Emerson Miller, Buchholz win Bobcat Classic cross country invite
Buchholz High swept the individual and team titles Saturday at the Bobcat Classic on the Santa Fe College NW Campus in Gainesville.
Friday night downpours left the course muddy and underwater in some places, the first being within 100 yards of the start.
“I knew the course was going to be tough because of the rain,” said Buchholz's Emerson Miller who won in a time of 16:04.6. “I wanted to keep pushing the whole way through. I was confident in my endurance.”
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Oak Hall senior Caden Montini was the main competition for Miller. He was racing for the first time in two weeks since contracting a cold.
“I was just trying to get a good effort in because I’ve been sick," said Montini who finished second in 16:40.0. “It all kind of hit me at a mile and half and everything started spinning.”
Miller pulled away for his first win of the season after three tries. Fully recovered from his sickness from two weeks ago, he’ll now get a rest before he travels to the Katie Caples meet in Jacksonville in two weeks.
“There were some muddy spots so I tried to slow down there so I wouldn’t fall. It didn’t slow me down too much. I just kept pushing through it” said Miller. “We’ll train big the next two weeks. We’ll have a good big race under the lights at Katie Caples. That’s a fun meet.”
Montini will also get some rest and race in the same meet. Things were looking good before he was sick and he is confident he’s on the right track.
“This year, we’re going to build into it. It can only go up from here,” he said. “My goal is to win state and go low 15s by the end of the year. I was feeling amazing before I got sick. I hope to get back to that.”
Buchholz took the team title with Bobcat senior Mason Kawaja finishing third in 16:47.1. Junior Evan Flemming finished sixth at 17:29.3, freshman Samuel Freas finished seventh in 17:36.1 and junior Riley Smith finished 11th at 17:52.9 as the ‘Cats scored 28 points to squash Mandarin who finished second with 52 points. It was the first team title of the season and Buchholz's second Bobcat Classic title in a row.
Bobcat Classic Invitational
Saturday, Sept 10; Santa Fe College; Distance: 5.0K.
Team Scores
1. BHS, 28; 2. Mandarin, 52; 3. Oak Hall, 127; 4. St. Francis, 155; 5. Eastside, 160; 6. University, 169; 7. Forest, 190; 11. West Port, 290; 12. Trinity Catholic, 300; 13. Columbia, 315; 14. P.K. Yonge, 427; 15. GHS, 439; 16. Redeemer Christian, 448; 17. Sana Fe, 459; 18. Peniel Baptist, 498; 19. Newberry, 546. Bell, North Marion and Branford did not score because they did not have five athlete finish.
Individuals
1. Emerson Miller, BHS, 16:04.6; 2. Caden Montini, Oak Hall, 16:40.0; 3. Mason Kawaja, BHS, 16:47.1; 4. Gavin Nelson, Mandarin, 16:54.2; 5. Quinten Dragstedt, Oak Hall, 17:07.2; 6. Evan Flemming, BHS, 17:29.3; 7. Samuel Freas, BHS, 17:36.1; 8. Cedric McFadden, Trinity Catholic, 17:36.1; 11. Riley Smith, 17:52.9; 12. DeCaln Dwyer, EHS, 18:08.9; 15. Landen Turley, St. Francis, 18:13.2; 18. Ryan Effing, Forest, 18:16.5; 22. Philip Matchev, BHS, 18:23.2; 24. Peter Peloso, 18:31.5; 25. Sam Stone, St. Francis, 18:38.7; 26. Jose Rodriguez, Columbia, 18:43.3; 27. Saylor Basko, St. Francis, 18:43.9; 28. Clement Weiler, GHS, 18:44.3; 29. Ethan Walsh, EHS, 18:46.2; 30. Zach Vickerman, Forest, 18:48.8; 31. Calum Watson, BHS, 18:51.1; 32. Carlos Alvarez, EHS, 18:52.8; 35. Luke Gutierrez, Forest, 18:59.3; 36. Nicholas Barnett, BHS, 19:01.4; 38. Jude Parker, St. Francis, 19:03.8; 39. Christian Hicks, Forest, 19:06.1; 40. Benjamin Gallogly, Oak Hall, 19:10.4; 41. Alan Qui, BHS, 19:11.9; 42. August McDaniel, EHS, 19:22.1; 45. Aaron Young, Santa Fe, 19:31.5; 49. Amir Entemadi, EHS, 19:49.7; 50. Caleb Baker, Peniel Baptist, 19:50.3.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: High school cross country: Buchholz wins boys team and individual titles
