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Race is on for cross country dominance in Hillsborough County

 
Plant High’s Rob Leverone, left, and Seffner Christian’s Noah Perkins, third from left, are expected to lead the pack in Hillsborough County this season.
Plant High’s Rob Leverone, left, and Seffner Christian’s Noah Perkins, third from left, are expected to lead the pack in Hillsborough County this season.
Published Sept. 2, 2015

The hottest matchup in boys cross country last season was Sickles High's James Zentmeyer vs. Plant High's Jack Guyton. With Zentmeyer now at Liberty University and Guyton at the University of Florida, where will this year's story emerge?

Look no farther than Guyton's former teammates. Plant seniors Rob Leverone and Quasan Markowski return to a lineup that placed 10th at state in 2014.

"They've both had a great summer and they're unselfish; neither one cares who is the No. 1. They're more focused on the team picture," Panthers coach Bryan Garcia said. "…Last year with Jack, we didn't have anybody that could run with him. This year, Quasan and Rob run together and they drag the rest of the team along with them to improve."

Garcia is confident both Markowski and Leverone could medal at state and thinks the team could do better than 10th.

"We've got Sarasota coming up into the region, so we'll have to contend with Sickles and Steinbrenner locally then add Sarasota at regionals," Garcia said. "I think if we can survive regionals, we can maybe improve on a top-10 finish at state."

The best individual male prospect in the county is Seffner Christian's Noah Perkins, who finished under 16 minutes twice last season. And Perkins has to be happy that the three Class A runners who finished in front of him at state all graduated.

Perkins made a resounding statement to start the season, winning the Jim Ryun meet in Lakeland last weekend in an eye-popping 16:26.90. That time slides into the seventh-best time in the state, regardless of classification.

Here a few other teams and runners to keep an eye on:

Boys

Steinbrenner: The Warriors retain seniors Drew Myers and Ian Campbell. Team captain Anthony Campbell (no relation to Ian), along with seniors Chris Holmes and Mark Payne, lead a vast lineup.

"The strength of our team will be its depth," coach Bobby Ennis said. "We should be better as a team this year."

Steinbrenner drew headlines last season when it posted a perfect score at the St. Peter Green Devil Invite and kicked off the 2015 season in style by winning the Jim Ryun meet with Myers leading the way in 17:21.70 for third place individually.

Private schools: Berkeley Prep's Leo Ochoa and Jesuit's Charlie Gonzmart should battle for top positions. Ochoa ran a 16:30.20 in the Class 2A state meet.… Carrollwood Day's Jack Pironti, who ran a 16:31.15 at regionals, has been competing in high school cross country meets since the sixth grade.

Girls

Holy Names: The Jaguars placed fourth as a team in Class 2A but graduated No. 3 runner Colleen Doherty, and No. 2 runner Lucinda Lennie moved back to England. The Jags retain two of their top three runners in freshman Greta Dieck and Emma Zazzero.

"Emma is ready to challenge Greta for that top spot," coach Ray Rodriguez said. "I'm excited. …I hope this group learns to work together so that we'll be strong this year and even better into next year."

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Public schools: Newsome was sixth in Class 4A last year but loses top runner Emily Zwijacz. Junior Marcella Benner and sophomore Isabelle Guevara will have to carry the torch. …Plant fell off the radar for a season but don't expect a coach like Roy Harrison to stay down for long. Plant roared to a team victory at the Jim Ryun, taking the sixth, ninth, 11th and 14th spots en route to a resounding 40-point win. Senior Abigail Crowder led the way (20:47.50). … Watch for Chamberlain's Maggie Parrish in her senior year. Parrish drifted back to 31st at state but her 19:14.03 from the Disney meet stands out. … King High's Micaela Torres will be back after losing most of her sophomore campaign to injury. Torres made waves in 2014 by winning the early-season Run with the Bulls at Wiregrass Ranch.