with something, and Erin said somedays you just get to the line and don't feel ready to run," Bilodeau said. "It was bad luck for her, but it I know it meant more for her for the team to win." Bilodeau said Adams came up to her after the race, apologizing because she had allowed two Lecanto runners to finish ahead of her. The coach pointed out to her that those were the Panthers' second and third runners, so she had nothing to worry about. Similarly, Central's boys had sophomore Kurt Lee as their fifth runner in. He finished 24th in 17:41 and ahead of teammates Joey Costanzo and Joel Crandall, helping the Bears place second to top-ranked Citrus. "I'm pleased with the way the kids ran except for two, and I know they could have done better," coach Vic Cervizzi said. The Bears missed the state meet by a point at regionals last year, and Central and Hernando are in place to battle for the last spots among the six that will advance from Saturday's regional. "We've got a great shot to advance," Cervizzi said. "They understand they have to reach further deep down inside and find something." Fifth runners were important Saturday, and in some instances, even teams' sixth runners made a difference. Lecanto and Citrus tied for third with 95 points, but Lecanto's Diana Blaisdell came in 51st -- three seconds ahead of two Citrus runners -- to give the Panthers the edge for third. MAKING THE CUT: The Hernando and Springstead girls teams could breathe a little easier after Saturday's race, thanks to the FHSAA's decision to expand the number of squads that qualify for regionals. Beginning this year, districts with 15 or more schools would have the top eight teams advance to the regional. Smaller districts would continue to advance six squads. Hernando finished sixth -- two points ahead of Springstead and three ahead of eighth-place Mitchell -- but with the new guidelines, all three schools will send teams to Titusville. The local district was allotted 15 schools, but Crystal River, Tarpon Springs and North Marion didn't send girls' squads. "I'm not sure what goals I wanted, but as a team, we wanted to go to regionals, and that's what we were worried about," said Springstead's Lindsay Boldt, who finished second in 19:58, breaking the 20-minute mark at Central for the first time.
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From today's Hernando Times |
