T C « S C R I P P S T R E A S U R E C O A S T N E W S PA P E R S
« Saturday, December 22, 2012 « 5C
ALL-AREA GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
RUNNER OF THE YEAR BETHANY HARDCASTLE
All-Area First Team
Anna Ahrens
Natalie Baumgarten
Avery Camp
Emily Elkin
Tabatha Henry
Maria Nazon
Alex Sclafani
Laurie Scott
Coach of the Year
BONNIE GALDYS
South Fork, 10th year This season: Guided the Bulldogs to a District 14-3A title, with all five scorers finishing in the top 12, and a Region 4-3A runner-up finish behind Merritt Island. South Fork’s 12th-place standing at state was the area’s best performance in any class. The Bulldogs ran a season-best average time of 20:29.49 at state. Quotable: “This season was probably the most fun I’ve had in 10 years because the dynamics of the team were so interesting. The girls were so competitive within themselves and with each other, you never knew what was going to happen. ... We’re definitely moving in the right direction. We had an outstanding season. We didn’t compete as hard in September as we had in the past, and I think that helped because we were prepared to peak at state. It was a hilly course and in cold weather we weren’t used to, but the girls handled it so well. They attacked it, and I think it was our time to have a great meet at state.”
Danielle Traynor
First Team continued
ANNA AHRENS
Vero Beach senior Notable: Season-best time was 20:48 at FLRunners. com meet; finished second in District 8-4A (21:02.00), 13th in Region 2-4A (20:48.70), 89th at the Class 4A state meet (20:53.77)
LAURIE SCOTT
South Fork senior Notable: Season-best time was 19:50.9; finished second in District 14-3A (20:22.67), sixth in Region 4-3A (20:36.98) and 44th at Class 3A state meet (19:51.91)
NATALIE BAUMGARTEN
Lincoln Park eighth-grader Notable: Season-best time was 20:37.49 at the Class 2A state meet, placing 55th; finished fourth in District 13-2A (21:28) and 21st in Region 4-2A (21:10.97)
DANIELLE TRAYNOR
DEBORAH SILVER/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Bethany Hardcastle is the 2012 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers’ All-Area Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
AVERY CAMP
A natural runner
Pine School junior Notable: Season-best time was 20:28.80 at Class 1A state meet, placing 31st; finished as the District 13-1A champion (20:53.77), fourth in Region 4-1A (20:56.23) South Fork freshman Notable: Season-best time was 20:01.05 at the Class 3A state meet, placing 53rd; finished fifth in District 14-3A (20:51.82) and 16th in Region 4-3A (21:03.68)
TABATHA HENRY
Okeechobee junior Notable: Season-best time of 20:23.74 at the Class 3A state meet, placing 73rd; finished third in District 14-3A (20:46.45) and fourth in Region 4-3A (20:32.45)
MARIA NAZON
Jensen Beach junior Notable: Season-best time was a 20:49.52 at the District 14-3A meet, placing fourth; finished 17th at the Region 4-3A meet (21:07.90)
ALEX SCLAFANI
Martin County junior Notable: Season-best time was 20:06.38 at the Class 3A state meet, placing 57th; finished sixth in District 14-3A (21:27.07) and 13th in Region 4-3A (20:56.29)
The Team
The 2012 All-Area Girls Cross Country Team was compiled by Laurel Pfahler.
HONORABLE MENTION
South Fork’s Bethany Hardcastle, a former swimmer, makes a winning move to cross country
EMILY ELKIN
By Laurel Pfahler
Runner of the Year
laurel.pfahler@scripps.com 772-978-2282
TROPICAL FARMS — Bethany Hardcastle thought about joining the swim team last year as a freshman, but instead decided to give running a try. The South Fork High School sophomore didn’t have any real experience and didn’t appear to be much of a threat early on, especially as she started out in the 25-minute range. But it didn’t take long for Hardcastle to settle into the sport and, by the end of her second season, she had become the area’s most dominant competitor. Hardcastle, one of only two area runners to post times under 20 minutes this season, is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers’ AllArea Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. “I had been swimming for a couple years, so I thought about that, but something told me to try running, and it’s worked out,” Hardcastle said. “I had just run with my mom some, but I had never run competitively. At the beginning, I felt I had to work really hard at it, but then it started to come naturally. “I got more serious after last season because I started loving it, so I trained a lot more in the summer, and that made a big difference.” Hardcastle finished the 2011 season with a best time of 21 minutes,
BETHANY HARDCASTLE South Fork sophomore Notable: Ran a season-best time of 19 minutes, 43.5 seconds at the Region 4-3A meet, in which she finished as the runner-up; also was the District 14-3A champion (20:03.40) and top area finisher at state, placing 42nd with a 19:47.57. Coach Bonnie Galdys: “She’s very behind-the-scenes in her approach. She’s very quiet and studious, but always pushing forward. She’s very tough and you wouldn’t expect it looking at her. No matter what meet we were at, she went after every single start, and that helped her the most. She is just confident, and whether she is supposed to be in the lead or not, she wanted it. I think that aggressiveness is going to take her far.”
00.69 seconds at the state meet. This season, she steadily improved each week, breaking into the 19s by midOctober with a 19:48 at the Terrier Invitational. From there, she ran a fifth-place 20:13.69 at Sebastian River, despite falling twice just before the finish line, and then outran all the local competition throughout the postseason. Hardcastle won the District 14-3A
Vero Beach junior Notable: Season-best time was 20:38 at FLRunners.com meet; finished as the District 8-4A champion (20:54.00), 17th in Region 2-4A (21:08.60) and 75th at the Class 4A state meet (20:41.16)
BRIANA BAUMGARTEN Lincoln Park freshman KASHIA DARVILLE Martin County freshman
title, was second with a personalbest 19:43.53 at the Region 4-3A meet and finished 42nd with a 19:47.57 on a hilly course at state to help the Bulldogs to a 12th-place standing. “The Terrier Invitational was the first meet I broke 20 minutes, and after that I felt I could do anything I wanted,” Hardcastle said. “It also was the first race I kept up with (teammate) Laurie (Scott) and that’s when it came together.” Scott and Hardcastle had battled back and forth early in the season, but by the end, Hardcastle was consistently on top. Hardcastle credits Scott for pushing her. Now, the chance at a school record (19:36) will be the driving force for her with two high school cross country seasons left. Hardcastle is only 7 seconds off the mark, and coach Bonnie Galdys looks forward to seeing how much faster Hardcastle can go. “She kind of came out of nowhere as a freshman,” Galdys said. “She doesn’t look like your typical distance runner, and she was at 25 minutes starting out, but then she came in with the goal to lead the workouts and lead the races. I was surprised by her continual improvement. She put a lot of miles in over the summer and was swimming. “She is just going to keep improving every year, and I can’t wait to see what she does the next two seasons.”
TINSLEY DEFOREST Martin County senior LAUREN MACON Lincoln Park seventh-grader VIOLETA GONZALES Lincoln Park sophomore LAURETTA HARPER South Fork junior MAKAYLA REYNOLDS Jensen Beach junior SARAH RIDER St. Lucie West Centennial junior MARIA SEPULVEDA Sebastian River junior KAITLIN TOTH South Fork senior JEYLAND VALENTIN Vero Beach sophomore NATALIE ZATZ Vero Beach sophomore
All-Area Teams Find previous All-Area teams on TCPALM.COM
All-Area Schedule DEC. 16
DEC. 17
DEC. 18
DEC. 19
DEC. 20
DEC. 21
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Girls Golf
Boys Golf
Girls Bowling
Boys Bowling
Girls Swimming
Boys Swimming
Girls Cross Country
Boys Cross Country
Volleyball
Football