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Luke Alverson Wins Individual Title, Belen Jesuit Boys Take Team Title At The Southern ShowcasePublished by
By Ricky Quintana Huntsville, AL- As anticipated, the Southern Showcase turned out to be a competitive race between some of the best athletes in the south. Belen Jesuit (Miami, FL) boys team won the team race extending their winning streak to three this season, but some newcomers stole the spotlight on an overcast and sloppy course Saturday morning at John Hunt Park. The weather conditions couldn’t have been better for this time of year in the southeast-overcast skies with temps in the low 70s and a gentle breeze, but the surface had muddy patches throughout and the footing less than ideal in what most called a brutal outing. The soft surface did not stop the leaders from going out in an opening mile split of 4:41. Dyestat #4 Tommy Latham ( Marist, Atlanta, GA) and Dyestat #92 Eric Moore (Huntsville, AL), led the pack that included favorites Dystat #12 Riku Sugie (Thomas Nelson, Bardstown, KY) and Dyestat #16 Marcelo Mantecon (Belen Jesuit, Miami, FL). Latham was coming off six months of uninterrupted training that included a 4:01.74 mile personal best and four other efforts no slower than 4:03.58(mile) over a span of seven weeks at the end of his track season. So when he started to move away from the pack at 1.5 miles, the race seemed to be going his way. That wasn’t the case. “We got out really slow for a meet like this and I felt relaxed. When the pace started to pick up or just continue, I felt worse and worse,” said Latham afterwards. “At 800 meters, it was just a challenge to get to the line.” As Latham began to struggle, Aiden Monistere (Parkview Baptist, Baton Rouge, LA) began to take aim at the win and started to press up the final hill just past the two-mile mark. “I talked to my coach before and he said to sit in the pack and work with them. It seemed that they were slowing down a little bit past the two mile and I had a little more left in me. Halfway up the hill, I took the lead,” said Monistere who opened up a three second gap in a span of 90 seconds. With Latham not feeling well and Monistere pressing the pace, Dyestat #65 Luke Alverson (James Clemens, Madison, AL) began to rear his head. The senior who had come in with a 15:13.14 5K xc, 4:11.70 mile and 8:54.45 3,200m personal bests was up for the chase and leaving Latham behind. “I saw him [Tommy] make that move [after the 1.5 miles] and I said I was just going to give him some space and see what he planned on doing. He kind of relaxed a little bit. We had that big hill, and I just pushed up that hill and took the downhill real fast.” Monistere was “running terrified” and held the lead going into the final 1k. He knew his three second lead was precarious, but he kept the pressure on. “I kept hearing the fans cheering their names and they kept getting closer and closer and closer. He [Alverson] finally passed me, and I couldn’t match his move. I feel very happy with how I raced and how I placed.” Luke Alverson not only closed the gap but used a strong kick over the last 600 meters to power away in a new personal best of 14:49.25 to win by 8.19 seconds. “I live 30 minutes from the course, and we run here all the time. This morning, I was running the course through my mind about what my plan was. I knew there was that big hill just past the two mile and what to do there,” said Alverson of his season opener. “Everyone says mile two is where the real race starts. I managed to take that hill hard and not die on it and take that downhill really well. That was my plan going into it.” Next week he and Latham will get another opportunity to go head-to-head at the Wingfoot XC Classic at Sam Smith Park in Cartersville, GA and then he’ll look for a state title and a successful post season. “This was definitely a confidence booster. I was hoping for some fast times this year. I’m going to run NXR and then hopefully qualify for NXN and try and get All American honors.” Monistere finished second in 14:57.44 to hold off Mantecon 15:00.20 and Moore 15:02.00. Belen Jesuit( top 5 average 15:42.8) scored 67 points to outdistance a strong effort from Huntsville (AL), 119 and Brother Martin (New Orleans, LA) with 159. Belen Jesuit also captured the Blue division race in similar fashion with a 68-112 win over Baylor School (Chattanooga, TN). Balturshot Victorious in Girls Championship Race Like the boys race, the girls individual race didn’t pan out expected. Junior Brynn Balturshot (Station Camp, Gallatin, TN) outlasted junior Leila Hailey (Rockvale, TN) 18:01.20 to 18:03.20 for the win. The two were nearly twenty seconds better than third place finisher Ava Moody (Anderson County, Clinton TN) 18:23.07. In the team race, Brentwood, TN lived up to their favored status winning by 103 points 75-178 over Harpeth Hall. The 1-2 punch of Lydia Cromwell (13th 18:39.17) and Lauren Banovac (14th 18:41.84) was backed up by a 22nd place showing from Lia Banovac (19:01.02) and a 26th place showing from Rachel Haws (19:12.56). Abi Cobb rounded out the scoring with a 42nd place 19:48.52. Last year they finished sixth at NXR Southeast and return their top five scorers- Lauren Banovac, Abi Cobb, Lydia Cromwell, Rachel Haws and Lia Banovac. |
