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Meet Preview - FACA All-Star Meet 2013Published by
Meet Preview - FACA All-Star Meet 2013
Somewhere along the journey, they made the commitment to be a distance runner. Maybe they started when they were in middle school or possibly as a freshman or sophomore. Now they're seniors and being recognized as amongst the best seniors the Sunshine State has to offer at the FACA Senior All-Star Classic on Saturday. Quite possibly one last opportunity to lace ' em up, feel that nervous energy on the line, or that sprinkling of doubt that exists in all of us.
Saturday's 2 races will be held once again in a city and community that truly treasures hard work. From humble beginnings, Apalachee Regional Park (ARP), affectionately known as the "Cross-country Playground", started its journey as a cross-country course much like the representatives from the 4 Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) All-Star teams; a vision of what they may become but only after hard work and endless hours of sacrifice, ultimately being recognized as the best of the best. Maybe it's truly fitting that the All-Star's race at ARP.Being recognized as a FACA Senior All-Star is special for many reasons. It surely doesn't come easy as anyone who has trained for years on end will tell you. It came with a lot of sacrifice and a lot of hard work along the way. This race runs the gamut with State champions, Foot Locker contenders and the right of passage knowing they were hand-chosen from amongst their peers to compete in the FACA Senior All-Star Classic. Being an All-Star is a strong testament to their fortitude and perseverance within the upper tier of the high school ranks. FACA Meet Overview:
8 senior runners comprise 1 of 4 Regionally selected All-Star teams: North, South, East and West for a maximum field size of 32 runners.
Each runner will be sporting race singlets courtesy of The Florida Youth Running Association and Friends of DistancePreps.com along with personalized racing bibs. 1 bib to race with and 1 as a keepsake for memory lane.
North Boys: Coach Jim Schmitt, Mandarin South Girls: Coach Ryan Raposo, Ferguson (FACA Selection Committee) South Boys: Coach Mark Formosa, Coral Park East Girls: Coach Kristin McWilliams, Winter Park (FACA XC Chairman) Easy Boys: Coach Bill Buonanni, Merritt Island West Girls: Coach Paul Opitz, Sarasota Riverview West Boys: Coach Kris Keppel, Land O' Lakes
Preview - Overview The FACA All-Star Classic always presents intrigue when you take a look at the fields. This year is no different but to truly understand the dynamics of how these races will play out, you have to take into context the entire season along with post-season opportunities. This year there was 2 weeks between the State Meet (Nov 9th) and the All-Star Classic. You then have to consider that some runners in the field, especially in the boys race, are looking past the All-Star Classic to next weeks Foot Locker South Championships which this year is 3 weeks after the State meet, versus the normal 2 week stretch we've come to expect over the years. With a lot of the runners planning their training for a peak at State, running their best 2 weeks after the State meet presents challenges. Over the years we've also seen the meet used a tune-up for Foot Locker. At Foot Locker, you had better expect a fast first mile to be in contention and ARP with its net downhill slope the first mile, provides perfect race simulation for McAlpine next week. It wouldn't surprise us in the least if the front runners, especially in the boys race, use the first mile of the race for simulation and then settle in and have some fun. With great running conditions expected in the morning with a race time temperature of roughly 68 degrees, the course should run fast, especially early on in the races.
Girls Teams:
Here's our take on who has the best shot at being the FACA champion and Team Champions. Girls Individual Preview: For our analysis, we'll rely heavily on what we observed at the State Meet a mere 2 weeks ago. Back then, we really liked what we saw from Anita Munoz from Immokalee and Katherine MacNeal from Cypress Bay. Munoz's 2A 3rd place finish behind Julia Montgomery and Daesha Rogers in a PR 18:33 was just stellar. Katherine MacNeal went 18:28 for 2nd in 4A and we know she believes she can win and race fast when needed. We really expect this race to be a 2 way battle between these 2 and in our mind between toughness and strength, it's a toss-up for the championship. But there's a reason we run the races. It wouldn't surprise us at all if someone really stepped up their game and challenged for the win even though they may not have made a strong case at State, well, because that was a long 2 weeks ago.
Madison Harris from Wakulla, Kaley Doyle from Park Vista, Katrina Santiago from Ferguson, Charlotte Stephens from Winter Park, and Claire Castillo from Titusville, should all be contenders for high finishes.
If Santiago can bounce back from her 6th place finish at State after barely finishing her Regional due to the heat, she could very well be in the mix for overall honors. Consider she went 18:21 at Pre-State, 22:41 at Regionals and then 18:56 at State. Could tomorrow be her peak as she's surely due for another break-out performance. Girls Team Preview MacNeal and Santiago lead an extremely deep and talented contingent of seniors for Coach Raposo's South team which is looking to revenge it's last place showing at the 2012 All-Star Classic. Even though the South team last year had the individual winner, Spanish River's Ellyn Snider, the race overall was the slowest it's been in the last 10 years. This surely doesn't appear to be the case this year unless of course, the race turns tactical. The race for second seems wide open. With a very small field, being up front an packed up has always been the best tactic.
Boys Teams
Boys Individual Preview The boys field is pretty well stacked and this is where I think we will see some race prep for Foot Locker South with a very fast opening mile. Thomas Howell is coming back nicely from his hip injury and finished 4th at the State Meet going 15:28. Thomas is on record as saying his real focus and determination is on making a solid bid at Foot Locker South. It's this very reason why we don't see Howell going to the well per se if he's pushed significantly by the likes of Manny Velasquez from St. Thomas, 4th in 4A at State, clocking a very respectable 15:33 or 2A State Champion, Immokalee's Leonel Delacruz who on minimal sleep after a long journey the night prior to State, but still performed good enough to secure his first State Championship in 15:50. We really see Leonel being able to hang with the front pack regardless of who is in contention and improving mightily on his 15:50 if needed. St Augustine's Noah Kemp (a recent University of Portland verbal commitment ) threw down a 15:34 for 7th in 3A and was closely followed by Land O' Lakes Tyler Stahl who had a great outing at State going 15:34 for 8th in 3A. The Boys race is so deep we could literally reel off 10 or more contenders that would include Sam Mack from Mandarin, (15:51 for 6th in 4A), Titusville's Xavier Walton (15:55 2A runner-up), Bolles Austin Decker, (15:56 for 3rd in 2A), University of North Florida verbal commit, Stanton Prep's Wesley Norton (15:43 for 13th in 3A), Deland's Keneth Pineiro (15:48 for 5th in 4A) and the biggest wild card of all, University of North Florida verbal Nick Morken (23rd in 3A) who has been down and not himself the last few weeks but still boasts the State's 3rd fastest 5K this season, 15:07.57 at the FSU Pre-State Invitational.
Morken is a gamer and if he is back to 100%, he could very well change the dynamic of the race. He's looking to have a comeback confidence changer type of race that can motivate him to make a possible run next week (my opinion only) at Foot Locker. Both he and Howell are capable of running away from the field when they are healthy but the bigger prize is next week.
We really see a heck of a battle with someone emerging that really wants to be crowned the 2013 FACA champion that doesn't have a real vested interest in making a Foot Locker all-out effort next week.
The North boys seem to be the team to beat but at the same time, the tactics and commitment of those focused on Foot Locker South lingers.
If any team is going to make a challenge, they'll need an over-riding goal, challenge and objective to rally around. With 3 Land O' Lakes runners in Stahl, Poore and Nichols lacing up for the West team, they surely have the motivation to go above and beyond for their Coach, Kris Keppel, who is no stranger to "challenges" as he battles the effects of pancreatic cancer and chemo-therapy himself but will be ever present on the course for his West team tomorrow.
Good luck to all the competitors and thanks to FLYRA and our friends for making the Robert Brown designed singlets possible for our All-Stars.
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