By Kyle LoJacono
The Wiregrass Ranch boys and girls cross country teams are out to prove they are still the teams to beat in the area, and neither disappointed at the Mitchell Invitational on Sept. 17.
The Bulls took home the team titles at the 3-mile race, one week after both squads won the Lecanto Invitational. The boys finished with 76 points, just besting Steinbrenner’s 84. The Bulls’ average time of 16:23.67 was actually slower than the Warriors’ 16:21.19.
“This was our biggest regular season win in program history,” said Wiregrass Ranch Bulls coach Chris Loth. “Steinbrenner is one of the best teams we’ve competed against outside of the state series in a long time. Thanks to Thor Alastre and David Hill we were able to nip them by a few points. We are sure each time we race (Steinbrenner) it will be even tougher.”
Steinbrenner was the Class 2A state runner-up last year and returns the majority of its top runners this year as the program moved up to 3A with Wiregrass Ranch and Land O’ Lakes. The Gators took third in the event with an average time of 16:49.02, while 14th place Sunlake’s was 18:19.36.
The Bulls were led by Ermia Bireda, who finished eighth overall in 16:00.94. Teammates Sam Hippely and David Hill placed 10th and 16th respectively.
It was Wiregrass Ranch’s overall depth that helped it win the Mitchell Invitational. Warriors runners Matt Magee and Tyler Lima finished fifth and sixth respectively, while Land O’ Lakes’ Travis Nichols took seventh.
The win is made even bigger for the Bulls boys, as they are working to replace four of their top-seven runners from the 2010 squad that won conference, district and regional championships before finishing 10th at the 3A state meet.
The Wiregrass Ranch girls also lost four of its top-seven runners from 2010, a year that also included conference, district and regional crowns and a 13th-place finish at states.
The Bulls had 79 points in the race and an average finish of 20:06.42, almost 8 seconds faster than second place Osceola. The Steinbrenner girls placed fourth, while Land O’ Lakes and Sunlake took 16th and 21st respectively.
“I was very pleased with the girls’ performance this week, as there were four ranked teams in the meet, Osceola, Northside Christian, Gulf and us,” said Wiregrass Ranch girls coach Don Howard. “I know some teams were missing a girl from their top five, and we were at full strength, but it still is a testament to the girls’ hard work that they were able to run as well as they did Saturday. The girls are running great right now.”
The girls were led by Nikita Shah, who took fourth in 18:21.06. The only other area runner to finish in the top 10 was Steinbrenner’s Lauren Garris, whose 19:07.65 was good enough for seventh. Fellow Bulls Elise Cedre and Chelsea Davis came in 11th and 14th respectively.
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