ORANGE PARK – In a field affected by Friday night cross country at Cecil Field and Saturday morning racing in Flagler Palm Coast, Oakleaf High flexed some muscle with a 1-2 finish in the boys race and a top finish in the girls race at the Bob Hans Invitational at Ridgeview High School on Saturday.

Oakleaf High senior Dylan Nelson, with a strong summer of training, was joined at the top of the field with teammate Ajani Stokes, a returning transfer from Cypress Bay that ran as a freshman at Oakleaf High School before moving due to military obligations in his family. Nelson and Stokes ran away from the field early, including a cruising Matthew Stratton of St. Johns Country Day School, to post times of 17 minutes, 17.66 seconds for Nelson and 17:52.70 for Stokes.

“My coach told me to go for the win and we figured me and the Stratton guy would get separated, but Ajani showed he has great potential for us,” said Nelson. Stratton strode in after taking his time for the first two miles with teammates in third in 18:37.50 ahead of Clay High junior Carlton Waiguru in 18:52.50 and Mason Raymon of Oakleaf in 19:06.44.

In the girls field, Bishop Snyder transfer Hannah Johnson, 65th in Class 1A last year as a sophomore, had some competition throughout from Ridgeview senior Anna Magruder but held on to win in 22:48.12 to Magruder’s 23:08.75. Oakleaf had third in Madeline Dahlman in 23:35.60 with Orange Park’s Emma Brown fourth in 24:30.31.

In team points, Oakleaf won in the girls race over St. Johns 29-41 with Ridgeview third at 57. For the boys, Oakleaf won over St. Johns 28-62 with Ed White sneaking in at third over Ridgeview with 92 points.

At the Flagler County Fairgrounds, in one of the biggest fields to start the 2019 season, Fleming Island’s girls team kept pace with last year’s strong season with a team title by five points over former 3A powerhouse Creekside 54-59. Despite a two Creekside runners in the top five, Fleming Island, with sophomore Mei Chiang top finisher in sixth place in 19:59.86, squeezed in their top five runners in the top 20 for the team title.

Creekside joins Fleming Island in the new district 1-4A lineup as well as Nease, Bartram Trail and Tallahassee Chiles, all 3A top tier teams the past five years.

In the girls race, St. Augustine’s Reilly Barber won in 19:19.01 with Creekside’s Elizabeth Iliff second at 19:21.62 and Nease’s Naila Etique third in 19:24.43.

Fleming Island got top 20 finishes from Chiang, Lauren Schaudel, ninth in 20:41.39; Marisa Kortright, 11th in 20:51.81; Emma Millson, 13th in 20:57.51 and Grace Adams, 15th in 21:06.01.

Middleburg’s Emma Mussante was top Bronco finisher at 28th in 21:53.02.

For the boys race, Fleming Island’s boys finished fourth behind a seventh place finish from Will Livesay in 17:00.07, but Nease dominated the top spots with a 1-2-3 finish led by Rheinhardt Harrison’s win in 16:08.91. Behind Livesay were Jayden Scherer, 19th in 17:18.11 and Landon Opp, 22nd in 17:26.52.

Nease edged Creekside 50-58 for the team title with Bartram Trail third with 66 and Fleming Island fourth with 118.

Middleburg had John Scholz as top finisher in 78th in 18:35.17.

Area racers will be at Van Zant Park in Lake Asbury on Sat., Aug. 31 for the Fleming Island Invitational. Boys race starts festivities at 7:30 a.m.