- March 29, 2024
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The Saints are headed back to state.
Trinity Preparatory School’s boys and girls cross country teams made some serious tracks at the recent regional meet on Saturday, Nov. 3, both placing second and qualifying for the upcoming state meet on Saturday, Nov. 10, in Tallahassee.
Trinity Prep’s girls finished with a score of 41 at the regional meet at Weeki Wachee State Preserve, bested only by Montverde Academy’s 37 points.
The boys team meanwhile finished with a total score of 103, falling behind only Lake Highland Prep, who finished with a score of 63.
“They ran fantastic – their times were the best they’ve run all season,” head coach Sara Dowdy said. “They were very excited at the end of the race.”
The second place finishes were a team effort, but clutch performances by junior Audrey McAnally and senior Chris Wilhelm led the way as both placed third individually.
Dowdy noted that the the boys’ victory was all the more sweet since they beat rivals Bishop Moore, who came in third just behind them. Dowdy said they didn’t know what to expect from the boys squad since only two of the team’s top seven returned from last year.
“They were through the roof – it was very, very exciting,” she said.
“Bishop Moore have been the boy’s focus all season. Every time we’ve competed against them they’ve beaten us, so we were very excited to beat them.”
Dowdy said this is the first year in a long time where the girls have performed better than the boys throughout the season. A lot of it has to do with turn over, Dowdy said.
“We lost one (girl) in the top seven from last year to this year, but no one in the top five,” Dowdy said. “We still had six of our top seven runners – we knew what we were starting with.”
Dowdy said the girls team has slowly been improving over the past three years, picking up a 10th place finish, fifth place finish and then a fourth place finish in states.
“They’ve been getting better each year,” Dowdy said.
The boys on the other hand have had a long history of success in the past few years: four straight state championships from 2013 to 2016. Trinity Prep’s boys came in third place last year, Dowdy said.
With several freshmen in the current squad, Dowdy said right now it’s just about moving the group in the right direction to regain that success. Next year the boys team will only lose two of its top seven runners.
“It’s a young team – it’s a whole new team,” Dowdy said. “They’ve grown tremendously throughout the season.”
“We’ll keep the bulk of the team, so hopefully like the girls have improved the boys will continue to improve.”