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Meet Recap - Palm Beach County XC Championships 2014Published by
By Steve Dorsey
DistancePreps.com
BOCA RATON – The weather conditions were ideal for distance running – 76 degrees under an overcast sky with a slight breeze – and that suited Wellington sophomore Brooke Mucino just fine.
Mucino reached a personal goal, John I. Leonard junior Ilio Sanchez successfully returned from an injury layoff, and Dwyer’s girls team made school history Thursday at the Palm Beach County Cross-Country Championships.
Mucino clocked a personal-record time of 19:44.67 to win the girls race over the 5K course at South County Regional Park that nicely withstood a deluge of rain earlier this week. Sanchez out-dueled fellow junior Nic Jacobsen of St. Andrew’s to take the boys race and Spanish River claimed the boys program’s third title in the team competition.
Mucino, who has been balancing soccer practice with her cross-country training, was thrilled after breaking the 20-minute mark for the first time, crossing the finish line a little more than two seconds ahead of runner-up Amber Pearce, a junior at Jupiter. Another sophomore, Annie Allmark of Suncoast, placed third.
“I think about it a lot, when I go to bed, while I’m studying, while I’m running,” Mucino said of eclipsing the 20-minute barrier with a strong kick the final 100 meters. “The whole (race) it was (Pearce) and me. There was no time when we were alone. I’ve never ran very well in the big meets and sometimes I feel like my expectations are too high, but I just take it one week at a time. I love this course. It’s one of my favorites.”
Mucino is the first Wellington girl to win the county meet since 2008 when county record-holder and four-time state champion Ashley Brasovan won her fourth consecutive and final title.
The boys race, as expected, was a duel between Sanchez and Jacobsen, the defending county champion who raced despite being involved in a single-car accident on his way to school Thursday morning but sustained no serious injuries. The two rivals were stride-for-stride at the halfway mark of the 5K race, but Sanchez gradually opened up a lead the final mile and won in 16:28.66, with Jacobsen clocking 16:36.10. Dreyfoos senior Sean Fournier was third (16:46..84).
The victory was especially satisfying for Sanchez, who had not raced in three weeks while nursing a sprained right foot and only resumed training a week ago.
“It affected my mood,” Sanchez said of the injury layoff. “Running is my life. I was just thinking top five. Nic pushed me. It was nice to have the cloud cover. The only bad thing was the wind in the straightaway.”
Sanchez had a disappointing performance in his previous race, the Flrunners in Titusville when he clocked 19:02 while trying to battle through the foot injury.
“I had to make up for that race,” Sanchez said. “It was really important (to win Thursday).”
Just prior to the trophy presentations, Dwyer coach Meisha Richards wasn’t sure her girls team had won and was even more surprised when told that the Panthers’ 69 points were 20 points better than runner-up Wellington. Dwyer’s Ann Vallace and Stella Quinlan placed fourth and fifth, respectively, to lead the Panthers, who have been making noticeable strides in the sport for the past five years under Richards’ guidance.
“I knew all along we could beat them, but I thought it was going to be real close,” Richards said. “We were third last year and fourth the year before, so this year we wanted first or second. We’ve been talking about it since August.”
Spanish River, led by senior Caleb Rader’s fourth-place finish in 16:48.09, had three runners place among the top nine and won the boys team title with 53 points, 17 better than runner-up John I. Leonard, which has won 23 county titles. |
