Lemon Bay Invit Results
On Saturday, the Varsity Cross Country Bucs awoke very early to make the nearly 2-hour trek to the south to compete at the Lemon Bay Invitational. Looking forward to running the preview of our Regional XC course, the Bucs had to make some quick adjustments when the course was suddenly changed due to immense amounts of rain and flooding. Undeterred, your Bucs took the lemons and made lemonade. Braving 90+ degree heat index and a flooded, muddy course, both teams ran tough to place 3rd (out of 22 teams) to open the season.
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The Girls Race opened our varsity season, placing 3rd. After the inspiration of our football team, the girls also crushed Clearwater Central Catholic, Tampa Catholic, Sarasota, and hosts Lemon Bay. They came up a bit short to Bishop Verot (currently ranked top 10 team in States and Region favorite), and class 3A powerhouse Ft. Myers. The girls were led by the “Big 3”, Anna McDermott, Kylie Stephens, and Finley Jordan. With the graduation of many top seniors, our young crew at Lemon Bay (5 freshman, 1 sophomore, 1 eighth grader) had to take the legacy of previous teams and begin to create their own history in Berkeley folklore. Running as 2 packs, Anna McDermott ended as our top finisher, placing 12th overall, while teammate Kylie Stephens finished just behind in 14th. Next, Finley Jordan ran as our number 3 on the day, as our “Big 3” ran in our upfront pack. Our next pack was led by Emma Flowers (who ran as our 4), followed closely by Heidi Hausinger (#5 on the day), Emily McDermott was close behind, and Abby Armstrong finished just a few places behind Emily. Overall, a strong opener on a tough course!
The Boys Race started closer to 9:00 as they had a 15-minute delay as a carry-over from the girl’s race. Undeterred in the sweltering conditions, the team placed 3rd, only succumbing to the 4A defending State Champs – Sarasota, and 3A powerhouse Ft. Myers. The team did crush the likes of Clearwater Central Catholic (tough to be them last weekend), Tampa Catholic, Palmetto, and Bishop Verot (and many others). As the race started, Ethan Lipham and Hudson Rowan jumped out early to lead the varsity race (in a pack of 5). Shortly after the first mile, Ethan Lipham grabbed the lead and led nearly wire-to-wire, only getting caught with less than a quarter mile (400 meters ish) to go. Ethan finished 2nd overall (out of about 150 athletes), about 30 seconds behind, Hudson Rowan claimed the 4th position with a powerful kick to hold off a late charging North Port athlete. Freshman Kirin Karver opened his Berkeley career with a top-20, 19th placed finish. Team Captain, and all-around swell guy, Trey Morris finished shortly thereafter in 25th place. Rounding out our scoring 5, 7th grader Liam Jordan opened the season with a strong race as he was pivotal to our 3rd place finish!
The Varsity and JV XC Bucs will be in action on Friday at the Babe Zaharias Twilight Challenge at the Babe Zaharias Golf Course (featuring 30 teams). Go Bucs!
Berkeley Preparatory School
Founded in 1960, Berkeley is an independent, Episcopal, college-preparatory day school located in Tampa, FL, for boys and girls in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12. Approximately 1,400 students gather here from the greater Tampa Bay area to form ONE Berkeley.