Montverde Academy News & Sports

XC Runners Wade Through Hagerty Invitational

Saturday morning's Hagerty Invitation in Oviedo was described by Hagerty coach Jay Getty as "one you will tell your kids about." It was, as many people observed, "a true cross country race." To say that the heavy rains made for soggy running conditions would surely be an understatement, with water standing more than ankle-deep at places on a course which, in other years, has proved to be one of the fastest of the season.

Determined not to disappoint, the Eagles brought home three individual awards, eleven personal records, and two season's best times, with the top five boys cutting more than a minute from their average time and the top five girls cutting an average of more than thirty seconds. Post-race rankings move the girls team to 21st in the state, up from last week's 29th place ranking, and to 7th in the region, up from 10th.

For the girls team, freshman Ciara Hopkins ran a season-best time to take 9th place in the New Balance Elite race, and senior captain Susan Rifai cut two minutes from her personal records to bring home 25th in the Varsity Open. For the boys team, sophomore Conner Bergin took 7th in the Varsity Open.

Girls Highlights

• Freshman standout Ciara Hopkins ran a season's best time of 19:45 to take home 9th place in the New Balance Elite.
• Susan Rifai cut two minutes from her previous personal record to finish in 22:48, taking home the 25th place ribbon in the Varsity Open.
• Tanner Dotson ran just seven seconds behind her current personal record, finishing in 22:58.
• Addison Adkins improved her personal record more than forty seconds, running 23:08
• Maya Rifai was just fifteen seconds off last week's personal-record finish, running 23:48.
• Katie Young shaved one second from her personal record to finish in 24:45.
• Parinda Dechathipat was only thirty seconds off last week's personal-record time, finishing in 25:23.
• Janki Patel finished in a season's best time of 30:03.

Boys Highlights

• Sophomore standout Conner Bergin finished just fourteen seconds behind last week's personal record, running 18:25 and taking home the 7th place ribbon in the Varsity Open.
• Young Bum Yoo took thirty seconds off his personal record to finish in 20:31.
• Tyler Gehr cut his personal record by thirty-nine seconds, running 20:37.
• Sang-Bin Park finished in 22:19.
• Joon Ho Suh took one minute off his personal record, finishing in 21:46
• Binh Nguyen shaved one second from his personal record, running 21:59.
• Chol Min Kim cut thirteen seconds with a time of 22:18.
• Brandon Pownall improved his personal record by more than a minute, running 23:47.
• Kaize Deng cut more than a minute from his personal record to finish in 26:08.
• Brian Donnelly improved nearly two minutes, setting a new personal record at 26:14.

The team will travel to Dade City next Saturday for the Little Everglades Pre-State Invitational.