Ferguson's Santiago, St. Thomas Aquinas' Velasquez win FACA meet
By Brian Miller, Special to DistancePreps.com
TALLAHASSEE — Two weekends ago, Ferguson senior Katrina Santiago walked away from the FHSAA Class 4A state meet at Apalachee Regional Park displeased at her performance.
Santiago finished sixth in 18:56 when a top three result was well within her ability.
Faced with a revenge race Saturday morning at the same spot, Santiago ended her season with a bang. She held the pace she wanted and exploded on the final mile to notch a signature win in 18:38 to capture the 2013 FACA All-Star Senior Classic.
"The past few races, I've really been pushing the first mile, and I realized I'd completely changed the way I've been running since freshman year," Santiago said. "I usually go composed and run my own race for the first mile. Second mile, I keep even as possible, and third mile I give it all I have. It usually results in a better time."
There was little doubt Santiago would win as she confidently strode through the sandy, wooded stretch of ARP, and with only a half mile left, kept pulling away from Cypress Bay's Katherine MacNeal and Wakulla's Maddie Harris.
"The way I've been training to run just took over," Santiago said. "That last mile I took the lead and I pushed it. I knew it was going to hurt, but it had to hurt. I kept doing that. I came up the last hill, looked at my watch and said it's now or never, time to redeem myself from regional and state. It's never giving up. That's what running is, pushing your body to the limit."
Harris held a slight lead in 2nd up until a final downhill kick by MacNeal, who edged Harris at the line by tenths of a second to capture second in 18:48.23.
Titusville's Claire Castillo was fourth, followed by Palm Beach Central's Morgan Hull.
"I knew it would be about that pace, but I didn't feel as strong as I could have been because I've been sick," said Harris, who collapsed at the finish. She finished ninth at the state meet with the flu, but rebounded even with a sinus infection plaguing her. Not bad for her first season of cross country.
In the boys race, it was a little of the same feeling for St. Thomas Aquinas' Manny Velasquez. Sure, he won a state title with his teammates and finished fourth in 4A, but this was the first season where the senior ran the whole year, thanks to the absence of health problems.
"I had to prepare myself mentally," Velasquez said. "At the state meet, there was a big crowd and I didn't know what to expect. I prepared for this like a dual meet. When the (gun) went off, my goal was to stay in the front. It ended up I was in the front most of the time."
Velasquez and Fort Walton Beach's Charlie Shackelford dueled on the final mile before Velasquez threw the knockout punch on the final hill.
"I kept on fighting with him," Velasquez said. "That last mile was 1-2, 1-2 till I finally gave him a surge right before that last hill.
"I took this as my last race with a chance to win. A lot of people after state get down emotionally, but I tried to do the exact opposite and bring myself up. It feels amazing. First win since freshman year. I'm just very grateful to be here, for God to give me these legs to finish out the season."
Shackelford dropped from 16:04 at the state meet where he finished 25th to a personal best 15:44, coming up just a bit short at the end, but overall expressing pleasure in the strong finish and a runner-up result.
"It's an amazing feeling," Shackleford said. "Over the summer, you put in so much work, so much sacrifice, then to see it pay off. Nothing feels better than a PR. That's why you run, to better yourself."
Land O' Lakes' Tyler Stahl finished third (15:47), ahead of Deland's Kenneth Pineiro and Titusville's Xavier Walton.
Shackelford took some time to reflect on the progress he made over four years of high school running after starting in middle school as a soccer player.
"My first high school race, I really wanted to break 18:00," he said. "The super great guy on our team said, 'Man, I don't think you can do it.' That sort of gave me this motivation and I finished in 17:55. At that point, training really lit a fire under me. I just wanted to stick with running."
The South girls won the team championship scoring 28 points with the West boys claiming victory with 37 points.
