The last stop on the road to the State Cross Country Finals for 1A and 3A teams in Region 1

Sunny Hill Farms, north of Tallahassee, may have been the site of the FHSAA 3A and 1A Region 1 cross country championship, but it really is a farm. High school distance runners have been welcomed to race at Sunny Hill four times over the years, but the farm's primary mission is to grow hay. Transforming agricultural land into a cross country course takes a lot of work as Scott Gowan, coach at Region 1 host school Chiles High, can tell you.

"We've been out here every day this week," said Gowan.

Their effort showed. Flags and streamers marked the entire course. Tallahassee Roofing had put a new plywood-and-tarpaper surface on the bridge. Every tree root had been marked with white powder. That was especially helpful, because some of the roots stuck up so high that you'd want to spot them early enough to have your lead leg in position when you hurdled the obstacle.

Okay, I suppose I've exaggerated the size of the tree roots. After all, if they really were hurdle height then Leon senior Sukhi Khosla has quite a future in the steeplechase. Khosla ran 14:52.9 over the 5K course at Sunny Hill Farms, winning the FHSAA 3A Region 1 boys' cross country race on Saturday morning, 8 November 2014.

The race started at 10:30 AM. Milton's Alex McDonald went hard early, going right to the front. Khosla followed him out.

"It's nice to have some help," said Khosla.

McDonald didn't enjoy the lead for long, as Khosla took over after the first half mile. After that it was just the Leon senior and the roots.

"I twisted my ankle once," said Khosla. "But it wasn't bad. I think it was better than my sophomore year, because I remember my sophomore year I was tripping a lot. This year I was out by myself and it's easier to see where you're stepping."

He didn't have anyone to block the view for four kilometers while he got farther and farther ahead on the way to a 14:52.9, the fastest high school time in Florida this year.

#209 Sukhi Khosla with everyone behind him in the 3A Region 1 boys' race, en route to a US #10 14:52.6

Behind Khosla another Leon senior, Hunter Scott, was moving up through the field. About halfway through the race he took over second.

"I made a move about a mile and a half off of David Cash Tampa," said Scott. "He hung on pretty strong. Then I just tried to hold on. I had very little left at the end."

Scott had enough left to run 15:23.7, giving Leon the first two spots. Chiles senior Avery Bartlett made his own move on Tampa, charging up into third with 400 meters to go. Bartlett couldn't catch Scott, though, and finished the race third in 15:31.0. Creekside's David Cash Tampa was fourth in 15:32.2.

Chiles got a 15:34.8 fifth place finish from Alan Hernandez, but Leon answered with a 15:35.1 sixth from Adam Wallenfelsz. Tyson Murray was seventh in 15:37.3 for the Chiles Timberwolves, but Kyle Buchholz took tenth in 15:46.4 to give the Leon Lions four runners in the top ten. Leon senior Wil Luca sealed the deal for the Lions by coming in 18th in 16:05, beating Chiles' fourth and fifth scorers. Leon had 35 points, knocking off the top-ranked team in the state and winning the Region 1 title. Chiles was second with 52 points. Also qualifying for the State Final at ARPXC on 15 November 2014 were Creekside (3rd with 82 points), Bartram Trail (4th with 117 points), Fort Walton Beach (5th with 129 points), and Pace (6th with 211 points).

Half an hour before the 3A boys' race, the meet had opened at 10:00 AM with the 3A girls. Choctawhatchee sophomores Shawna and Shelby Lindsay shared the early lead, running side by side. By three kilometers Shelby had fallen a step behind Shawna and the Creekside girls were coming. With a kilometer to go Shawna Lindsay was only just ahead of Creekside's Jessica Taylor, Tara Openshaw, and Colleen Openshaw.

Choctawhatchee sophomores #69 Shelby Lindsay and #68 Shawna Lindsay
pace the 3A Region 1 girls' field about 2K into the race

Also tucked into the lead pack with a kilometer to go were Bartram Trail sophomore Lauren Stanford and St Augustine junior Kelly Aponte. With 400 meters to go the Creekside trio had taken over the lead. Five seconds back, Aponte had just passed Shawna Lindsay to move into fourth. Aponte wasn't done moving, either. She ran down the Creekside contingent on the final stretch, winning the Region 1 title in 18:17.30. Creekside got the next two places, with Jessica Taylor running 18:20.30 and Tara Openshaw running 18:23.40. Shawna Lindsay came back to take fourth for Choctawhatchee in 18:27.80.

Creekside senior Colleen Openshaw placed fifth in 18:32.40. Creekside also got a 14th place finish from junior Kaitlin Rocker (18:53.70) and a 16th place from senior Megan Prangley (19:05.40), giving Florida's top-ranked 3A girls team 40 points and the Region 1 title.  Niceville (113), Chiles (117), Fort Walton Beach (125), Columbia (152), and Nease (160) joined Creekside in advancing to the State Final.

As soon as the 3A schools were done with the course at Sunny Hill Farms, class 1A got their turn. Baker School is one of those places you don't hear about often, and when you do you like as not have to look up where it is. But the great Houston McTear went to Baker, and Maya Espinosa runs for them now. Espinosa, a seventh grader, is one of those distance runners who heads to the front as soon as the starting pistol sounds. In the 1A Region 1 girls' race it was a strategy that worked. Espinosa just ran away from the field, winning by 200 meters in 18:52.60.

#340 Kelly Aponte running in fourth with 400m to go in the 3A Region 1 girls' race, just before launching herself into the lead.

Maclay sophomore Caroline Willis was second in 18:52.60, setting up her Marauder team for a Region 1 title. Willis was joined in the top ten by Marauder sophomore Molly McCann (5th, 20:12.10), sixth-grader Lindsay James (6th, 20:18.70), and eighth-grader Kenzie Mazziotta (8th, 20:28.40). Frosh Jainey Coates (16th, 21:19.10) topped off Maclay's score of 37 points, good enough for a Region 1 title for the Marauders. Placing second with 71 points, St Johns Country Day also qualified for State, as did Providence (89), Pensacola Christian (105), Jay (162), and Aucilla Christian (184).

The class 1A boys finished the Region 1 Championship program at Sunny Hill Farms. Jay senior Micah Kemp added a Region 1 crown to his District 1 title, winning the race in 16:38.90. Maclay eighth-grader Clay Milburn, just a week after becoming Florida's middle school cross-country champion, was leading his school's team in the Region 1 meet, finishing runner-up in 16:51.90. The next runner home was another Marauder, sophomore Jake Mazziotta at 16:55.00. Junior George Gwynn, seventh in 17:23.90, made it three finishers in the top ten for Maclay. Frosh runners Seth Kemeny (14th, 17:42.70) and Daniel Sweeney (19th, 18:02.40) finished up the Marauder scoring, giving Maclay 34 points and another Region 1 title. The other 1A Region 1 boys' teams advancing to state were St Johns Country Day (94), Pensacola Christian (109), Harvest Community (114), Aucilla Christian (157), and Blountstown (169).

After that, it was time for the cross country course to return to being a farm. After a few hours the mile marks were gone, the course markers were stowed away, and the roofing material had been removed from the bridge. The white marking powder on the tree roots would be gone after the next rain. Sunny Hill Farms was back to growing hay, at least until the next time it's needed for a Region 1 cross country championship.