The Junior Varsity Championships is the last race for many of the Ponte Vedra High School cross-country athletes for this season. All the summer running, early morning darkness before school with no sleep-in Saturdays since mid-August all comes down to this final race. Luckily, the Bishop Kenny High School Cross Country 5k meet is a nice setting on the river for the runners to whoop out their fastest legs and show that all the hard work was going to pay dividends.
The Ponte Vedra Boys started fast and furious against the best JV teams in North Florida. The speedy early miles were paced by rival schools but the patience effort and running that the PV lads have learnt was setting the race up exactly the way they wanted it. After mile 1, the PV team was ready to start taking over the race. The boys began to working their way thru the field and moving up positions. The excellent effort continued for the entire race which produced season bests for nearly all 25 of the athletes. Harrison Crowley topped the PV team with flying 18.36 with Olek Kolodziejski behind by 3 seconds. Freshmen Chandler Garcia, Matthew Quintal, Junior William Lancaster and Freshman Jacskon Noye all running 19.00 and under. This in itself is a great benchmark to break in a 5k race. Another 4 PV runners also clocked under 20.00 which makes for highly successful JV team for years to come. Overall personal bests dropped between 40 seconds to as much as 3 minutes for runners. They should all come away from the season with great confidence knowing they gave their all.
Of course, the Girls JV Cross Country would not be outdone. Whatever the boys can do, they always do better. This race is always dominated by Bolles in the past years but this year PV girls were right in the mix from the start. Fabienne Voegeli found her place near the front pack and was not giving up anything to anyone. Her race strategy was that she was going to lead the PV girls and inspire with her effort. Caroline Bing and Sydney Stavros followed suit and formed a formidable team. The girls ran strong all race and their results reflected their great effort with 5th, 10th and 13th place respectively. All dropping huge chunks of time from their previous best races. Isabella Pulzone and Logan Gillespie both ran smart and strong races to complete the finishing top 5 scoring points for the PV team, which took home 3rd team place. Their best finish team ever in the JV Championship. Overall the team had 12 ladies run faster than they had ever before. Special mentions must go to Mae Logue, Anna Chattaway, Claire Fodor, Madison Cooper and Hannah Beatty who all add over 2 minute drops in their personal bests. This just goes to show that effort is truly rewarded and can celebrate their finish of the season.
Congratulations to everyone for a not only a great week of racing but a fantastic season. Go Sharks!
