NEW ERA: New leadership steps up, guides St. Augustine girls' cross country team

ST. AUGUSTINE – It’s post-Reilly Barber era at St. Augustine and the girls’ cross country team is still looking strong.

One of St. Augustine’s best-ever runners went to college this fall. And although head coach Josh Morton will miss his phenom and long time leader, he doesn’t have too much to worry about this year.

The Lady Yellow Jackets still boast a talented team that can still pose a threat to the field – as they did last year. The young group just has to get through its growing pains.

“We are still a young team and are learning lessons every time we step on the course,” Morton said.

The team is now led by juniors Kate Lawrence, Rylan Holmquist and Mary Gates – the team’s top runners. The third-year trio has led the team to a victory at the Joe McKinney classic this year, but finished eighth at the Katie Caples Invitational – one of the “A” races, as Morton phrased it.

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Katie Caples is the first big race of the year because it features several of the top area teams, many of them from North Florida, a hotbed for elite cross country runners. Caples is the first real litmus test for how far teams could potentially go in the postseason.

Morton liked the way his team performed, and everyone walked away with something upon which to improve, he said. They are right where they need to be at the halfway point of the season, he added.

Pre-state in Tallahassee is Oct. 8, a race that is technically a dry run of the course where the state race will be. Thus, a huge litmus test.

Lawrence, Holmquist, Gates have been putting up great times. They know if they want to do well in the postseason, though, they have to help coach up their younger teammates.

“The choices they make will affect us too,” Gates said.

That’s why the Lady Yellow Jackets have been doing some load management – running harder to finish better in the “A” races and pacing their younger teammates at smaller races, like Bale’N Trail. They aren’t too concerned about placing well in those races.

Overall, Lawrence — who has been the team’s top runner this season — is happy with how the team has performed, she said. Although the team is young, the team has a lot of experience in the top races. The Lady Yellow Jackets finished sixth at state last year.

Of course, the girls are looking to perform well in the postseason.

At St. Augustine though, they like to play the long game.

“Anything we do this year is only setting the table for what we’re going to do next year,” Morton said. “We’re trying to get ourselves into as many possible challenging situations as we can so that we can come out next year. Assuming everybody shows back up and is still healthy and enthusiastic, there’s nothing this team won’t be able to handle.”

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: High school cross country: St. Augustine is back with new leaders