Tampa has been home to many championships as of late and next Saturday morning in Tallahassee its highly likely that a few more championships will make their way back to Title Town.
The Tampa Bay Area high school cross country season has been nothing short of exceptional this fall in all classifications and once the smoke settles from Dave Rittenour’s starter’s pistol how many local runners will make it to that downhill finish leading the pack?
1A
In the 1A classification on the boy’s side, Mark Meister of Cambridge Christian is running stronger than ever after an early season hip injury left him the Lancer elf on the shelf, but as of late he’s been on a tear and has put in several impressive performances, most recently a 17 second victory in the 1A Region 3 championship meet. Meister is currently seeded fifth statewide, but the way he looked easily taking the regional title, the Cambridge senior is poised to take a run at the top spot and bring the 1A state title back to Cambridge, adding Meister’s name to the list of state champions that includes 2022 champion Braxton Legg.
Also in the girls 1A classification, a former Lancer but now a Mustang from Northside Christian,Eliana Black would like nothing more than to return to the top of the podium at the ARP, a place she last occupied in 2022 when she went undefeated in the FHSAA 2022 XC season.
Under new coach Jeff Vargas , Eli bested the field in the 1A Region 3 meet by 12 seconds, while triumphing over the current 1A state leader Sienna Audrey of CSN. Black will be battling it out with Audrey and freshman phenom Mary Summers of Seven Rivers Christian School.
2A
Shifting to 2A, Mason LaBlance of King High School and his coach Gary Bingham have put the pieces in place just at the right time, with Mason taking big wins in both the district and regional championship meets, and now sits #2 in the 2A class, just off the shoulder of Monteverde Academy’s Will Moss. LaBlance was just 6 seconds back of Moss at this year’s Pre State Invite, and Coach Bingham has laid a solid foundation for Mason to show what he’s made of, looking to improve on last year’s 6th place finish in Tallahassee.
3A
On to the next classification, Lainee Mercer of Springstead is less than 6 seconds behind state 3A leader Annabella Tomasic of Bishop Moore. Lainee finished with a bronze at last year’s 3A state championship, as a freshman, and matched that medal on the track at the state meet in the 3200. Lainee has finished no lower than 5th place this season, and this eagle is looking to soar to the peak of the “Wall” and head back south on Saturday wrapped in gold. Moving from Hernando County to Pasco , both Lydia Vincent of Zephyrhills and Emma Poekert of Cypress Creek are ranked in the top 10 with Lydia settled in at the #5 spot and Emma ranked 9th. The pair exchanged wins at the recent district and regional competition’s , with Emma get the best of Lydia at districts, only to end up in the runner up spot to the Zhills bulldog at Regionals. Lydia is looking to go under 18 minutes which would put her in the mix with Lainee.
Over on the 3A boy’s side, the name is Mantecon..,Marcelo Mantecon, but there’s no secret about who is the clear favorite in the boys race on Saturday. Mantecon is one of the top harriers in the nation and will likely lead the Belen Jesuit squad to yet another state title. But looking from the outside in, and hopefully not too far from the outside, two Bay area boys are looking to end up on the podium when the Belen dust has cleared. Both Skylar Manatt of Cypress Creek and Gabe Garcia of Tampa Jesuit are currently ranked in the top 10 with Garcia 8th and Manatt just 3 seconds back in the #9 spot. Although Gabe bested Skylar by 34 seconds at the 3A Region 3 meet, the Sky’s the limit for Manatt’s performance at the state meet as he looks to continue to return to form at just the right time.
4A
Oscar Brown of Sunlake, Luca Martin of Steinbrenner, and black horse Robert MacDonald,the One Shoe Wonder, of Strawberry Crest could all make a run at a 4A title, as they battled it out at Saturday’s Region 3 championship, with Brown besting Martin by less than 2 seconds. MacDonald was edged out for third by Isaiah Howdeshell of Largo, but both the Charger from Crest and the Packer from Largo could find themselves successfully climbing not only the legendary “Wall”, but the steps onto the stage that all that find their way onto the starting line clamor for!
The Bay Area could also see a state champion from Wiregrass Ranch, no bull… well ,actually she is a Bull, and Natalia Gaona-Zelaya will be on the rampage Saturday morning looking to destroy the ARP china shop. The Pasco county junior is 26 seconds off of the pace that was set by Madison Muller of Sarasota Riverview on the very quick Northport course at the Region 3 meet, but if I know Zelaya she will be hard pressed to let anyone stand in her way to that downhill finish, leaving all the 4A girls trying to run with the Wiregrass Bull. Hopefully joining Natalia on the podium, and in the top 10, will be East Lake’s stand out Katelin Wilcox, and Meb-coached Plant Panther Katherine Eudaly.
The Tampa Bay Area will have plenty of exemplary performances to be proud of come this Saturday, and TRC will be there to capture all the action as we’ve done all season long!!
