By: J. Daniel Pearson
Lailana Decker and Levi Lee repeated as individual champions, and the Bulldogs swept the team competition to claim titles at the 2024 Orange Belt Conference Championships on Wednesday afternoon at Austin Tindall Park.
Decker, who ran for Harmony the first three years of her varsity career before transferring to St. Cloud this past summer, was masterful in winning the 5K race in 20:17.87. Her time was a few seconds off her winning time a year ago, but was still 32 seconds faster than teammate Kyla Perez’s second place finish of 20:50.13.
“It felt good to win again,” Decker said after the race. “It was really nice running weather and didn’t feel pressed at all, it was a relaxing run.”
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In addition to the 1-2 finish by Decker and Perez, the Lady Bulldogs got a seventh place finish from Jade Shroyer (22:34.13), a 16th place from Caitlyn Matchak (23:57.22) and a 20th from Ahryanna Garay-Torres (24:51) to tally 40 points and unseat defending champion Celebration (46) – who finished second. Harmony (56) was third; with Gateway (100), Tohopekaliga (158) and Poinciana (194) rounding out the field.
The top eight finishers earned all-county honors, joining Decker, Perez and Shoyer from St. Cloud on the All-OBC team were Celebration’s Claire Reburn (3rd) and Evelyn Juden (5th); Harmony’s Elsmarie Nunez (4th) and Miranda Diaz-Morales (8th); and Osceola’s Mia Gonzalez-Nunez (6th).
The men’s race was a lot more tightly contested.
Lee broke loose from the lead pack in the final 1000 meters to win his second straight OBC title in a time of 16:57.65; with St. Cloud’s Isaiah Casiano finishing just six seconds behind in 17:04.88. The Bulldogs Adon Elienist was third at 17:23.31.
“It was not an easy race by any stretch of the imagination,” Lee said. “I started getting a stitch in my side early and really didn’t feel comfortable the entire time. Isaiah and Adon were really pushing me throughout the race. I didn’t really pull away until the end. I do want to give props to Isaiah for second place, he ran a great race.”
It was St. Cloud’s depth that made the difference in the team race. Silas Corchado and Jonathan Araya finished seventh and eighth respectively; and despite battling illness for the better part of a month, sophomore Brody Ansbaugh had a gutty 11th place finish (9th among scoring runners) to help secure the team title for the Bulldogs.
St. Cloud finished with a team low 25 points, to easily outdistance Celebration (62), Harmony (73), 2023 champion Tohopekaliga (106) and Osceola (167).
Lee, Casiano, Elienist, Corchado, and Araya were joined on the All-OBC team by Harmony’s Riley Ramirez (4th), Celebration’s Leonardo Torres-Jojoa (5th) and Tohopekaliga’s Cameron Ford (6th).
“It was a great day for St. Cloud’s cross country teams,” Bulldogs coach Kevin Harkema said. “The boys race sort of went like we expected but we really needed some big finishes on the girls side and they came through. Lailana Decker and Kyla Perez set the tone for sure but our other girls really fought hard and came up big.”
Osceola will host the 4A, District 3 meet on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 8 a.m. All county schools will participate in the meet, except Gateway – which will run in the Class 3A, District 4 meet at Satellite High School on Oct. 31. The top four teams in each district, as well as the top runners from non-qualifying teams, advance to regional competition the following week.
“Right now are boys team is ranked number four in the district and we should be able to advance to regionals,” Hakema added. “Our girls are currently ranked at 8th so they will have their work cut out for them.”
