Hendrix, Geiger Outlast High Quality Fields In Florida

By Todd Grasley for DyeStat 

The FSU Invitational (Pre-State) is a chance for Florida's finest cross country individuals and teams to go head to head at Apalachee Regional Park, site of the upcoming state meet.

Two-time state champion and two-time NXN finalist Tsion Yared of Pine Crest took a group of five through the mile in 5:31 in the elite girls race. Around the mile and a half mark, the group began to lost contact and became three at the 2-mile mark with Yared, two-time Foot Locker finalist Alyssa Hendrix of Riverview and Fort Myers' Stephy Ormsby leading the way.

“Right after the second mile, Stephy and I were battling with each other for around two and a half miles and then after that point, I started to pick up the pace,” Hendrix, the defending 4A state champion said. “Around the start of the wall, or the hill, in the back of the course, I felt really good and started to put in a little bit of a kick and then just continued that kick until the three-mile mark. Once I got to the third-mile marker I just put everything I had into the downhill finish.”

Hendrix crossed the line in 17:31.6, one-tenth of a second shy of her season-best performance last week at Great American, and 15 seconds ahead of Ormsby, who finished second in a new personal best of 17:46.5. Yared was third in 17:47.8, while teammate Emily Faulhaber finished fifth (17:52.8) The Chiles duo of Alyson Churchill (17:51.3) and Caitlin Wilkey (17:54.8) were fourth and six, respectively, with new personal bests. For Hendrix, the win came after a hard week of training and race at Great American.

"In the last few weeks I've put in some pretty good workouts and have been really focusing on hitting my paces and recovering well,” she said. “I have started a lot of speed work just because I want to be able to peak at Foot Locker Nationals. A lot of my workouts I am ahead of schedule on so that I can hit my goal of sub-17 by the end of the season. Overall, I have been feeling a lot stronger this year and can't wait for the postseason.”

Pine Crest, a 2018 NXN qualifier and third last weekend at Great American, won the team race with 66 points. Newsome was runner-up with 192 points, while South Forsyth (GA) rounded out the top three.

“I was pleased given a week before we raced Great American and that was super competitive," Pine Crest coach Paul Bur said. “We didn’t want this to be anything complacent but as a stepping stone for the rest of the season.”

On the boys side, Ethan Geiger proved that his 2019 season isn’t a fluke. The Robinson High senior was part of a pack of nine runners to go through the mile mark around 4:43. At the 2-mile mark, only Junious Brown IV had stuck with Geiger while the remainder of the group had begun to string out following the hill at the 1.5-mile mark. Sophomore Rheinhardt Harrison, one of the top class of 2022 distance runners in the country, showed off his 4:12.59 1,600-meter speed. Harrison, who was in ninth at the two-mile mark, moved all the way up to second with an incredible kick over the last 800 meters. Geiger held on for the win in a time of 15:22.3, while Harrison scored a new personal best and runner-up finish in 15:23.2, and Armwood’s Jake Turner rounded out the top three (15:24).

Despite the meet being canceled in 2018, Belen Jesuit picked up from its win in 2017, to win another team title at Pre-State. The Wolverines placed three runners in the top 10 with a 46-second 1-5 split, and a team average of 16:03. Coach Frankie Ruiz didn’t believe it was the team's best performance but will take the win in a very competitive meet and on a legitimate 5k course.

“I’m happy to now have Javier Vento (17th,15:51.70) closing the gap with Diego Gomez (14th, 15:44.80) and Adam Magoulas (15th, 15:46.10),” Ruiz said. “One more thing about the race was that because last year's meet had been canceled because of the hurricane many of our top guys hadn't raced at the ARP course. That alone made the very long drive worth it.”