The best finish in Wharton boys cross country history went anything but smoothly.
There were critical injuries, tough courses and some flat performances to overcome. But in the end, the Wildcats managed to do something no other boys cross country team at the school had — crack the Top 10 at the State Championship race with a ninth-place finish on Nov. 5.
“It was really a testament to the kind of kids we had on the team this year,’’ said third-year head coach Kyle LoJacono.
Behind sophomore Tre Rivers’ ninth-place finish in a personal best of 16 minutes and 16 seconds, the Wildcats finished with 286 points at the Class 4A State race at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.
Juniors Noah Damjanovic (71st), Sahil Deshenes (89) and Frankie Godbold (99) all cracked the top 100, while freshman Casey Pleune was 113th.
The Wharton finish was the second-best of all the Hillsborough County public school teams competing at the event, behind only Newsome, which was third with 185 points.
It was a deserved ending to a season that resembled a run through tough, wandering terrain.
It began with high hopes. Wharton lost seven seniors, but returned a strong group of underclassmen, led by Rivers. Pleune joined the team in the fall, and set a number a freshman school records.
“We 100-percent expected to do what we did,’’ LoJacono said. “We knew the group coming back not only had the talent, but the right kind of mindset to do it.”
In the summer, though, the Wildcats lost senior Veyd Tandel to a broken leg, a disheartening injury considering Tandel was something of an inspirational leader after running with the team for three years before finally making varsity for the first time.
Meanwhile, Damjanovic broke his foot in the summer, and saw his times early in the season hang around 18 minutes, a tough start for a runner who was used to finish in the mid-17-minute range.
And at the Region 4A-2 race, Dennarius Murphy injured his calf and couldn’t run at States, so Zach Kane had to step up.
But, perhaps the biggest obstacle for the Wildcats to overcome was a race at the University of Florida Mountain Dew meet at the UF Golf Course in Gainesville in which they finished 15th overall (after being seeded to finish 10th), only placing three runners in the top 150.
“They were really demoralized after that race,’’ LoJacono said.
Two weeks later, however, the Wildcats took on another big hurdle, traveling to Tallahassee for the pre-State FSU Invitational race, which was disrupted by Hurricane Matthew, causing some teams to drop out. That opened the door for Wharton to be moved into the elite race — where the Wildcats finished eighth and placed all five scorers in the top-100 runners.
The Wildcats also closed the gap with District 4A-6 rival Steinbrenner, their average time just 15 seconds behind the Warriors, who finished fifth at the FSU race.
“That is where things turned around,’’ LoJacono said.
So began a series of races where the Wildcats chased down, and eventually passed, their rivals. At the Hillsborough County Championships, Wharton finished third, just eight points behind champion Steinbrenner.
At the District race the following week, Rivers broke through to win the individual title in 16:41, and the Wildcats were just two points behind first-place Steinbrenner.
Finally, at the Region 4A-2 race, the Wildcats caught the Warriors. Behind another strong finish by Rivers, Pleune and Deshenes, Wharton finished fourth overall, a whopping 43 points ahead of Steinbrenner.
“That was the first time we were ever able to beat Steinbrenner,’’ LoJacono said, and the following week they did it again at state, as the Warriors finished one spot and 13 points behind Wharton.
Now that the Wildcats have caught the rabbit, the target could be on their backs next season. They return everyone, and plan on using a strong track and AAU season to bolster their chances at finishing even better at States in 2017.
“I told them, now you have to set your bar and your motivation higher,’’ says LoJacono. “They may be chasing us next year.”
Samhouri Finishes Strong
Wharton senior Rania Samhouri, who was featured in our last Neighborhood News issue, was the only girl ‘Cat to advance to States, where she finished ninth overall.
Samhouri, who improved on her 30th-place finish last season, ran the race in 18:49.
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