NE Florida cross country runners earn medals

Bolles' girls win 2A championship; Bishop Kenny boys' team place 2nd

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Bolles School girls 5K team won a state championship Saturday morning, with several other northeast Florida runners also earning spots on the podium at the 2013 Florida cross country meet.

Six Bolles girls -- Mackenzie Wilson, Allison Hajda, Rachel Shapiro, Rachel Shapiro, Lilly Arnold and Anne Pentaleri -- finished in the top 21 places to earn the Bulldogs the District 2A state 5K cross country state championship for the second year in a row.

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Bolles' William Decker placed third in the 2A boy's 5K state finals, with a time of 15:56.05, but Bishop Kenny runners placed No. 11, 20, 28, 37 and 39, earning them a second-place team trophy.

Danielle Vanliere of Fletcher finished the District 4 girls 5K in fourth place, while in the boys meet, Mandarin runners Samuel Mack finished sixth and John Weaver finished ninth, contributing to the Mustangs' fourth-place team finish in the state.

Karen Xiang's 18:16.95 finish earned her third place in the girl's 3A 5K, with Bartram Trail's Hannah Giangaspro crossing the finish line 25 seconds later for seventh place.  In another strong finish among St. Johns County schools, Creekside placed fourth in the girl's team rankings.

In Class 1A, Griffin Rutherford of North Florida Christian finished third in the boys 5K (15:51.97) and Eden Meyer of Providence finished third in the girls 5K (18:34.69), leading her team to a third-place team award.