Prep notes: Cross country, swimming take the spotlight
While Arnold teams appear to be the clear favorites, and the Marlins’ girls likely have a stranglehold on the top spots in the girls division, the boys race could provide the highlight of Friday’s county cross country meet at Frank Brown Park.
The boys 5,000-meter run starts at 4 p.m. followed by the girls race at 4:30 p.m.
Mikayla Hodges and Christina Gaillard of Arnold have been the leading county girls runners all season. That could change if Ashtin Noyes continues her late-season charge for Mosley. On paper, however, the suspense seems to focus on the boys.
Arnold’s Challen Hyman has been the runner to beat in invitationals featuring the four county programs. Friday afternoon, recent results indicate that the final 200 yards of the race could get interesting.
In last week’s Panhandle Championships in Marianna, Aaron Jane of Mosley revealed that he is approaching peak form by smashing his personal best. It was less than 4 seconds behind Hyman, who finished in 17 minutes, 6.91 seconds. Andrew Wyllie of Rutherford also should be a prominent contender, as he finished that race in 17:14.20.
A sideline to upcoming district meets is whether the top runners from those teams can push each other to eclipse the 17-minute barrier.
District swimming
The countdown to the state swimming meet also begins Friday, with Mosley, Arnold and Rutherford traveling to the District 1-2A meet in Pensacola and Bay competing in 1-1A at the Frank Brown Park Aquatics Center.
The winning individuals and relays in each event advance to respective region meets next week. The remainder of the 23 individual positions in each event and 15 relays will be selected from an at-large pool of all district results within the region.
Both Mosley’s boys and girls teams are defending district champions, the girls since 2007. The Dolphins will be severely tested by Niceville’s girls team in the 15-school district. Mosley’s Victoria Hove is seeded first in the 200 IM and Alysiah Stock second in the 100 breaststroke. Kaitlyn Blais, Kristen Ratliff, Maria Patronis and Shelby Griffin are other individuals with a strong chance of advancing.
Mosley’s boys team is a strong favorite, exemplified by four of the top seven seeds in the 200 freestyle with Jonathan Ratliff first. Michael Duderstadt and Chet Seaman are seeded 2-3 in the 200 IM and 3-1 in the 100 breaststroke. Caleb Champagne is seeded in the top three in freestyle sprints, Haden Martinez is in the top three in diving and Michael Whitehead and Ratliff are 1-2 in the 500 freestyle.
In relays, Mosley is seeded first in both the boys and girls 200 IM, boys and girls 200 freestyle and boys and girls 400 freestyle.
For Arnold, Jamie McDonald is seeded second in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 100 butterfly and Nicole Gazia third in both the 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Rutherford’s Chris Jackson is seeded first in diving and expected to battle Zach Duval from Fort Walton Beach for the title. Divers much achieve a standard score of at least 280 points to advance to the region meet.
Bay is in the 1-1A seven-school grouping at Frank Brown Park. The Tornadoes are led by JD Clutch in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke. The meet starts at 9 a.m., with finals expected to begin by 5 p.m.
The Tornadoes have 23 swimmers competing and hope to advance 15-20 to the regional at Jacksonville Bolles. Among the girls, expected to advance are Rebecca Woodrum and Olivia McGuire, both strong in the 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, Alyssa Davenport (100, 200 freestyle), Rachelle Barlup (200 freestyle, 100 backstroke), and Hope Smith (50 freestyle, 100 backstroke).
The boys are expecting to set some school records and possibly claim the district title. In addition to Clutch, good bets to qualify are Dylan Mock (200, 500 freestyle), Phoenix Rine (200 IM, 100 breaststroke), Aaron Kaufman (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke), Jake Cauthen (diving, 100 butterfly) and Carter Barlup (500 freestyle, 100 backstroke).
District 2-1A volleyball
Chipley will host Freeport 6 p.m. Thursday for the District 2-1A volleyball title. The tournament opened Monday night with Bozeman eliminating Holmes County. In the semifinals on Tuesday, Freeport defeated Bozeman and Chipley ousted South Walton.
