The Wiregrass Ranch boys and girls cross country teams continued their appearances on meet leader boards at the Gator Invitational at Crews Lake Park on Oct. 1.
The boys took first at the meet with 69 points, besting second place Nature Coast’s 92. Land O’ Lakes took sixth, Sunlake came in 12th and Wesley Chapel posted an 18th-place performance.
The Bulls girls’ 81 points made them runner-up to Riverview’s 63. Steinbrenner finished in sixth, Land O’ Lakes took 17th and Sunlake and Wesley Chapel claimed 18th and 20th, respectively.
Land O’ Lakes’ Travis Nichols led the way individually for local boys, coming in third in 16:21. The sophomore finished just 5 seconds behind winner Argishti Gazari, from Anclote. Fellow Gator Tyler Stahl’s 16:52 put him in ninth place. Sunlake’s Kenneth Fessel posted a 17:09 to claim 16th.
Bulls runners Ermias Bireda and Sam Hippely finished right behind Nichols, posting 16:31 and 16:34, respectively. Wiregrass Ranch’s Tyler Mattera, David Hill and Ben Hall crossed the finish line 19th through 21st, respectively.
For the girls, the Bulls’ Nikita Shah finished in 18:59 to take third place behind Gulf’s Kari Grippo’s winning performance of 18:09. Also in the top 20 for Wiregrass Ranch was 14th-place Chelsea Davis’ 20:48, 15th-place Elise Cedre’s 20:59 and 20th-place Berlin Waters’ 21:18.
Steinbrenner’s Lauren Garris finished in fifth in 19:52.
–Kyle LoJacono
