NewsLine staff
The Fernandina Beach High School girls and boys cross country teams competed at the FHSAA Region 1-2A meet in Jacksonville on Nov. 14, with the girls team advancing to the state meet in Tallahassee this weekend for the fourth straight year and the boys qualifying one runner, John William Martin.
Both squads had survived first-round qualifying races at the district meet on Nov. 4 to earn their region berths.
The girls team continued its record-breaking season with a stellar performance in the 36-team region, finishing fourth overall behind the three top-ranked teams in 2A, Bishop Kenny, Episcopal and Bolles, to again claim top public school honors for the third straight year.
Racing on one of the state’s fastest courses at Cecil Field in Jacksonville on a cool, crisp morning, the girls team also smashed the school team 5K (3.1 miles) record of 20:28, set by the 2023 team, and lowered it to an average 20:08 for the five scoring runners.
Leading the way was senior Mikaela Nichols, the team’s premier runner for the better part of four years, with a new personal record of 19:04, a 6:07 pace per mile, lowering her previous mark of 19:42.
Next across the finish line was sophomore Jillian Loucks, with a 19:24 effort, lowering her previous best of 19:50. Senior Grace Scuderi, running with a heavy cold, turned in a clutch performance with a 20:36 clocking, followed by senior Laella Reedy, a transfer from Glynn Academy in Georgia, who also ran a season best in 20:59. Rounding out the Pirate scoring was steady senior Emma Barone, in another personal record, a 21:02 effort.
Gaining experience and running in their first region races were sophomores Taylor Newman, in 21:56, and Emma Houston, in 22:59.
“The body of work the seniors on this team have put in is mind-boggling,” said Dave Reinhart, head girls coach at FBHS. “Four straight years going to state is not an easy task, and to be the top public school for three years running in our region and state classification, dominated by private schools that attract athletes from any zip code, is a tribute to their work ethic and commitment to excellence. They have set the bar high for future Pirate squads. In the meantime both myself, Melanie Wright, our assistant coach, and the team are staying focused for one more solid performance this weekend at state. Our job is not done yet.”
On the boys side, first-year coach Mike Kimmel brought along a young team to the brink of the state meet with a solid 10th place finish, matching their seed from district going in.
While they fell short of the coveted top eight teams advancing to state, Kimmel did see sophomore Martin qualify as an individual. He raced to a personal best of 16:46.
Martin was followed by ever-improving sophomore Malik Ravenell, in an all-time best of 17:11, and junior Jack Janzow, also posting a personal best of 17:48. Sophomore Austin Dimas finished next for the Pirates, in a solid 18:12, with freshman Elijah Webb, 19:30, and sophomores Avery Hillaker and Avery Lentz, rounded out the teams’ efforts in 19:41 and 20:25, respectively.
“I’m really excited for J Dub (John William Martin),” Kimmel said. “To qualify for the state championship as a sophomore is quite an accomplishment. He’s worked hard all year and earned it. I’m proud of the whole team. Yes, we were disappointed to miss qualifying as a team by a few points, but we had a great season. Everyone ran personal best marks this year, and it was the highest finish by our boys team in several years.”
Kimmel is thinking about the future.
“I can’t wait for next season,” he said. “We expect our top seven runners to return, and we also hope to get our top runner back from last season who missed much of the year with an injury. I think we’re going to surprise some people.”
