FWB boys, girls cross country take second at Panhandle Championships

The Fort Walton Beach cross country teams continued to assert a measure of area dominance on Saturday, taking second place in both the boys and girls categories at the Panhandle Cross Country Championships in Marianna.

It was the best across-the-board performance of any team at the 30-team event, with the Tallahassee Chiles girls scoring a 42 to the Vikings’ 50 and the Washington boys scoring a 45 to beat out Fort Walton Beach’s 78.

Locally, Niceville, Choctawhatchee, Crestview, South Walton and Rocky Bayou Christian also had runners compete in the boys and girls varsity classifications.

Lead by Holly Stanton’s sixth-place 19:04, all seven Fort Walton Beach girls finished in the top 40 and three finished in the top 10. Likewise, Luc Lawrence’s seventh-place 16:19 – the best finish for any area runner – anchored a Viking boys team that placed all seven runners inside the top 32.

Niceville was the area’s next-best in both categories, placing third (117) on the boys side led by Cody Skarupa’s 16th-place finish and then fifth (141) on the girls side led by 13th-place Marsel Mosley.

Choctawhatchee’s Hakeem Tarpley finished a team-best 10th with a 16:23 on the boys side, followed closely by Crestview’s top finisher, 15th-place Jacob Gourlie. South Walton’s Jacob Leuze clocked in at 17:03 for 33rd while Rocky Bayou Christian’s top runner was 114th-place Hudson Pierce.

Crestview’s Lauren Day enjoyed a solid outing, running a 19th-place 20:08 to anchor the 13th-place Bulldogs. South Walton’s Alex Weiner trailed closely behind and finished in 27th, while Choctaw’s Brooke McSheehy (No. 47) and Rocky Bayou’s Christie Allen (No. 52) also turned in team-best performances.

Area team results

Boys

2. Fort Walton Beach 78, 3. Niceville 117, 7. Choctawhatchee 245, 9. Crestview 277, 13. South Walton 359, 25. Rocky Bayou Christian 763

Girls

2. Fort Walton Beach 50, 5. Niceville 141, 9. South Walton 252, 13. Crestview 368

Area individual finishers

Boys

Choctaw: No. 10 Hakeem Tarpley 16:23, No. 42 Alec Herrera 17:23, No. 57 David Van Steenbergen 18:04, No. 64 Blake Sheffler 18:23, No. 76 Austin Hubbard 18:42, No. 78 Christian Saludez 18:43, No. 83 Michael Rivera 18:55; Crestview: No. 15 Jacob Gourlie 16:31, No. 52 Marshall Conner 17:54, No. 59 Cameron Sanchez 18:09, No. 62 Dylon Brown 18:14, No. 93 James Rossel 19:11, No. 124 Jonathan Mctyre 20:25, No. 151 John Lovito 21:59; FWB: No. 7 Luc Lawrence 16:19, No. 9 Matt Bevil 16:21, No. 17 Chris Douglas 16:34, No. 19 Jake Dearmon 16:38, No. 26 Sam Ammons 16:51, No. 31 Brian Day 17:01, No. 32 Alex Godfrey 17:01; Niceville: No. 16 Cody Skarupa 16:34, No. 21 Robert Burnett 16:40, No. 23 Michael Cooper 16:42, No. 28 Phillip Cullen Fralix 16:56, No. 30 Jason Riggs 17:00, No. 36 Patrick Lacombe 17:10, No. 37 Patrick Bernier 17:11; RBCS: No. 114 Hudson Pierce 19:59, No. 164 Jin Woo Jang 23:58, No. 165 Cooper Eaves 24:15, No. 167 Steven Wills 24:35, No. 171 Matt McDorman 26:45; SW: No. 33 Jacob Leuze 17:03, No. 77 Tristan LaNasa 18:43, No. 79 Wells Buzzett 18:48, No. 80 Ruben Lopez 18:50, No. 95 Cody Ficarra 19:14, No. 109 Emmett Hightower 19:48.

Girls

Choctaw: No. 47 Brooke McSheehy 21:52, No. 50 Lisa Spikes 22:00, No. 66 Sarah Fraser 22:50, No. 101 Randee Harvell 24:35; Crestview: No. 19 Lauren Day 20:08, No. 43 Lauren Polk 21:38, No. 84 Elise Jenkins 23:27, No. 124 Juliet Yarger 27:51, No. 140 Jessica Lilly 31:04; FWB: No. 6 Holly Stanton 19:04, No. 8 Sarah DeVaux 19:08, No. 9 Iolani Scanlan 19:10, No. 11 Ivy Chastain 19:16, No. 16 Brittany Long 19:54, No. 22 Melissa Radford 20:12, No. 36 Briana DeGennaro 21:11; Niceville: No. 13 Marsel Mosley 19:45, No. 15 Laura Nelson 19:54, No. 28 Abby McCool 20:40, No. 39 Casey Luzius 21:20, No. 49 Kristin Denison 21:57, No. 55 Taylor Adams 22:29, No. 88 Lauren Ammon 23:49; RBCS: No. 52 Christie Allen 22:11, No. 104 Jessica Maney 25:10; SW: No. 27 Alex Weiner 20:37, No. 32 Julie Williamson 20:54, No. 60 Allysa Bump 22:41, No. 75 Kaley Findley 22:56, No. 81 Jessie Taylor 23:23, No. 83 Malorie Leach 23:27, No. 99 Jessica Harrison 24:26.