Sheridan Hills Christian’s cross country team made a trip south last week looking for speed. The Sharks joined a field dominated by Keys programs hoping their runners could use the area’s fastest athletes to set the pace and push their times.
Marathon’s Lucian Burns had a similar idea.
Burns hoped the added competition might provide a pace car of sorts at the front of the boys race. Instead, the Dolphin standout found himself with no one to chase but the bike clearing traffic ahead.
Burns ran away with the individual title in 16:28, crossing the line a full 45 seconds ahead of the runner-up and fueling Marathon’s first-place finish in the team standings.
The Dolphins packed three runners into the top five. Allan Taylor placed fourth overall in 17:35, followed by Tony Bursa in fifth at 18:00. Anthony Vargas (20:02) and Landon Anderson (20:05) finished 10th and 11th, respectively, to round out Marathon’s scoring five.
Key West juniors Sawyer Hill and Alejandro Caridad crossed nearly side by side, placing eighth and ninth. Hill finished in 19:41 with Caridad just a quarter of a second behind. Noah Taylor (20:58) and Cruz Matarazzo (21:00) took 16th and 17th, respectively, while Colin Palomino rounded out the Conchs’ scoring five and the race’s top 20 in 21:30.
Coral Shores’ top five finished just over two minutes apart, led by Victor Lopez in 12th place. Lopez’s 20:08 was followed by Wyatt Meyers (20:26) in 13th and Will Thies (21:24) in 19th. Dillon Matthews (22:05) and Tyler Cope (22:36) claimed 22nd and 23rd to complete the Hurricanes’ top five.
In the girls competition, Coral Shores’ Ali Wheatley had no shortage of runners to help set her pace. With the boys and girls racing together, the speedy junior had plenty of company around her; it just happened to be male company.
Among the girls, Wheatley had no such company near the finish line.
Her 20:11 secured the individual win by more than a minute over the next female finisher, though Key West ultimately prevailed in the team standings.
The Lady Conchs claimed three consecutive spots behind Wheatley, with Lynn Noah (21:24), Violet Jangraw (23:06) and Hazel Matarazzo (23:38) finishing 2nd through 4th. Emma Bradshaw was Key West’s fourth scorer and placed 8th overall in 25:31, while Ryah Bushey (27:59) finished 10th to complete the Lady Conchs’ scoring five.
Behind Wheatley, Coral Shores senior Kate King captured sixth place in 24:43, while junior Aria Booton was seventh in 25:12. Catalina Armstrong finished 11th in 29:33, and Ellaina Biondoletti placed 13th in 30:21.
Marathon did not have enough high school girls in the varsity 5K to register a team score, with the majority of the Lady Dolphins competing in the middle school race. Rebecca Merryman led Marathon’s varsity runners with a fifth-place finish in 23:47. Teammate Ariella Dworniczak broke into the top 10, placing ninth in 23:48, while Sofia Rodriguez finished 15th in 34:43.
Key West will take a week away from competition, while Marathon and Coral Shores head to Larry and Penny Thompson Park for the Race of the Thoroughbreds on Oct. 2.
