Article and photos by Donna Wong, LMHS XC Parent
It was a gorgeous morning on the Hill this past Saturday as the Lake Minneola Hawks hosted the 13th Annual Hawks on the Hill XC Open. More than 16 teams participated and all attending were treated to some serious competition.
The Lake Minneola Girls team was once again the top team, winning their fourth meet this season (including preseason). The victory was sweet coming on their home turf “On the Hill” at Lake Minneola HS.
Led by junior Jasmine Williams who finished 4th overall, the girls’ varsity runners were on fire! Williams was pacing with her cousin Veronica Peterson from rival East Ridge HS, but managed to overtake her and finish 12 seconds ahead, posting a PR (Personal Record) with a time of 19:11.70. The Hawks had five top 25 finishers, putting the team in first place with a score of 55 points and a total time of 1:40:26.40.
Sophomore Ashlyn LeViner was 9th (19:39.40), Freshman Alejandra Rodriguez was 11th (20.01.00), Sophomore Raegan Krepcho was 12th (20:06.00) and Senior Sophia Reed was 23rd (21:28.30) rounding out the scoring Hawks for the meet.
Overall, six Lady Hawks posted PRs for this meet. In the Girls Varsity race, rival East Ridge HS finished 2nd with 80 points and a total time of 1:43:31.00. The LMHS team average time was 20:05.28, nearly 40 seconds better than ERHS.
The LMHS Boys Varsity team finished in 6th place, posting 161 points and a total time of 1:36:45.82. Freshman Quentin Thompson led the boys finishing 13th overall with a time of 18:10.12. Thompson took 42 seconds off his time from last Saturday while posting a new Personal Record. Senior Jackson Crossley finished in 28th place, posting a time of 19:01.73. Grant Pautienus finished 31st overall with a time of 19:11.67, also a PR for the sophomore. The boys team is young and improving each week. Six Hawks posted PRs for the boys.
The Hawks travel to Wildwood next Saturday, September 16th, and then to Kissimmee on September 23rd. The team will compete in a pre-state meet in Tallahassee at the end of the month which should give them a taste of the competition at the end of the season.
