JACKSONVILLE - Ridgeview High grad Joel Nesi, a fifth year senior at Flagler College took his shot with two laps left of the Bob Hayes Collegiate 5,000 meters track race Friday night at University of North Florida and the authoritative move proved fruitful.
"This is my first-ever college win in either track or cross country," said Nesi, a prolific miler and cross country athlete for Flagler coach Brian Beil. "I knew the University of North Florida guys wanted to put a strong pace on the track, but I held my ground and stuck to the back of the lead pack."
Also representing a Clay County contingency were Middleburg's Emma Mussante in the womens 5000 for Florida Southern, Fleming Island's Emma Millson in the womens 10K and Keystone Heights' Alex Guy in the mens 10K.
In Nesi's 5,000-meter race, the lead pack dominated by North Florida keeping the pace on what was expected to be a 14 minute, 20-second pace, but O'Gorman stepped off the track in the final mile as Nesi was still hovering with the lead pack after a first 1500 meters in 4:04 (about a 4:21 mile).
"I had two teammates with me most of the way (Jon Eide, Finnian Russell) and we worked together to keep attached to the pack," said Nesi, who entered with a 14:32 seed time and won at 14:38.19 ahead of Eide at 14:43.09 and Florida Southern's Christian Giller at 14:45.92. "With a lap and a half it was just the three of us and I wanted to pick up the pace and when I did, I got a gap and just kept pushing to the finish."
Nesi, with a mile time of 4:14.22 and 800 time of 1:58.02 in indoor action, used his track savvy to time his Bob Hayes finish with a strong blast in the final 200.
"Once I got clear, it seemed I felt better and just kept extending," said Nesi. "It feels good to get the win after four years."
Also in the mens 5,000, former Clay High runner Carlton Waiguru, running unattached, but a favorite of North Florida track coach Jeff Pigg, finished ninth in 15:16.68, a personal best.
"He's a great kid and I want to keep him encouraged and running," said Pigg. "I know he worked all day at his Home Depot in Fleming Island and then ran a good race tonight."
Also on the Bob Hayes Collegiate agenda for the Friday night distance festival, Fleming Island High junior Ava Hendryx took her shot at some college legs with a pack-leading 54.57-second split to the finish line for the first 600 meters en route to a 4:55.78 finish for 12th place.
Up front in that women's 1500, Miranda Stanhope of James Madison University won in 4:34.91 with Mya Bodrato of Jacksonville University second in 4:35.54 and Ana Markovina of North Florida third at 4:35.76.
In the men's 1500, North Florida's Robert Pedroza won in 3:43.91.
Next were the 3,000 meters men's and women's steeplechase races with North Florida's Jada Williams winning the women's race in 11:10.08 over Claire Mills of North Georgia in
11:15.79. For the men, Gavin O'Brien of North Florida won in 9:26.91 with Colton Lawson, also of North Florida, second in 9:36.14.
Up for the women's 5,000 meters (3.1 miles), Mussante has been on a tear with a school record-breaking performance for her junior year with a 5K school record recently (17:24.37 at the River City Relays), 1500 splits that are among the top four all-time for Florida Southern with a season-best of 4:45.22 and a cross country Co-Runner of Year for the Sunshine State Conference.
In the Bob Hayes 5,000, Mussante and Flagler's Monique Whiteman ran shoulder to shoulder behind the front running duo of Erica Fisher of North Florida; a fifth-year senior from Pensacola and also from the University of Tennessee-Martin, and Macenzie Keller of Embry-Riddle.
Fisher would win the event in 17:09.59 with Keller staying second 10 seconds behind and Whiteman and Mussante battling the final 80 meters to the finish with Whiteman edging Mussante with a 17:23.17 to Mussante's 17:23.51 for yet another fast time for Mussante.
In the womens 10,000, Millson has continued her strong running for North Florida with her and teammate Hannah Martin taking an early lead and holding with stretching away with two laps remaining to win in 37:17.47. Millson powered her way to a 38:04.92 runner-up finish with North Florida getting the 1-2-3 with Billie Castillo third at 38:29.83.
Also racing in the women's 10,000 was a four pack of Savannah College of Arts and Design runners with finishers at fourth and fifth under the coaching of former Ridgeview High and Florida State standout Alexandra Midgett. Midgett had a final year of eligibility for cross country in the fall and earned a Sun Conference title with a perfect 1-5 finish for the womens team and conference runner of the year as conference champion. She also competed in the NAIA national championship race with her team finishing 16th nationally.
And, in the final distance event of the night at about a midnight start time, Keystone Heights grad and a fifth-year senior at Florida Southern Alex Guy, duked it out with a lead pack of six to nine runners knocking out sub-75 second quarter laps before a breakout finish at 72 seconds to take fourth overall. The winner was Seth Martinez of North Florida in 30:17.38 with Tanner Rosolino of Embry-Riddle second at 30:47.51 and North Florida's Paul Lespasio third at 31:18.53 just ahead of Guy in fourth at 31:39.78. Guy pushed a 72-second final lap to take fourth.
At the University of Central Florida Black and Gold Invitational, Fleming Island High grad Lauren Schaudel, running unattached out of Embry Riddle, finished the 1500 in 5:06.41 for 45th place. Schaudel also ran the 800 with a 2:24.92 for 41st.