Cross-Country: CCHS Takes The Lead

BY ALYSSA FISHER

For the first time in four years, the boys and girls cross-country team finished first overall at their meet on Tuesday at Markham Park.

The girls’ team was led by Shelby Turner, who finished first overall for the entire meet with a 5k time of 22:23. This is the first time in four years that a Cooper City girl has been the overall girls’ winner. 3rd overall finisher Tara Butler, 11th place runner Christine Samuel, 12th place runner Kaitlyn Valiente and 13th place finisher Cristina Durand followed her lead. The girls’ season record is now 15-6.

The boys were led by Nassor Whitehead, who finished 3rd overall with Kalan Williams coming in 4^th, Will Dean in 7^th, Trent Austin in 11^th and Cody Statler finishing in 15^th. The boys’ season record is now an impressive 18-3.

Meet Highlights:

Girls:

• Shelby Turner finished 1^st with a two year PR of 22:23
• Cristina Durand smashed her two year PR by 2:20 with a time of 27:03
• Christine Samuel beat her two year PR with a time of 26:39
• Jane Lim set a PR of 29:36 after four meets
• Tara Butler (3^rd overall for the meet) will be featured in a Miami Herald story the Thursday paper

Boys:

• Nassor Whitehead 3^rd, Kalan Williams 4^th and Will Dean 7^th finished in the top 10
• Cody Statler ran a career best time of 20:09
• Brad Ray finished 7th on the team with a new PR of 23:36
• Nico Lopez finished a strong 6th on the team
• Shawn Green (23:58), Chris Lopez, (29:50) and David Samuelson, (30:06) all set season best times
• Congrats to Trent Austin and Will Dean for sacrificing their times in order to push Cody and Nico to strong finishes. The boys won by a mere 2 points and that made all the difference.