Lakewood girls cross country finishes second in state

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The Lakewood Ranch High girls cross country team’s game plan was simple as they prepared for their second-consecutive trip to the Class 3A state meet.

They knew exactly what they needed to do. And more importantly — whom they needed to beat.

“We’re going to try and stay up with the (Tallahassee) Chiles girls,” sophomore Kristin Zarrella said before the meet. “We just have to run our best race and dig down deep.”

The Lady Mustangs knew they were going to have their work cut out for them if they were going to beat last year’s state champion. But Lakewood was hoping to use its knowledge of the course to its advantage.

After all, Lakewood had run the course four times in the past two years, including last year’s state meet, where the Lady Mustangs finished as the state runner-up, and this year’s Pre-State Invitational, where sophomore Olivia Ortiz broke her existing school record and helped edge Lakewood past Chiles.

“We should know it well by now,” Ortiz said of the course.

“How you finish on the hill shows who has the most guts,” Zarrella said. “And that’s what it could come down to — how many people you can pass.”

The Lady Mustangs knowledge of the course and its competition played to its advantage as Lakewood captured its second state runner-up title Nov. 20 at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City.

“My hope for the state meet was for them to have the race of their lives and to run well,” coach Mary Quinn said. “If in their heart they knew they ran their hardest, then that is all I can truly ask of them as a coach. They knew going into the state meet that it would take a tremendous effort to be a state champ and they came close.

“I am very proud of their efforts at the state meet and all season,” she said. “They truly are special athletes and outstanding individuals. I feel very honored to coach these girls, and it is a very special moment in my life as well.”

Lakewood scored 82 points, finishing second behind Chiles with 59 points. Ortiz and Zarrella led the way for the Lady Mustangs, finishing fifth (18:24.55) and sixth (18.30.04), respectively.

Junior Devin McDermott finished 16th in 19:03.37 followed by sophomores Natalie Novak (17th) in 19:09.24 and Ashley Platt (56th) in 20.34.66. Freshman Emily Perez (22:15.73) and senior Hailey Stoffel (22:49.56) also competed for Lakewood, finishing 129th and 147th, respectively.

“Last year, we didn’t realize we had a chance to finish so high,” Zarrella said.

Ortiz agreed.

“We’re closer this year, and we have more experience under our belts,” Ortiz said. “We knew what to expect. We’re a new, up-and-coming team, and now we’re realizing our skill level.”

It’s been a successful past two years for the Lady Mustangs, who can now add back-to-back state runner-up titles to their growing resume, which also includes back-to-back district and regional titles as well.

And with all five of their scorers returning, the future looks bright for Lakewood to make another run at a state championship.

“I was very pleased with how the girls did,” Quinn said. “They have had a terrific season and I am very proud of all their accomplishments this year. I know they wanted to be state champions, and I am sure they were a little disappointed about that, but coming home with a runner-up trophy is still a huge achievement, especially two years in a row.

“I think the fact that they will all be together again next year will inspire and drive them to work harder to perhaps have another opportunity to shoot for a state title,” she said.

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].