The Weeki Wachee Invitational kicked off on the final Saturday of September at the Sand Hill Boy Scout Reservation in Brooksville, Florida. Cross-country teams from various schools met to compete in four events: boys’ varsity 5k, boys’ junior varsity (JV) 5k, girls’ varsity 5k, and girls’ JV 5k. In the boys varsity division, 17 schools from around the state recorded times, while that number was reduced to two in the junior varsity girls category.
Lakewood Ranch and Venice High Schools took first and second place in the boys’ varsity 5k, respectively, but Osceola (Seminole) was the only school of the dozen-plus at the competition to place in the top three in all four races. The Warriors took gold in the varsity and JV girls’ races, while the Mustangs from Bradenton narrowly beat out the Warriors for the top spot in JV boys’ 5k.
While Lakewood Ranch and Osceola High Schools came away with the hardware in the boys’ and girls’ divisions, respectively, Citrus also had one of the stronger showings. The Hurricanes took bronze in JV boys’ 5k and just missed the podium when they took fourth place in the varsity boys’ division.
Springstead was represented in three of the four races, Nature Coast and Hernando Christian competed in boys’ and girls’ varsity races, and Hernando and Weeki Wachee recorded times in the boys’ varsity 5k. The schools were listed as DNF (Did Not Finish) in all other events. Central High School was the only one of the five public schools in the county not to compete in at least one of these four events.
Hernando’s hometown teams had more modest success in general. The Eagles placed second in the JV girls’ division, seventh in boys’ varsity, and eighth in girls’ varsity. The Sharks varsity teams managed tenth and eleventh in the girls’ and boys’ events, respectively, while Hernando Christian placed eleventh in girls’ and sixteenth in the boys’ varsity races. The Hornets also finished in tenth place in the boys’ varsity race, while Hernando took the thirteenth spot. A more exhaustive list of the results is as follows:
Boys’ Varsity Results:
Lakewood Ranch
Venice
Osceola (Seminole)
Citrus
Forest
Carrollwood
Springstead
Tampa Bay HEAT
North Marion
Weeki Wachee
Nature Coast
Lecanto
Hernando
Northside Christian
Dunnellon
Hernando Christian
Lakeside Christian
Boys’ Varsity Individual Results (Top 3):
Derek Robinson (Jr) – Lakewood Ranch – 17:22.2
Jonathan Leatt (Jr) – Lakewood Ranch – 17:28.4
Vicente Rivera (Jr) – Lakewood Ranch – 17:53.5
Girls’ Varsity Team Results:
Osceola (Seminole)
Venice
Lakewood Ranch
Northside Christian
Forest
Lecanto
Tampa Bay HEAT
Springstead
Largo
Nature Coast
Hernando Christian
Girls’ Varsity Individual Results (Top 3):
Elle Mehltretter (Sr) – Osceola (Seminole) – 19:32.0
Avery Latto (Sr) – Osceola (Seminole) – 19:32.4
Jordan McLean (Jr) – Forest – 19:41.9
Junior Varsity Boys’ Team Results:
Lakewood Ranch
Osceola (Seminole)
Citrus
Tampa Bay HEAT
Junior Varsity Boys’ Individual Results (Top 3):
Michael Wagner (Jr) – Lakewood Ranch – 19:33.3
Aidan Williams (Jr) – Osceola (Seminole) – 19:46.7
Colton Prater (Fr) – Lakewood Ranch – 20:03.5
Junior Varsity Girls’ Team Results:
Osceola (Seminole)
Springstead
Junior Varsity Girls’ Individual Results (Top 3):
Shayna Musco (Fr) – Osceola (Seminole) – 24:40.1
Adrian Moreno (Fr) – Osceola (Seminole) – 25:26.1
Sara Britt (Jr) – Osceola (Seminole) – 25:32.8
