TALLAHASSEE - Fleming Island High School cross country has had Lady Luck on their side the past month with standout performances in recent meets and the going got a bit more rugged as the Golden Eagles girls team finished 17th with the boys 10th at the FSU Invitational Pre-State Invitational held Saturday at the Apalachee State Park Course, the site of the FHSAA state championship races in three weeks.

"We got five guys under 17 minutes and finished 10th in team points," said Fleming Island coach Dave Allen. "That's some fast running."

For Fleming Island, frontrunner Kameron Wallizada answered the call at point with his second low 16 finish; 16;07, to take 27th place. Winner Ethan Geiger, a senior at Robinson High, won in 15:22.30 with Nease High's sophomore Rheinhardt Harrison second in 15:23.20. Tampa Armwood senior Jake Turner edged out Tallahassee Maclay's Junior Brown for third with his 15:24.00.

"I hit the first mile in 4:51 and that was before the big hill just after that," said Wallizada. "I saw the Nease guy and knew it was going to be fast. I just held on. I want that sub 16 time by the state meet."

In the team scores, Belen Jesuit, the defending 3A champions, won with 111 points with George M. Steinbrenner High second in a tie with Nease at 174. Fleming Island was 10th with 285.

"John Brinkman returned to our lineup and added the fifth sub-17 with his 16:59.70," said Allen. "We get one of those two guys up front; Wallizada or Livesay, to 15:30 by the state meet and we are in good shape for a top five state finish. We were third among 4As here today."

Livesay, who also nearly broke 16 minutes last week, finished at 16:20 for 42nd.

"I'm actually feeling pretty good about today because this was the worse I have ever felt before a race," said Livesay. "If I can run 16:20 feeling this bad on this tough course, I'll get better and be stronger in three weeks."

Fleming Island senior Landon Opp finished 70th in 16:37.30 with junior Jayden Scherer 84th in 16:48.20.

Steinbrenner was second in 4A last year with Tampa Newsome third. Fleming Island finished ahead of region 1-4A foes Creekside (13th) and Chiles (19th) who were second and third in Class 3A, respectively, last year.

For the girls, led by sophomore Mei Chiang's first sub 19 minute run of the season; 18:56.30 for 30th place, the reality of seeing the top six runners under 18 and the top 31 under 19 minutes, put the Lady Golden Eagles in treacherous territory.

Fortunately, for the girls, the teams above Fleming Island added up to just Chiles and Mandarin from district 1-4A for the girls with Creekside in at 19th. Chiles and Creekside are now in 4A, up from Class 3A; Creekside third last year, Chiles the 3A champion. Fleming Island was eighth in 4A last year.

Class 2A runnerup Pine Crest won the team title with 66 points with finishers at third and fifth as Riverview High senior Alyssa Hendrix, the defending 4A champion, topped the field with a 17:31.60 effort beating out senior Stephy Ormsby of Fort Myers (30th in 3A last year) and 2A state champion Tsion Yared's third at 17:47.80. Yared is from Pine Crest. Fleming Island totaled 385 points for their 17th place.

Even without two top runners; the Fleming Island girls got a personal best performance from sophomore Grace Adams, who battled to a 20:05.60 split for 78th place.

"It's my best on this course," said Adams, who was ill at last year's state meet and ran a 20:26 last year on the FSU course. "This was a good confidence run."

Behind Adams, sophomore Morgan Erler finished 93rd in 20:18.30 to keep improving her strong running in lieu of injured Lauren Schaudel and Emma Millson.

Chiles move to district and region 1-4A brings two runners; Alyson Churchill (17:51.30, fourth) and Caitlin Wilkey (17:54.80, sixth) to the forefront of region 1-4A where Fleming Island will need to pull their front five pack a lot closer for a top finish. Creekside's third finisher was Elizabeth Iliff at 18:32.20 with Megan Churchill at 19:20.40.

Mandarin, a frequent top finisher in 4A, finished ninth at FSU.

Stratton, Kailes 1-2 at Bronco Classic

St.Johns Country Day School top two duo of Matthew Stratton and Jacob Kailes took the top two spots to upset the home course advantage of Middleburg High senior John Scholz at the Middleburg High Bronco Classic cross country invitational held Saturdah.

Stratton, who recently broke 16 minutes, won at 16:28.60 with Kailes second at 17:32.43 and Scholz third at 17:39.27.

Bartram Trail won the team trophy with three finishers in the top 10 after Scholz with 42 points followed by Middleburg and St. Johns.

For the girls, Middleburg junior Emma Mussante got third in 21:27.30 with Ridgeview High senior Anna Magruder fifth at 21:59.59 and St. Johns eighth grader Sarah Robinson ninth at 22:20.39 to put three area runners in the top 10. Bartram Trail dominated with five runners in the top 10 for the team title with 22 points ahead of Middleburg's 78 for runnerup.

Shaw top area finisher at BR3 race

Keystone Heights High sophomore topped area runners with an 18:24.60 effort for 17th place at the BR3 Sports Invitational held in Lake City on Saturday.

Ocala Vanguard dominated the top spot with four runners in the top 10 for a 33 team score ahead of The Villages at 87 and Eastside at 105. Keystone Heights' boys finished eighth at 193.

Ocala Vanguard senior Lewi Benitez-Chaparro won in 16:43.60.

Keystone Heights got finishes from Jerry Payne (32nd in 19:05.40), Jay Payne (43rd in 19:38.20), Tyler Griffin (44th in 19:42.90) and Gabe Buchanan (63rd in 20:52.90).