10 Takeaways from the 2015 FSU Pre-State Invitational
Before we discuss our takeaways, it was great to arrive early courtesy of Coach Butler and his Satellite Scorpions team as we made the 5-hour trek with them on their travel coach. Thanks for the safe travel.
Lee for DyeStatFL
Arriving early Friday allowed us time to survey the course, talk to meet management, athletes and fans. We had a chance to meet DJ Nate Bragg, talk to Mr. Brian Hickey from Leon Parks and Recreation/VisitTallahassee.com, hear Coach Baldwin's girls rousing toast and set up a staged sold-out, last t-shirt tweet. Those 900 T-shirts sold out in about an hour.
DJ Nate Bragg !
Coach Baldwin's Steinbrenner girls rousing toast
Last t-shirt tweet...
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10 Takeaways
The 2015 Pre-State meet was a festive, joyous occasion. Our observations deal primarily with Friday's JV races and the Elite races the following morning.
1. A great meet was made better with the addition of the Georgia teams. In the Elite races, the Georgians placed all five entered boys teams in the top 11 and the four girls teams all placed in the top ten. Florida still prevailed winning the individual and team championships in the Elite races. Kudos to meet management for the last minute additions.
2. Coach Vinal's Trinity Prep varsity boys rocked the competition making a serious statement nation-wide. Presently they are ranked 21st.
RELATED - SEE THE DYESTAT RANKINGS HERE
Placing 8,17,18,21,24, the 24 second 1-5 split (15:44-16:08) was a classic case of pack running. As the race progressed, you could see the Trinity Prep pack running in unison, moving up throughout the race, and gaining confidence as the race came to a culmination. Could they make a run at an NXN birth in 2015?
3. Pine Crest has never won a State XC Championship. 2015 looks to be their best shot. After being runner-up the last three years to Bolles, the addition of Alyssa Pujals has propelled the Panthers to the top of the forthcoming rankings as we near the State Series. Pine Crest easily outdistanced a very good Bolles squad without their #4, Mahdere Yared. They will only be stronger once she returns and therein lies the rub. Everyone, regardless of team, has to stay healthy for the race that counts.
4. Rafaella Gibbons is fearless. It's a daunting task to try and run away from such a competitive field early. By the time they crested the "Wall" and re-entered Field 1, Rafaella was in control and making it a race against the course and the clock. The old course record was set during the 2012 State Finals by Chiles' Rachel Givens when she scorched ARP going 17:48.78. That was also on a course that some deemed a lot faster than the course we saw after Friday night's rains made it mushy and slippery. Rafaella ran 17:44.60. The future looks bright and fearless.
5. Speaking of Winter Park, their 4th place finish at Pre-State will likely mean a drop in the DyeStat Southeast rankings. When it comes around to NXN considerations in the Southeast, rankings don't mean much as at-large bids are extremely hard to garner. Rankings also don't mean squat when talking about State Championships and even with an off day, Winter Park was still the first 4A team across the line on Saturday.
6. 2A boys showed some dominance in the Elite race. Besides Trinity Prep winning handily and posting a measly spread, Satellite boys were the second Florida team across the line Saturday. To think I scoffed at Coach Butler when he told me he thought they would finish top 5...overall. We sorely missed Labelle and the great season they are having so much we even included them in our field preview by proxy. So who does Coach Garcia rank second now?
7. It became clearly evident that Noah Perkins left a lasting impression last week at FLRunners. There was no way Steven Cross or Joshua Jacques was conceding more than a stride or 2 in the re-match.
V. Arrieta/MiamiShots.com for DyeStatFL
8. The first freshmen across the line in the Elite fields were Key West's Nicole Matysik and Bolles Charles Hicks, our first two 2015 honorees as DyeStat Florida's FROSH of the Week.
9. Chip timing, live video feeds and the outgrowth of technologies is great for the sport of cross country. Last year there were two video camera's used to deliver the racing feed. This year a total of 5 cameras brought the action to the Jumbotron. Shortly, we can expect even more camera feeds which brings us to number 10.
10. The State Meet has found a home at ARP. Do we need to move for the sake of moving at any time in the future given the commitment of the Tallahassee stakeholders and community? Wouldn't it be more feasible for the FHSAA and the stakeholders to seek a long-term contract for the State Meet?
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