Cross Country: Aquinas & Westminster Academy Win State Championships

SFHSSports: Twitter | Facebook

St. Thomas Aquinas and Westminster Academy shared the spotlight at the FHSAA Boys Cross Country State Championships Saturday at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

The Raiders, with five runners returning off last year's state champion, defended their title in the Class 4A race.

With five runners in the top 45, including two in the top seven, the Raiders won with 82 points, the only team to crack the 100-point barrier. Lakewood Ranch was second (177) and Newsome was third (185).

Like most of the 2016 high school cross country season, the Raiders dominated the race despite losing its No. 2 runner Sean Breslin, who was forced to drop out with stomach problems.

The Raiders' top five finishers were junior Nick Rischar, third, 16:05; senior Antonio Martinez, seventh, 16:15; senior Pierce Statham, 35th, 16:50; senior Christian Vitagliano, 38th, 16:52; and sophomore Colin Breslin, 45th, 16:56.

The team's total time was 1:23 and team average was 16:36.

"It was a huge day winning back-to-back," said Raiders coach Trish Butler. "Things didn't go as expected but that's what happens during championship time. Nick went according to plan, he worked off the front pack and was leading at the halfway point which was very exciting for him. It was an impressive run. Antonio really stepped up with a breakout run and huge PR. We had two boys on the podium. It was fantastic."

Rischar has been the Raiders most consistent runner this season.

"It feels very good, very enjoyable," Rischar said. "It definitely was tough to come back as state champions. Everybody knew who we were. Not a whole lot of people liked us but we pushed through."

Rischar said he didn't realize he was leading until just before the second lap of the race on a hill.

"I thought we were more stretched out but when I got to the top I realized there were only two people ahead of me," Rischar said. "This was my best race for sure. Usually, I am not the No. 1 runner, but I started running my own race halfway through the season."

When Statham tackled Rischar after the race was over, he knew the Raiders had clinched the title.

"Our team is a very tight pack, we work together," Rischar said. "We don't win because of any one runner; we win because we run as a team. We were all so happy we won, it was amazing. This year the state title is the best for me. I feel like I contributed a lot more."

Also in the 4A race, Monarch junior Brandon Flagler was tenth in 16:19; Coral Reef junior Hunter Dobbs was 13th in 16:24 and Ferguson junior Guillermo Rojas was 16th in 16:28. Ferguson finished 15th among teams with 366.

Westminster Academy was Broward County's second boys state champion in the Class 1A race. The Lions had 111 points ahead of Mount Dora Christian (144) and Marathon (144), tied for second.

The Lions total time was 1:27:09 and runner average was 17:26. The Lions top finishers were senior Patrick Sastre, ninth, 16:59; Saahr Edouard, 12th, 17:05; freshman Benjamin DeAngulo, 29th, 17:26; junior Joshua DeAngulo, 41st, 17:37; and freshman Dimitri Selimos, 66th, 18:00.

Also in the 1A race, Highlands Christian junior Ryan Szklany was third in 16:38.

Butler was selected to coach the boys south team at the Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) All-Star race.

In other classifications:

CLASS 3A: Belen Jesuit finished third among the 24-team field. The Wolverines finished with 129 points, 1:22:57 total time and 16:35 runner average. Belen junior Joshua Collins was fourth in 15:40.

CLASS 2A: Pine Crest finished fourth among 25 teams with 182 points. The total time was 1:24:12 and runner average was 16:50, just missing the school record by less than a second. It was the Panthers' fifth consecutive Top 10 finish and third consecutive Top 4. The boys posted five personal best times and one season-best. Danny Ferro of Calvary Christian finished fifth among individual runners in 15:45. Calvary Christian was ninth with 307 points.