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ALL-AREA GIRLS CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM
RUNNER OF THE YEAR BETHANY HARDCASTLE
All-Area First Team
Alexis Armstead
Coach of the Year
Bonnie Galdys
Avery Camp
BONNIE GALDYS
Kashia Darville
Violeta Gonzales
Lauretta Harper
Tabatha Henry
Caleigh King
Alex Sclafani
South Fork, 11th year This season: Guided the Bulldogs to their fifth straight state meet despite coaching a young team that lost two of its top five runners from 2012. They finished second at the District 14-3A meet, third in Region 4-3A — the team entered as the fifth seed — and 20th at the Class 3A state meet. Quotable: “I have been blessed with amazing groups of girls the last 11 years, and this season was no different. Coaching and competing can often be a roller coaster of emotions and outcomes, but one thing remains the same — we find ways to make it fun. This season, the girls were able to work hard, have fun and continue building the history and traditions of South Fork cross-country.”
HONORABLE MENTION BRIANA BAUMGARTEN Lincoln Park freshman NATALIE BAUMGARTEN Lincoln Park freshman
Alana Strauss
Danielle Traynor
SARAH BETZHOLD Jensen Beach junior
ALEXIS ARMSTEAD
MIRA CURRIE Community Christian sophomore
South Fork junior Season-best time: 21:21.64 District 14-3A: 21:27.36 (10th) Region 4-3A: 21:43 (23rd) Class 3A state: 22:05.51 (153rd)
EMILY ELKIN South Fork sophomore GRACE GUMPEL Master’s seventh-grader
AVERY CAMP
Pine School senior Season-best time: 20:35.30 District 13-1A: Did not finish race
CHARITY JOSEPH Fort Pierce Central sophomore
KASHIA DARVILLE
Martin County sophomore Season-best time: 21:05 District 9-4A: 23:05 (sixth) Region 3-4A: 21:05.05 (22nd)
South Fork’s Bethany Hardcastle is 2013 All-Area Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year.
Lincoln Park junior Season-best time: 21:01.7 District 14-2A: 21:44.37 (first) Region 4-2A: 21:53.88 (33rd)
Okeechobee senior Season-best time: 18:50.9 District 14-3A: 18:50.90 (first) Region 4-3A: 20:04.30 (fourth)
CALEIGH KING
Vero Beach sophomore Season-best time: 21:11:00 District 9-4A: 22:35.57 (third) Region 3-4A: 21:11.01 (23rd) Class 4A state: 21:20.54 (110th)
ALEX SCLAFANI
Martin County senior Season-best time: 19:26.30 District 9-4A: 20:57.20 (first) Region 3-4A: 19:26.29 (fifth) Class 4A state: 19:33.24 (33rd)
ALANA STRAUSS
Jensen Beach freshman Season-best time: 20:59.1 District 14-3A: 21:27.36 (seventh) Region 4-3A: 22:01 (29th)
DANIELLE TRAYNOR
Vero Beach senior Season-best time: 20:36.6 District 9-4A: 21:28.16 (second) Region 3-4A: 20:36.62 (16th) Class 4A state: 20:38.82 (85th)
KYANA MUNAO St. Lucie West Centennial freshman SOPHIA OLIVO Treasure Coast sophomore
Bethany Hardcastle became more of a tactical runner, which led to a regional title and two school records
LAURETTA HARPER
TABATHA HENRY
TAYLOR MOGAVERO South Fork sophomore
Next-level runner
VIOLETA GONZALES
South Fork senior Season-best time: 21:21.55 District 14-3A: 21:21.55 (sixth) Region 4-3A: 21:48.10 (25th) Class 3A state: 21:27.66
VERNICE LEON Okeechobee freshman
CHRISTOPHER ARNOLD/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
By Laurel Pfahler
Runner of the Year
laurel.pfahler@scripps.com 772-978-2282
Bethany Hardcastle became a more tactical runner this crosscountry season, and it took her racing to a whole new level. The South Fork High School junior already was the area’s top runner last season, but she maintained that status and improved personally by learning to be smarter about her pace and knowing when to make a move. That allowed her to set a school record (twice), win a regional title and earn her best state-meet finish — running a 19 minutes, 23.41 seconds for 26th place in Class 3A. For her success, she is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year for a second straight season. “We worked on racing from behind, and she’s getting stronger in terms of racing smarter,” South Fork coach Bonnie Galdys said. “You don’t win a race by winning the first mile. You need to save some fuel. “She’s such a workhorse, she wants to go out and lead from the get go, but I’m so thankful she’s got that and she’s willing to do that because it really makes her a great runner. A lot of kids with natural talent just want to go go go, but you can win by being smarter than your competition.” Hardcastle said she learned a lot from practicing with the boys team during the summer. It gave her a
BETHANY HARDCASTLE
South Fork junior Season-best time: 19:14.91 District 14-3A meet: 19:41.91 (second) Region 4-3A meet: 19:33.10 (first) Class 3A state meet: 19:23.41 (26th) Coach Bonnie Galdys: “Bethany is a workhorse. She works so hard no matter whether it’s a long run or track workout. She practices just like she races. The gun goes off and she’s pushing 100 percent — that’s how she practices. She’s learned a lot strategy wise. It speaks volumes to her potential that she can educate herself on strategy and be a workhorse on the track. Her progress from her freshman year to sophomore year and sophomore year to now shows she can put it all together.”
different perspective in how to implement speed work into distance running. It was during those summer workouts that she really began seeing a difference. By taking the first mile slower, she was able to finish stronger. “Freshman and sophomore year, I went out a little too fast and ended up slowing down, but after working with the boys, I started going out slower and just being more patient,” Hardcastle said.
DALLAS PIGGOTT Sebastian River senior
“I think it was both a combination of maturing as a runner and just trying to be smarter about my races.” She entered the season with her eye on the school record, which Laurie Scott set at 19:36 in 2010. Hardcastle’s personal record from 2012 was a 19:43.53. It was that motivation that helped her get through the early part of the season with steady improvement. Less than a month in, she shattered the record with a 19:22.50 at the FLRrunners.com Invitational. “It was exciting, but it was weird for a couple weeks after that because I didn’t have a big goal I wanted to hit,” Hardcastle said. “I wasn’t used to just going for PRs, because I always had a certain goal.” The next few meets, her times fluctuated between the 19:30s to low 20s, but by the time the postseason rolled around in late October, Hardcastle was back to her best. She recorded a personal best 19:14 to finish second at the District 14-3A meet, placing behind Okeechobee’s Tabatha Henry, who stunned the field with an 18:50. Hardcastle turned around the next two meets to beat Henry, including winning the regional meet to lead her team to a third-place finish despite a fifthplace seed. “We’ve always had a friendly, competitive spirit,” Hardcastle said of Henry. “She’s a great runner, and we push each other. I just really wanted to finish the season strong, so I was pretty happy with how it all went.”
MAKAYLA REYNOLDS Jensen Beach senior MADISON STAHLER Vero Beach junior
The Team
The 2013 All-Area Girls Cross-Country team was compiled by Laurel Pfahler.
All-Area Teams
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All-Area Schedule DEC. 16
DEC. 17
DEC. 18
DEC. 19
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Girls bowling
Boys bowling
Girls swimming
Boys swimming
Girls cross-country
Boys cross-country
Girls golf
Boys golf
Volleyball
Football