1.  Well, I'm sure every season Plant's Coach Harrison wonders if this will be the year his streak of consecutive appearances for his Girls at the State XC Finals will end.  Last year was his 26th straight appearance at the State Meet.  When we talked to him earlier in the season, he thought this year may be an issue as he had to rebuild, reload, and really coach his way to the State finals for the 27th straight season.  Needless to say, the Plant Panthers girl team is headed back to the State Finals for the 27th straight consecutive season. They won their District and Regional which we think is pretty good coaching.

2.  Last weekend's 3A Regional meet was full of excitement with tough notch competitive races and meet management that just gets it.  The most unexpected race of the day had Ft Walton Beach's Emma Rudman trailing by 80 meters midway through the race and making up the gap on Nease senior, Karen Xiang.  This just goes to show 2 things.

    1 - There is a reason races are run from start to finish

    2 - Emma Rudman is tough, believes, and can kick like no other

FWB's Emma Rudman takes 1st 3A Region 1 - Photo by Bill Jones

3.  She's back.  Daesha Rogers that is.  The freshman from Miami Jackson won her 2A Regional rather convincingly by 21 seconds over the defending 2A State Champion and local South Florida rival, Pine Crest's Julia Montgomery.  Daesha has struggled with shin splints early this season and competed sparingly but that didn't stop her from being Daesha. Out front early and out front fast.

Miami-Jackson Freshman Daesha Rogers wins at 2A Region 4 - photo by Nancy Bray

4.  Coral Reef Boys are on the rise after winning their Regional last weekend over Miami Sunset and St. Thomas Aquinas.  In a meet that started at 4 PM, it was a hot brutal day even by South Florida standards.  Described as a somewhat crazy day with DQ's, DNF's and the like, when it was all said and done, the Coral Reef boys under the direction of Coach Eric Pino reigned supreme, taking the championship back home and propelling Coral Reef to  "favorite"status for the "big dance" at ARP.  With Kurt Convey, Berryhills and the rest of the guys peaking just right, the hardware will most likely have a long way to travel from Tallahassee for one of those South Florida teams.

5.  We're really glad to see the State Meet being broadcast LIVE this year even if the cost is $10.  With XC analysts Darrin DeTorres and Ricky Quintana calling the action, the $10 subscription is most definitely worth it.  Our only hope is that price creep doesn't set in year after year.

Good luck at State Everyone !