Seminole High School’s boys cross country team celebrates its first-place finish in the 3A-District 5 meet Nov. 8 at Taylor Park. The Warhawks followed it up with a third-place finish Nov. 14 in the 3A-Region 3 meet in Estero. From left are Ian July, Chase Sutton, Kevin Siesel, Josh Lakhotia, Nick Homme, Jacob Hudak and Dalton Bruni.
SEMINOLE – Seminole High School’s boys cross country team earned a spot in this weekend’s state meet by finishing third in the Class 3A-Region 3 championship Nov. 14 at Estero High School.
The Warhawks will be among the 48-team field for the state meet, which is set for Saturday, Nov. 22, at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City.
Led by senior Kevin Siesel’s third-place finish in 17:36.45, the Warhawks’ boys team finished 34 points ahead of fourth-place Fort Myers Cypress Lake and 15 points behind second-place Baker High School. Punta Gorda Charlotte won the race with four runners finishing in the top 23.
Seminole’s girls team had a tougher time, finishing 11th in the 12-team field and failed to earn a berth in the state meet.
Junior Kaitlin Homme led the way with an 11th-place finish over the 3.1-mile course in 21:18.84 but was 1:40 behind the winning pace of Fort Myers’ Katie Russo. Teammate Danielle Frain was 30th in 22:41.77.
In addition to Siesel, the boys team was led by sophomore Chase Sutton who finished 43 seconds behind winner Trent Craig of Cypress Lake with a time of 17:44.92 for seventh place.
Meanwhile, freshman Jacob Hudak (18:40.91) and sophomore Josh Lokotia (18:42.67) finished 25th and 26th respectively to ensure the Warhawks’ trip to state.
Other Seminole runners included junior Ian July (56th, 19:52.63) and freshman Nick Homme (60th, 19:59.97).
In addition to Kaitlin Homme and Frain, other competitors for the Seminole girls were senior Kelly MacManus (58th, 24:41.80), junior Angela Brigette (61st, 24:57), sophomore Danielle Falcone (71st, 25:18.34), junior Ashley Grimes (83rd, 26:56.68) and senior Erin Fabrizio (84th, 26:59.94).
In other area results, Osceola’s girls team finished ninth behind freshman Alexis Irwin’s fourth-place finish in 20:51.55. The Warriors also got a 43rd-place finish from senior Caitlin Forshier (23:35.59) and a 50th from freshman Nikki Kahl (24:07.74).
Osceola’s boys team finished 10th overall behind junior Gerald Popejoy (37th, 19:12.49) and Ronald Melendez (38th, 19:12.73).
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