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DistancePreps.com Frosh of the Week 11Published by
At DistancePreps.com our motto is "The Future Runs Now." To help celebrate the 2013 XC season, we have been honoring the future stars and dedicated young runners of the sport weekly for the past 11 weeks as "Frosh of the Week". This past weekend's State XC finals saw some fine performances and leaders for the next generation of harriers emerge in fine fashion as we add 2 more honorees to our rolls. The next XC event for most runners, especially freshman, is the Foot Locker South Regional where Florida over the years has had a lot of success and the Nike NXN Southeast meet on Thanksgiving Weekend in North Carolina.
Briana Burnett, Timber Creek (State XC Finals Class 4A 19:00.80, 7th) Briana Burnett is our Girls "Frosh of the Week". What a great freshman XC season it's been for Briana. For those that have been following the stats throughout the season, it became very apparent that Timber Creek had a runner on a steady upward progression that loved to compete.
Briana started her freshman campaign going 20:33 at Katie Caples and over the couse of the next 7 weeks, every time she competed, she notched a brand new 5K PR, going 19:10.80 at Districts. The only race during the season where she didn't notch a new PR was at Regionals, and we know how that goes. All good things must come to an end. Not to be outdone, Briana was back setting new PR's at State, where she finished 7th overall in Class 4A, going 19:00.80, ever so close to breaking into the 18's and was the first runner for the Wolves that day.
It's not very often we find freshman in Class 4A that lead their team at State, but that's exactly what Briana accomplished in the last race of the State series last week to cap off a great freshman season.
Briana sums it up this way. ""I really enjoyed my first season in XC and I have to thank my coaches and teammates for pushing me to be the best I can be. Even though I didn't know what to expect with the races at the beginning of the season, I kept learning more and getting better each week. I loved competing against my own times and also running against some of the best girls in the state. My goal toward the end of the season was to make it to the state finals and run my best race, which I was able to accomplish. Go Wolves!"
Coach David Gardner, Timber Creek
Briana Burnett is that rare talent that a coach dreams about. Not only does she have that enormous god given ability, but she has a strongly developed work ethic for such a young athlete. Although she is a blank slate when it comes to distance running, she is an extremely good listener and a sponge when it comes to learning new things. Her background in sports comes mainly from being a lacrosse player first as her running career started recently in 8th grade. Briana's first experience with running successfully came at the Orange County Middle School Championships where she finished 2nd, running a 5:28 in the 1600. This year was her first year in cross country and her lacrosse toughness really proved to be a huge asset as she consistently improved, earning all state honors (7th overall) in the final race of the season. This combination of education, dedication, toughness, and pure talent make Briana a force to be reckoned with in distance running and bodes well for her future in the sport.  William Shine, Archbishop Mccarthy (State XC Finals 3A 16:50.56)
William Shine is our Boys "Frosh of the Week"
William is another rare exception and a very talented runner who started the season going 19:05 and finished as his teams number #1 runner across the line at State, in 16:50. His solid progression throughout the XC season culminated in him being the first freshman to finish in 4A, the largest of all the classifications.
William notes, "My first season at Archbishop McCarthy was one of the best experiences of my life. This was my first competitive cross country team and although it was hard, it was very rewarding. There was always someone there to push me and keep me going and my coaches were always there for me. I worked hard all season and after running my personal best and helping my team get 14th at States, I realized hard work really does pay off. I think my first year at Archbishop McCarthy will be one I remember for a long time and I'm looking forward to bigger and better seasons in the future."
Coach David Dinicola, Archbishop McCarthy
"Will Shine was perfect everything he was told he absorbed like a sponge. As the season went on he got more and more confident in himself. We had good leadership on the team that took him under their wings until he was ready to fly at the state meet.
I think the next couple of years will be fun." There are many factors that come into play when determining the "Frosh of the Week", including; time, place, rank against other freshmen, and overall impact they have on their team. We will not highlight the same Frosh more than once and the honors are purely subjective. If you wish to nominate your athlete for "Frosh of the Week" e-mail us at [email protected] with their name and why they are deserving of the honor.
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