Senior Julia Blankenbaker didn’t just beat a muddy course to help her Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) team win the Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) cross country meet on Oct. 8. She also beat some pretty sizable odds.
Diagnosed a month ago with anemia and running on a sloppy course, the Bulls runner somehow looked to be back in top form, finishing the 5K (3.1-mile) course in 21 minutes, 33 seconds, as WRH won its eighth conference championship in the school’s 10 years of existence.
The Bulls boys also won, earning their second straight SAC title.
Blankenbaker led the charge for the girls, finishing fifth overall at the SAC meet, tops among the pack-oriented Bulls. She was followed by junior Reis Ehman (21:50), freshman Kylee Ehman (22:07), senior Lauren Payne (22:09) and Abbie Dodge (22:10), who finished eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively.
The top five finishers at the SAC for WRH all finished within 37 seconds of each other, which Bulls head coach Don Howard calls a recipe for success.
A month ago, Blankenbaker couldn’t imagine running such a good race, much less in harsh conditions. The course was beat up by heavy rains and winds from Hurricane Matthew and, as a result, most of the runners posted slower times than usual. “It was really muddy at the start,’’ Blankenbaker says. “People were kind of shocked. You could here people gasp when the race started.”
However, Blankenbaker said once she reached the paved portion, “It felt like you were flying.” She finished only two seconds off her best time despite the conditions…and her condition.
“At the very beginning of the season, I was running a lot slower,’’ Blankenbaker says. “I was so tired during the meets.”
A trip to the doctor for some blood work revealed that Blankenbaker had anemia.
“Since then, she says, “I’ve been taking iron supplements and getting better. I had a lot more energy (at the SAC meet). I don’t know what 100 percent will feel like until I get there.’’
She’s pretty close now, says Howard.
“She is ready to run,’’ he said. “She’ll be ready to go in the postseason. That was the first time she ever ran No. 1 for us, and it was the best race of her career.”
As a team, the Bulls girls scored 43 points, bettering Land O’Lakes, which was second with 55. Wesley Chapel was sixth. The WRH team reclaimed a title it had won seven straight years before being upended by the Gators in 2015.
“We wanted to get our title back,’’ said Howard. “I know you’re probably not supposed to say that, but it felt like ours after winning it seven straight years.”
Howard thinks Blankenbaker is ready to make her mark in the postseason.
Howard has once again proven his mettle as arguably Pasco County’s top cross country coach. He went into this season without his two best runners because of injuries — Kerry Reilly, who was fourth at the SAC in 2014, and Brenna Moran, who was sixth and fifth the past two years, respectively — because of injuries. Without a front-of-the-pack runner, which he has had almost every year at WRH, Howard molded his current roster to run together in a tight pack.
“We have had a really good year and have won a couple of invitationals,’’ Howard says. “None of the girls are super elite, but all of them are good, good solid runners who run together. We have two (injured) No. 1 runners walking our halls, but we have depth. We benefit from having a large school, and I think we’ve created a program that good athletes want to be a part of.”
That pack mentality suits Blankenbaker perfectly. She qualified twice for the state championship meet as a diver on the Bulls swim team, but she was the only diver on the team. The solitude of the sport made her decide to focus on cross country this year.
“I love the team atmosphere,’’ Blankenbaker says. “Everyone is out there pushing each other, not just running their own race.”
Boys Not Shabby, Either
The boys team at WRH scored 45 points, outdistancing runner-up Sunlake, which scored 81. Senior Joseph Salerno was the Bulls’ top runner, finishing fourth in 17:16. Salerno was followed by juniors Kevin Jaquez (sixth in 17:34), Giovanni Duran (eighth in 18:04) and Carlos Cruz (12th in 18:14).
Sophomore Christian Velez round out the WRH scorers, with a 15th-place finish and a time of 18:21.
Note-Wesley Chapel High senior Dominic Moreno, the defending individual champion, was the top finisher for the Wildcats, taking third in 17:16. The Wildcat boys team finished seventh overall.