West Coast Report by John Stevenson (3A Region 3 preview)

by West Coast Correspondent John Stevenson for DistancePreps.com

First of all, big congratulations to Sarah Candiano from Evangelical Christian on getting the double victory in the 1600 and 3200 in 1A-Region 3! She is the clear favorite in 1A for the state title in both the 1600 and 3200. Not being out done, Anita Munoz of Immokalee also ran to the double in Region 2A-3. Also Cal Davidson-Turner was the Region 1A-3 champion in the 1600 and Nicole Mis of Lemon Bay ran away with the 800 title in Region 2A-3.

Region 3A-3 Preview:

 
I may be a little biased in this but I think this is one of the hardest regions in 3A for distance runners.

Six of the top 10 in the 800 including the top 2 (Emily Edwards and Emily Harding) in all of 3A are in Region 3.

Four of the top five in the 1600 are in Region 3 and again the top two are both Emily's with number 3 being Katie Slater of Estero. Those three ladies are the top three milers in all classifications. The ladies of the North have a little more depth in the 3200, but Emily Edwards leads the way with the fastest time in the 3A.

Girls

4x800

Estero has the 2nd fastest time of the season in 3A behind the ladies of Miami Northwestern. Estero should run away with the regional title followed by Sarasota, Lely, and the fourth position could come down to Lakewood Ranch or Ft. Myers.

1600

This is the race of the evening!

Four of the five fastest ladies in the state are lining up together: Emily Harding of Sarasota, Emily Edwards of Ft. Myers, and teammates Katie Slater and Daley Cline of Estero. Harding and Edwards battled it out twice this year by splitting their races where Edwards ran away with the FSU 1600 and Harding out sprinted Edwards for the win at UF.

What I find interesting is that the ladies from Estero have their PR's from races where they pulled away from the pack and won handily.

So what will happen when the pace gets pushed?

The dark horse to make it out of the Region is Breeana Salcedo of Cypress Lake. Coming in with a PR of 5:12, she will need to be able to handle a fast first 800 if she wants to move on to states. 

800
 

From just a glance, it looks like a two way battle between Emily Edwards of Ft. Myers and Emily Harding of Sarasota. Both are coming in with big district meets where both quadrupled. The two Emily's are coming in with 2:14 season times, but they will be coming into the 800 from racing the 1600 as well as Katie Slater from Estero, so the one female to watch out for is Rachel Cazares from Gaither High School. Rachel has a season best of 2:16.71 at Steinbrenner in March. Breeana Salcedo is also in the 800 with a PR of 2:18, but just like the top ladies she will be coming off the 1600. Two other ladies to watch out for would be Megan Slater of Estero and Michelle Last of Lakewood Ranch.

3200

The 3200 is Emily Edwards race to win. She comes in with a season best time of 10:50. The main question to see being answered is which other 3 will qualify for the state meet. I think it comes down to five ladies - Bethany Jenkins of Estero, Devin Molloy of Baron Collier, Angelina Grebe of Sarasota, Maura Rose Poling of Lely, and Daley Cline of Estero. Daley's 1st 3200 of the year was last week at Districts with 11:50, but she has speed.

Boys

The boys 3A Region 3 meet is just as competitive as the girls with 6 boys all at 4:25 or faster in the 1600. Six guys under the 2:00 minute mark for the 800. The 3200 could be the race of the night with 5 boys at 9:30 or faster.

4x800

Just as the ladies of Estero should come home with the regional title, the boys should replicate their placement.  After Estero, I think it is wide open for the next three spots. Could be any of the following: Hillsborough, Ida Baker, Lakewood Ranch, Charlotte, or Naples.

1600

Sarasota junior Zack Summerall is coming in with the fastest time of the season for Region 3A-3 with 4:17 from the Pepsi Florida Relays at Pearcy Beard followed by his teammate Adam Bradtmueller. Jack Rogers of Robinson is running very well and will be right up there for the Regional title. The coveted fourth spot could come down to five runners, which all are within seconds to Ft. Myer's Tyler Bennett who is coming in with 4:23 from the FSU Relays.

800

The leader in the 800 is Palmetto Ridge's senior Kolin Ashbacher with a personal best of 1:53.58 at the Steinbrenner Invitational in March. As in the mile, Zack Summerall and Jack Rogers have some fast season times around the 1:55 mark, so that 4th place could come down to Marshall Dillon of Charlotte (who is running very well right now), Victor Storhoff of Braden River, and Jacob Dorn of Estero.

3200

This is where the chess game is played.

Who is going to double in the 1600 and 3200?

Which ones are going to drop the mile and focus on the 8 lap trek around the track?

I have no real way to predict. I do have my hunches on what I would do as a coach, but we won't really know until Wednesday. Tyler Bennett is the clear favorite with a season time of 9:20, but then it gets really interesting: Alex Pedraza of Golden Gate and Adam Bradtmueller at 9:26, Tyler Fisher of Port Charlotte (who is on fire right now) at 9:27, and Dean McGregor of Ft. Myers at 9:30. All I know right now is that this is going to be one awesome race to watch!

West Coast Correspondent John Stevenson

I've been coaching girls cross country since 2010 at Sarasota High School where the girls took 2nd place in the 2013 3A Cross Country State Final. In 2011, I took over the distance track program for both the boys and girls and in 2014 I took the realm as Head Coach of the Boys Track program at SHS. I've been a competitive runner that enjoys the longer distances and triathlete since 2007 and competed in many distances from sprint triathlon to ironman.

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