Hagerty hosted its annual cross country meet, the Hagerty Invitational, on Friday, Sept. 20. The meet kicked off at 5 p.m. with the boys JV team and moved to varsity later in the evening. The boys varsity team, led by Jacob Leon, placed first out of 24 schools in attendance with a score of 32, beating out rival Oviedo for the top spot. This is the third year in a row the boys have taken first place at the meet.
Leon finished the 5,000 meter race in first place with a time of 15:56.30. Leon’s older brother Johnathan, who now runs for the University of Florida was a top runner for the Huskies last year.
“He got first a lot last year, now I’m trying to make a name for myself by doing good in these races,” Leon said.
Like his brother, Leon wants to run in college next year, but hasn’t decided on a school yet.
The boys team had four other runners place in the top 15. Noah Mott (16:23.50) in third place, Connor Stromberg (16:29.30) in sixth, Alexavier Davis-Medina (16:48.90) in 10th, and Ricardo Hernandez (16:50.50) in 11th.
The girls placed third out of 18 teams with a score of 163. The team was beaten by Boone (109) and Lake Mary (65) who placed second and first. They were led by Ava Howell who placed 16th with a time of 20:45.90. Amalay Schwarzbauer (21:39.80) and Alaina David (21:56.80) both finished top 40 for the girls.
“It was different from most meets because they are usually in the morning. I liked it, it was just a different feeling, it was nice to run at a different time,” David said.
The boys have been on a winning streak taking first place in the DeLand, Astronaut and West Orange invitationals prior to Friday’s meet. The girls managed to secure a top 10 spot in all three of those meets.
Both teams are now gearing up for the 25th FLrunners.com Invitational on Oct. 4 and 5. The meet will be held at Holloway Park in Lakeland and hosted by Polk County Sports Marketing. Last year the boys placed fourth, with Naples High taking the top spot. The district, regional and state championships will begin in November. The state competition will be held in Tallahassee at Apalachee Regional Park on Nov. 16.
“It’s going to be a really hard meet to win, I think we can place top three as a team,” Leon said. “I think it will be a good opportunity to showcase how good we are and get some new PR’s.”
