Prep cross country: Lely's Wagner takes North Port Invitational

NORTH PORT – Lely’s Josh Wagner added another title to his collection, taking first place in the Boys' Elite Division at Saturday’s North Port Cross Country Invitational.

The Trojan senior crossed the line with a time of 16:06.30, five seconds in front of second place finisher Yoan Prado of LaBelle.

“It was fun,” Wagner said. “I got to chase and that was a major key.  I hate leading, so if I’ve got someone to chase that’s pushing me really hard, I can really turn on the jets toward the end.”

Wagner’s time was a major improvement over his previous best of 16:59 in his first year of running cross country.

“I played football last year, but I had a really good track season last spring,” Wagner said.  “I want to be a state champion, so I decided to focus on running. I trained really hard over the summer and it’s paying off.”

The boys team title was an extremely close race, with Tampa-Newsome edging Estero by three points for first place.  The Wildcats were paced by Arye Beck, who finished fifth with a time of 16:29.30.

“You can’t get mad about the points, unless we were at states,” Estero coach Ben Pignatone said.  “This is the fastest team average I’ve had in a couple of years, so I’m excited.  The boys team especially is starting to click.”

Fort Myers boys team finished a close fourth, while Naples High took fifth.  Lely finished in eighth place, Gulf Coast was ninth, and Immokalee was tenth.

Fort Myers took the girls team title, despite having no runners finish in the top ten. Naples Jillian Dempsey was the top area finisher, taking ninth place with a time of 19:28.50 and leading the Eagles to a fifth place finish. Alayna Goll of Estero finished tenth, and the Wildcats finished tenth in the team standings.

In the Boys' Invitational Division, Dan O’Dell of First Baptist finished third with a time of 17:22.40. The First Baptist team finished in sixth place, while the Immokalee girls took seventh in the Invitational Division.

NORTH PORT INVITATIONAL

Girls Elite Division
1. Bailey Hertenstein, Hillsborough Riverview, 17:54.30.  2  Rania Samhouri, Wharton, 18:40.50.  3.  Natalie Abernathy, Land O’Lakes, 18:55.80.  4.  Isabella Coogan, Charlotte, 19:03.00.  5.  Kelsi Ogilvie, Lemon Bay, 19:05.50.  6.  Taylor Stone, Osceola, 19:07.30.  7.  Alyssa Hendrix, Hillsborough Riverview, 19:10.60.  8.  Elayna Goodman, Sarasota Riverview,  19:23.20.  9.  Jillian Dempsey, Naples,  19:28.50.  10.  Alayna Goll, Estero, 19:28.60.  11.  Maddison Welch, Lemon Bay, 19:31.00.  12.  Fiona Kurland, Fort Myers, 19:36.60.  13.  Estefania Acosta, Land O’Lakes, 19:38.80.  14.  Kelsey Mahoney, Naples, 19:57.60.  15.  Sarina Francis, Gulf Coast, 20:00.60.

Team Scores
1.  Fort Myers  116.  2.  Newsome  163.  3.  Sarasota Riverview  209.  4.  Lakewood Ranch  215.  5.  Naples  217... 10.  Estero  269.  16.  Lely  375.  18.  Gulf Coast  412.  21.  Barron Collier  539.

Boys Elite Division
1.  Joshua Wagner, Lely, 16:06.30.  2.  Yoan Prado, LaBelle, 16:11.40.  3.  Jordan Gonzalez, Sarasota, 16:19.80.  4.  Cooper LaBrant, Indian Rocks, 16:25.70.  5.  Arye Beck, Estero, 16:29.30.  6.  Alex Normandia, Land O’Lakes, 16:32.60.  7.  Triston Vaira, Newsome, 16:38.30.  8.  John Rivera, Lakewood Ranch, 16:40.00.  9.  Ivan Plancarte, Sarasota,  16:43.00.  9.  Jonathan Reid, Lakewood Ranch, 16:43.00.  11.  Hugh Brittenham, Estero, 16:46.20.  12. Brice Easton, Lakewood Ranch,16:46.20.  13.  Christopher Davis, Naples, 16:50.40.  14.  Andrew Csubak, St. Stephens, 16:50.80.  15.  Mateo Defoor,  Island Coast, 16:51.70

Team Scores
1.  Newsome 122.  2.  Estero  125.  3.  Lakewood Ranch  133.  4.  Fort Myers  135.  5.  Naples  148.  8.  Lely  215.  9.  Gulf Coast  250.  10.  Immokalee 278.  11.  LaBelle  339.  13.  Barron Collier  388.  18.  Island Coast  500.  19.  Ida Baker  503.  24.  Bishop Verot  672.  26.  South Fort Myers  826