By Zack Peterson
Special to Lutz News/The Laker
They call it Little Everglades Ranch, but the site of the state cross-country finals was anything but little. With a massive stretch of green pasture-like grass and a subtle, but vicious hill that runners had to battle for the last half mile of the race, the ranch was a giant of a course.
But for the Steinbrenner High Warriors, the reward was sweet.
The Warriors, representing their second-year school, placed second in the state for Class 2A.
Only Estero High topped them with 87 total points.
By the time the sun had fully risen into the sky, the day’s races were concluded and the awards were announced. While some teams groaned in agony over their losses, the Warriors leapt with joy.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Zachary Lima, a sophomore on the team who finished with a time of 17:09.
“I didn’t think we would do this well. But our coach was right. He said, ‘Run what you can run and you’ll do something big.’”
Coming into the state finals, the Warriors were ranked 11th and were hoping for a top-five finish in the overall team
rankings.
“We expected anywhere from 12th to second place and we would’ve been very happy for a top five [finish],” said Dan Sarver, a senior on the team. “All the hard work helped, and every day paid off.”
Lima said the team finished last in the region in its inaugural season. So what were the significant changes between last year and this year?
According to sophomore Matt Magee, it was the hard work and coaching.
“Between last year and this year, we got separate coaches for the girls’ and boys’ teams.” Furthermore, the varsity team ran roughly 500 miles over the summer.
“After that, we were pretty much committed,” Magee said.
Coach Bobby McConnell shares the sentiment. As the coach for this young squad, he assumed the team had an “outside shot” at ranking like they did.
“It’s a little bit of a surprise,” McConnell said. “But it’s these kids’ work ethic. They do what it takes to win. They’re always there, whether it’s an early morning practice at six or an evening practice that runs until eight.
“I’ll never coach a group of kids who worked as hard as they did.”
Steinbrenner girls take positive step
For the Lady Warriors, their experience at the states finals was just another stepping stone in a positive direction for their young team.
“They did really well,” said head coach Ladd Baldwin. “We’ve got a good, strong future. States was a nice building bock [for the team].”
Between this year and last year, the Warriors emphasized more tempo workouts and more weekend runs, some that ranged up to eight miles long. Also, the team traveled to the Florida State University Invitational, and took a trip up to Brevard Community College for an exclusive running trip to bring the team together.
“Last year was about having fun. This year we still wanted that fun element, but we stepped up the training,” Baldwin said.
But the turning point was this year’s Hillsborough County Freshmen/Sophomore Meet. “That’s where out girls started realizing, ‘we can do this,’ ” Baldwin said.
Ultimately, they finished 22nd as a team, with Lauren Garris, the team’s leading sophomore, finishing at a time of 19:28.
“I wanted a top-20 finish,” said Garris, who finished 21st overall. “But we’ve been bonding so well this year with team activities and I think we’re moving to new places with this young team.”
The rest of the girls finished at assorted times, mainly between 19-22 minutes. Together, their point values added up to 440.
At this stage, the next thing on the Warriors check list is the AAU National Race scheduled for Dec. 4.
“My goal is to always keep them motivated with what’s next,” Baldwin said.
Sunlake’s Fessell in 3A
Little Everglades Ranch isn’t just composed of steep, rolling hills or grassy green flats. In the wide open pasture, the sun had the chance to shine on the whole event with its scorching rays. By the time several 3A runners took off at the sound of the gun, the sun hung high in the sky, at its most blaring temperature.
For junior Sunlake High runner, Kenneth Fessel, who’s advanced to states the past three years, it was tough not only on his body, but his time.
“I trained hard and hoped for the best,” Fessel said. “It just didn’t all come together; but it was a good experience.”
Overall, Fessel finished with a time of 17:10, while he was instead hoping to “break 16 [minutes].”
Sickles at the meet
Others, like David Piatt of Sickles High, noted the challenging aspects of the course.
“We put all we had into our workouts and gave it our all to get here,” Piatt said. “But I’m not really sure what happened. We did a lot worse than I thought. Maybe it was the heat or maybe the course was a little loose.”
Sickles coach Gail Bottone offered a different theory.
“I think about, ‘what did I do personally to prepare them?’” Bottone said. “I think they were prepared mentally, but we hadn’t done a lot of hill training.”
“In hindsight, hill preparation is something to work on [for next year].”
Sickles ultimately finished 24th in the team rankings after what seemed to be a miracle run to states. According to Piatt, “just being here alone was a big thing for us.”
However, Sickles didn’t just send its boys’ squad. They sent Sarah Hartman as well, a sophomore runner for the girls’ team who was the only individual to advance from regionals.
For Hartman, the experience was incredibly gratifying. Juggling soccer and cross country, she pushed herself to excel in both, making it her ultimate goal to make it to the state finals.
After finishing with a 20:49 minute 5K, the athlete was pleased.
“I think I did pretty decent. I’m going to tell everyone how amazing states is and hopefully they’ll be inspired from it,” Hartman said.
Gator runners climb the hill
Inspiration at the state finals wasn’t as simple to come by as it may seem, though. The last portion of the course — the most important — was all an up slide. Runners started off the race up-hill and at the end had to push themselves back up the steep monster.
In particular, the boy’s at Land O’ Lakes High noticed this.
“I didn’t want to do it,” said Dillon Oergel, jokingly, of the last up-hill segment. “But I didn’t — and couldn’t — let my team down.”
Oergel and the rest of his teammates combined their efforts to finish 15th in the team rankings at states.
“We ran the best we could,” said senior Jacob Morken. “I’m proud of all of us. I know we left nothing out there.”
