Hurricane Isaias took FSU Pre-State off the calendar, so Jaxon Kiper, coach Bill Jenkins and a group of Tampa Bay's best ran a tempo workout at Flatwoods Park, then met Natalia Gaona-Zelaya for breakfast. Next up is New World in Jacksonville.
Last weekend was supposed to be the FSU Invitational in Tallahassee. Then Hurricane Isaias came through the Gulf, and Pre-State was canceled with no make-up date.
Some runners found another race. A handful of the best in the Tampa Bay area did something else. They got together for a weekend workout.
A tempo morning at Flatwoods
Jaxon Kiper and his coach, Bill Jenkins, met at Flatwoods Park for a quality tempo-style session. Word got around, and a few of the area's top runners showed up to run it with him: Justin Garbowicz, Isaiah Howdeshell, James Nolan and Noah Steed.
That is a lot of speed for one parking lot.
- Jaxon Kiper, senior, Strawberry Crest 4A. No. 6 in our statewide boys rankings and No. 3 in 4A. He won the Don Bishop Invitational on Oct. 3 in 15:24.2 and won Jim Ryun in August in 15:54.3.
- Isaiah Howdeshell, senior, Largo 3A. Fourteenth at state last fall. He ran 15:20.0 for third at the Cecil Field Summer Classic in August and has wins at Parker Valby and Seffner Christian.
- James Nolan, senior, Strawberry Crest 4A. Kiper's teammate won the Central Hillsborough Championships and the Spartan XC Invite, where he ran 16:12.9.
- Justin Garbowicz, junior, St. Petersburg 3A. He ran 15:58.63 at the North Port Invite and was second at Lakewood Ranch.
- Noah Steed, sophomore, Plant City 4A. He was second at the Raider Open in 16:29.3 and fifth at Don Bishop.
These are guys who usually see each other from the starting line. Last weekend they ran together.
Breakfast at First Watch
After the workout, the group headed to First Watch for breakfast, and they had company. Natalia Gaona-Zelaya of Wiregrass Ranch 4A was there too.
Gaona-Zelaya is No. 3 in our statewide girls rankings. She was third at state in 4A last fall, and this season she is five starts, five wins, with a best of 17:34.6 at the Stampede Sprint on Sept. 26. She has not lost to anyone yet.
Up next: New World in Jacksonville
The break is over. This weekend, Oct. 16-17, teams from all over the state head to Jacksonville for the New World Fall Spectacular at Cecil Field. It is shaping up as the most competitive meet of the regular season.
Several of the runners from the Flatwoods workout could be on that line. If they are, they will be racing each other again instead of running side by side. Results will be in the Florida XC database as soon as they post, and the rest of the season is on the Florida cross country meet schedule.