Boca Raton’s Emma O’Day cruises to highschool’s first particular person state title in women cross nation – Solar Sentinel

Emma O’Day wasn’t concerned with running her fastest time at Saturday morning’s FHSAA Class 4A girls cross country race at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

The Boca Raton High School senior didn’t need to set a PR in winning top honors as she toured the 5K layout in 18 minutes, 23.90 seconds. It was a little more than 17 seconds slower than the 18:06.60 clocking that she ran in finishing fifth at the FSU Invitational (Pre-State) meet one month ago. She became the first athlete from her school to win an individual state championship in the sport.

“I was told by my coach not to go for time, just go for place, so I ran the race very tactically,” said O’Day, who finished 50th last year at state with a 20:29.90 time. “I had a race plan which was to cruise through mile one with a 5:40 and I hit a 5:42. I was told to start moving up the pack around the mile and a half and then go with the leader at mile two.

“I was supposed to take the lead with 650 meters to go to take the lead,” she continued. I executed everything perfectly and I was super happy with the race. I had to pass on the hill because no one comes back from that. This is pretty cool, and I am happy to represent not only Boca High, but all of Palm Beach County.”

American Heritage junior Ashley Fitzgerald (17:56) was second, finishing just 2.30 seconds behind Tallahassee Leon senior Lillee Tang (17:53.70) for the girls Class 3A state title.

Fitzgerald said she hoped for a top-3 finish in the race and that’s what she delivered.

“I was really happy with how the race went,” Fitzgerald said by phone. “I think the whole race strategy was for us wondering who was going to make a move first. I felt pretty good about the race. It was pretty darn close. My times were steadily improving throughout the year, it wasn’t like I had a good meet in the beginning and the rest were all over the place. This gives me motivation going into track season and next season.”

St. Thomas Aquinas sophomore Grace Finneran was fourth (18:18.60), while Dillard junior Christiana Coleman was sixth (18:31.60).

Finneran saved her best for last as she clocked a personal-best time in the Class 3A girls race. It was nearly 10 seconds faster than her time of 18:26.80 in the FSU Invitational.

“Today was pretty crazy,” said Finneran, who finished 12th at state last year. “I was seeded like 19th going into the meet and ended up coming in fourth overall. The rest of my team was ranked 11th coming into the meet and we finished fifth so that was really exciting.”

“I think the coaching and the team just came together this year,” she added. “We went to a running camp this summer and that help with bonding. I also didn’t have as much confidence early in the year and coach [Trish] Butler helped me gain confidence in myself because I knew I could run fast. We had a freshman girl [Ella Collins] who helped mentor the other girls.”

Dillard junior Raquel Edwards was 22nd (19:11.40) as the Panthers placed second in the girls standings with 120 points, while St. Thomas Aquinas carved out a fifth-place finish with 227 points. Osceola High (Seminole) won the girls title with 101 points.

Dillard coach Davidson Gil said his team exceeded what others expected his team to do this year. The Panthers overcame injuries throughout most of the season, including top runner Coleman missing a chunk of the season. She finished third last year, and sixth in 2019. Dillard didn’t compete in the state series in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“In our camp, we had expectations and hoped to win it, but no one knew what we had,” Gil said. “The girls knew what our mission was. We were able to focus on us instead of being the one with a target on our back. We have three middle schoolers and only one senior graduating, so we are going to enjoy these years to come.”

Butler said both the boys and girls team battled injuries on both sides the entire season.

“Going into the state championship unranked on both sides, I was pretty pleased with a fifth-place finish on the girls side and seventh for the boys,” Butler said. “I’m very pleased with my two captains Grace Finneran’s fourth place finish and Anthony Herrera’s tenth place. On the girls side, we don’t have any seniors so we’re already looking forward to next year.”

St. Thomas Aquinas senior Anthony Herrera finished 10th (15:59.10) to lead the Raiders in the Class 3A boys competition. Dillard sophomore Joshua Gammage was 27th (16:40.90) to pace the Panthers.

Fort Lauderdale senior Zack Zimmerman placed 23rd 16:16.30, Flanagan junior Shamar Henry was 27th (16:23.30) while Boca Raton senior Connor Brooks (16:25.70) was 29th in the Class 4A race.

In other classes: Pine Crest junior Brooke Hooper was the top girls finisher in the Class 2A girls race (18:27.6) to take eighth overall and help the Panthers to a sixth-place finish (249) as a team. King’s Academy junior Avery Fronrath was 10th (18.29.9) and helped the Lions finish 11th with 375 points.

“The first mile felt really good, and the weather was great,” said Hooper, who finished fourth last year with a time of 18:44.70 and battled an ankle injury most of this season. “The second mile I kind of fell off, but I just told myself to give it all I had to the finish line.

“I was injured throughout the whole season which affected my capability,” Hooper added. “I am still happy, and our team got sixth, which was a big improvement over last year.”

King’s Academy senior Colton Lawson finished fifth in the Class 2A boys race with a time of 15:52.50 and helped the Lions finish 11th as a team.

“I wasn’t really thrilled with my race,” said Lawson, whose time was 26 seconds slower than his personal best time of 15:26.10 set in the district meet. “I was hoping to win. I was locked in and was where I wanted to be after the first mile. The second mile is where I fell out.”

Westminster Academy seventh-grader Claire Cannon finished 22nd in the girls Class 1A race (19:33.1) just ahead of Benjamin School senior Keira Hodum, who finished 24th (19:41.8). The Benjamin school placed sixth overall, while the South Florida HEAT was seventh.

South Florida HEAT junior Hunter Morgan was the top local finisher in the Class 1A boys race with a time of 16:36.9 to finish 20th. Westminster Academy’s Tanner Pritchard, a sophomore, was 33rd (16:57.5).