Cross country: Region has developed reputation for stiff competition

Every year, at the FHSAA Class 4A, Region 1 Meet, a deserving team, a deserving runner — or both — is left on the outside looking in when bids to states are handed out.

It’s a harsh reality of the level of competition in Region 1, which starts up in the Greater Jacksonville area and extends southwest through Gainesville and Ocala and down into Seminole County, Orange County and part of Lake County.

That reality has helped the region earn a nickname — and it’s one to which Angie Fleitas, head coach for the Dr. Phillips girls program who also has spent time coaching in South Florida, can attest.

“This region is called ‘The Region of Death,’ and it is — by far — the hardest region in the state,” Fleitas, whose husband, Jorge, coaches the Panthers’ boys team, said. “There are top teams in the state that will not run at the state meet, because they won’t get out of our region. Somebody stays home.”

With a high density of quality programs and powerhouse teams that produce new talent annually, the idea of being a good team that finds itself on the outside looking in can be a tough pill to swallow — something Olympia coach Kevin O’Grattan knows firsthand.

“That would be our boys team for most of the last eight years,” O’Grattan said with a laugh. “It’s super frustrating … our boys team has been a good team, but getting out of our region (is tough).

“Our boys have to sit there and watch teams advance to the state meet that, head-to-head, we would beat,” he said. “But that’s just how the system is.”

The proof of the talent superiority in this region can be found by looking at recent state meet results. In last year’s boys state meet, six of the top 10 individual runners were from Region 1 to pair with five of the top-10 teams.

On the girls side, Olympia’s Emily Headley placed third in the state as a junior and was joined by another five Region 1 runners to take six of the top-10 spots. 

This year’s regional meet, which will take place the morning of Nov. 8 at the Flagler County Fairgrounds, promises not to be much different.

So, is there a reason for the disproportionate amount of strong runners and teams? 

Fleitas suspects it may have something to do with the unity among programs locally — paired with good old-fashioned competitive instincts.

“A lot of us coaches (in Central Florida) get along well,” Fleitas said. “If you’re racing against the same teams, and the same teams are good, it’s going to make you better.”

The Fleitas’ both are excited about their respective teams at Dr. Phillips, with the Panthers girls team, in particular, hoping to improve on its 19th-place finish at states last year. 

At West Orange, third-year coach Chris Boston is optimistic, too. While his boys team is young and gearing up for a deep run in the years to come, Boston says the girls team — which has never won the Metro, won the district or advanced to state as a team — has a lot of potential this fall.

“We’re trying to do all three this year,” Boston, also a Warrior alum, said. “So far, we look like that could definitely happen.”

At Olympia, where the girls team finished 18th in the state a season ago behind Headley’s strong performance, O’Grattan is eager to see what his loaded girls team can do — and whether the Titans boys can get over the hump this fall.

“We’re really hopeful,” O’Grattan said, noting the girls are aiming for a top-five finish at state. “The guys are really where we wanted them to be coming off the summer.”

With an influx of young runners this fall, every area program seems hopeful. With incoming freshman, though, comes the challenge of getting them up to speed to compete at the prep level.

“They don’t realize coming out of middle school, basically, how big cross country is (at the high school level),” Boston said. “So, when they go to a meet, I think they’re sort of blown away.”

However, that naïveté could work to a team’s advantage.

“They don’t know that Emily Headley is as good as she is so if I say, ‘Hey, you should keep her in your sights, they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, OK,’” Fleitas said. “But, if they did know that she was that good they would probably never attempt (it).”

District 1 — Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville), Buchholz (Gainesville), First Coast (Jacksonville), Flagler Palm Coast, Fleming Island (Orange Park), Fletcher (Neptune Beach), Mandarin (Jacksonville), Sandalwood (Jacksonville)

District 2 — Apopka, DeLand, Hagerty (Oviedo), Lake Brantley, Lake Howell, Lake Mary, Lyman, Oviedo, Seminole, Spruce Creek (Port Orange), University (Orange City), Wekiva, Winter Springs

District 3 — East Ridge, Evans, Forest (Ocala), Ocoee, Olympia, West Orange, West Port (Ocala)

District 4 — Boone, Colonial, Cypress Creek, Dr. Phillips, Freedom, Oak Ridge, Timber Creek, University, Winter Park