MIDDLEBURG - The names up front have drastically changed, but the results stay nearly the same between the cross country teams for Fleming Island and Ponte Vedra as both teams battled to a 1-2 finish; Sharks first, 34-61, at the district 2-3A championship race held Saturday at Middleburg High.
Also in the region mix, Middleburg, under the coaching combo of Paul Grybb and Kenneth Yancey, got sixth-place team finishes for both boys and girls to send both teams to the regions in Panama City on Thursday, November 7.

Region 1-1A: Friday, November 8 at New World Golf Course, Cecil Field, 9:30 a.m.
Region 1-2A: Friday, November 8 at New World Golf Course, Cecil Field, 7:30 a.m.
Region 1-3A: Thursday, November 7 at Majette Park in Panama City, 9 a.m.
Region 1-4A: Friday, November 8 at New World Golf Course, Cecil Field, 8:30 a.m.

Last year, Fleming Island took the district and region titles over Ponte Vedra and, in regions, over Leon and Ponte Vedra.
"We have had good races at the Panama City course," said Fleming Island coach Dave Allen.
At the Class 3A championship race last year in Tallahassee's Apalachee Regional Park, Fleming Island turned the tables on the Ponte Vedra in the boys race to steal a fourth-place finish ahead of the fifth-place Sharks, but just one of the three guys that finished in the top 22 to secure the Golden Eagles team spot is back; senior Jacob Campbell, and he didn't run Saturday. Graduated were Graham Myers, now at the University of Florida, and John Keester IV, at the University of South Florida. Also missing is Leon super runner Patrick Koon, the three-time 3A champion, now at Stanford University.
"Jacob has been our best runner all season and he kind of tweaked a knee or something like that so Wes wanted to save him for regions," said Allen. "This team has a good roster of strong runners and we just want to get through the districts to regions safely and with no one getting hurt."
Campbell, who has impressive wins at the Bartram Trail Bale N Trail and the Ponte Vedra Craig Speziale invites in regular season action, brings a sub-16 minute split time to Allen's calculations, but Allen, the number cruncher with assistant coach Jason Poole, has been pleased with the upward progress of his second in command, Andrew Boyer, who was leading near the midway point at Middleburg with St. Augustine's Cole Swesey, the eventual district champion in 16:19.1 and a pair of Ponte Vedra runners; Tanner Andrade Brinsko and Luke Rosse. Swesey extended on the back end of the race and brought just Andrade Brinsko with him and Boyer hanging just behind ahead of Matanzas' Blaine Vogel and Ross with the top five all under 16 minutes.
Boyer has been the most steady in his improvements near the November peak with a strong finish at the New World Fall Classic a week ago and his third-place finish at districts.
Behind Boyer, Fleming Island got stellar runs from seniors Jack Pugh in 11th at 17:34.0 and Cole Atzert in 14th at 17:38.9 with junior Marcos Serrano 16th in 17:45.3.
"We will need one or two guys more in the 16-minute range to make a dent at region and state," said Allen. "This Middleburg course is tough to run fast on with the tree roots and mud."
Middleburg got their seventh-place finish behind strong running from junior Daniel Johnson in 36th in 18:51.3 and junior Adam Ruoss in 40th in 19:01.5.
Individual qualifiers came from Clay's Jeremiah Jewell, in 31st in 18:31.1, and Ridgeview with two runners; sophomore Braidyn Matz in 28th in 18:18.5 and senior Jacob Salazar in 35th in 18:50.4.
For the Fleming Island girl's team, the three-way punch of Brooke Reynolds, Ava Hendrix, and Jeniffer Fagan got into the top 15 spots to chase Ponte Vedra with Reynolds and Hendrix together at fourth and fifth and Fagan 14th. Ponte Vedra's Daisy Ross, one of the area's dominant runners all season and ninth in 3A last year for the 3A runnerup Lady Sharks, won in 18:34.8, well ahead of St. Augustine's Lauren Voutour and Gainesville's Audrey Dunn who was the third runner under 19 minutes for the race. Reynolds was in at 19:06.8 with Hendrix, a sub-19 finisher last week on the New World Fall Classic course, in at 19:39.0. Reynolds was 21st in 3A last year as a sophomore ahead of two seniors with Hendrix and Fagan not with the team; Fagan, a transfer from Texas this season with strong third finisher finishes all season.
For the upcoming region race, with the trio running three strong in the top 20 spots most of the year, Fleming Island will be a more formidable challenge at the region and state races.
With Middleburg securing a team spot for their seventh place finish led by senior Paloma Romero's 32nd place finish in 22:39, Ridgeview and Clay both got individual qualifiers with Ridgeview junior Emily Turner continuing her strong season with a 19th place finish in 20:46.5 and Clay High freshman Annaliese Hovda having her best race with a 35th place finish in 22:46.5 to also get a ticket to Panama City.