Meet Preview - Holy Trinity Florida All*Star Showdown 2013

800 Girls

Meet Record - Sarah Davis - Bishop Kenny - 2:13.79 2010

State Leader - Michelle Howell - Seminole Ridge - 2:10.12 FHSAA 4A Finals

National Leader - Mary Cain - Unattached - 2:01.68 Re:Run San Diego

The Girls 800 features 13 entered athletes led by Berkeley Prep Senior Georgette Price with the fastest seed, 2:17.83; presently the 22nd fastest time in the State which she recorded at the 2A State Finals. The second fastest seed time is Cardinal Mooney's Grace Casagrande, 2:18.16, which was good for 9th at the Florida Relays.  Ferguson sophomore Lauren Gavulic rounds out the top 3 seeds, 2:20.68, recorded at the 2013 Brian Jaeger Elite Classic, where she finished 4th.  The goal will be to go out hard, hold on and hopefully go sub 2:15.

800 Boys

Meet Record - Joseph Franklin - Godby - 1:48.79 2008

State Leader - Andres Arroyo - Colonial - 1:47:79 Florida Relays

National Leader - Andres Arroyo - Colonial - 1:47:79 Florida Relays

It seems like just yesterday that Joseph Franklin ran the State's 2nd fastest time ever (1:48.79) at the inaugural Holy Trinity Showdown back in 2008, a time that stood at number 2 Florida all-time until Colonial's Coach Plasencia told Andres Arroyo that he would need to run hard the second half of his race at the Florida Relays in order to move up significantly on the Florida All-time list; much like Joseph had to do back in 2008 to record a super fast time which still stands as the track record at Holy Trinity and now #3 All-time. 

Fast forward to the 6th Annual Holy Trinity All-Star*Showdown 800 and although it lacks truly national level talent, this year's field is absolutely stacked and ultra-competitive at the top.  The field will consist of 33 competitors in 3 timed sections and boasts 9 runners with seed times under 2 minutes flat in the 3rd and fastest section.  The fastest seed on paper is Winter Park Senior and Georgia commit John Lindsey whose PR and seed time, 1:56.31, is from the 2012 4A State Finals. 

With Lindsey, Butler, Acuna, Robinson, Velez, Gavillan, Ramirez, and Ault all having sub 2 in recent weeks, this race is really up for grabs. Keep an eye out for Raul Ramirez who finished 2nd behind Arroyo last week in the State Finals 1600 going 4:19.22.  With former Holy Trinity Tiger stand-out Alex Hoffman offering up pacing duties, a fast competitive race is definitely in the cards.

1600 Girls

Meet Record - Kira Soderstrom - Winter Park - 5:00.85 2011

State Leader - Emily Edwards - Ft Myers - 4:53.91 Lee County Athletic Conference Championships

National Leader - Anna Maxwell - San Lorenzo (CA) - 4:43.01 SCCAL Finals

Coming into the 2011 All-Star Showdown, the talk was all about Winter Park Wildcat Kira Soderstrom's goal to get under 5 flat before she moved on to the University of Southern California seeing she had come agonizingly close at the Regional meet just a few weeks prior, going 5:00.38.  Kira didn't break 5 that day either, but was about as close as you can get, going 5:00.85 for the win and the meet record which was severely tested at last years Showdown when Ferguson's Natalie Concepcion clocked 5:01.26 for the win.

This years field has 23 competitors in 2 planned heats with Wildcats once again holding the fastest seeds; Junior Charlotte Stephens, 5:08:27 from the 2012 Brian Jaeger Elite Classic, most recently went 5:11.11 at the Regional meet.  She'll be joined at the front of the pack by several others to include fellow teammate Katherine Kuhn, Circle Christian's Denae Chapman, Ferguson's Rachel Licea, Katrina Santiago and fellow Wildcat, freshman, Emily Nix. Soderstrom's meet record 5:00.85 appears to be safe for at least another year with the top harriers looking to go sub 5:10 for the win.

1600 Boys

Meet Record - Novian Middleton - Dr. Phillips - 4:18.06 2010

State Leader - Andres Arroyo - Colonial - 4:04.45

National Leader - Andres Arroyo - Colonial - 4:04.45

The Boys 1600 has 12 runners seeded faster than 4:30.   The meet record could definitely go down with the field assembled for this year's Showdown led by 4A State 1600 3rd place finisher, sophomore Nick Diaz.  Miami Sunset's Diaz comes into the Showdown with the fastest seed from his 3rd place finish last week (4:20.61). 

Not far behind the top seed is 2A State 1600 Champion and 2A XC runner-up David Yarborough from Bishop Kenny (4:20.89), who showed tremendous strength to hold off a game Leonel Delacruz from Immokalee in the latter stages of the 2A State 1600 final, just 2 weeks ago. 

With the likes of Ft Myers Green Wave and S.C.A.D. signee Ace Brown looking to close out his high school career on a high note, the goal is to run fast and go for broke.  Everyone in this field is looking to run fast, that's a given. 

We saw 1A State 1600 runner-up and Kentucky signee Cole Oliver look really good in the 1600 Final 2 weeks ago as well and hopefully he's maintained near peak form for the Showdown with the likes of Cocoa Beach's Costa Stathis who went for broke in the 1600 at State and Andrew Leblanc who had a great anchor for Bloomingdale's 4x800 Championship team just a short 7 days ago.  This field is so deep, we are already 7 runners into the preview based on seed times but we really need to think of the possibilities with deeply seeded runners not afraid to lay it out on the line like Lake Nona's Loyack, Bayshore's Meester-Kitterman, Pembroke Pines Charter Iglesias, Geneva School's Gonzalez and Timber Creek frosh Brandon Marquez who is more than likely looking for some redemption after last week's foray into the infield during the 4A boys 3200 final.

Meet records, school records and personal bests will be the goal. Everyone in the fast heat is trying to crack 4:20.  The plan is to have a rabbit take the guys out at 4:16 pace and hopefully they can close quickly.

3200 Girls

Meet Record - Ashley Brasovan - Wellington - 10:21.12 2008

State Leader - Bridget Blake - Dr. Phillips - 10:40.30 FSU Relays

National Leader - Wesley Frazier - Ravenscroft - 9:57.70 adidas Raleigh Relays

Foot Locker National Champion, Wellington's Ashley Brasovan blazed the meet record and second fastest Girls 3200 in the State over the last 5 years at the inaugural All Star Showdown going 10:21.12, so the meet record will be around for another year.  With 4 competitors scheduled to run, Deland junior Michelle Wolf has the fastest seed (12:14.86) from the 4A District 2 meet.  Sarasota Riverview's 3 other competitors, Chinami Wade, Robyn Natherson, and Michaelie Grajalez will be in pack mode with all competitors having seed times in the 12's. 

3200 Boys

Meet Record - Daniel Moore - Holy Trinity - 9:16.86 2012

State Leader - Andres Arroyo - Colonial - 8:51:47 Brian Jaeger Elite Classic

National Leader - Ben Saarel - Park City - 8:45.74 Arcadia

The Boys field consists of 11 competitors for the deuce and is led by 1A State 1600 and State XC Champion, Holy Trinity senior and Columbia signee, Alex Brown (9:26.58, 11th 2013 FSU Relays).  Five boys are seeded sub 10 and with Alex running fresh, the goal will be to go for the meet record (9:16.86) set in 2012 by Holy Trinity Tiger and Boys 1A 3200 Champion, Duke frosh, Daniel Moore.  Colonial senior Caleb Licht looks to finish off his Grenadier high school career with another PR after going 9:36 at the Florida Relays in early April and you can fully expect that St Thomas junior Matthew Butler will be in the mix, moving up from his usual 800 (1:58) and 1600 (4:22.50) races to test his metal over 8 laps.  Fellow Raider, Antony Cruz recently went 9:49.55 finishing 4th at Regionals so he should be close to the front as well.

5000 Girls

Meet Record - Kayla Hale - Holy Trinity - 16:53.27 2009

The HS 5K on the track at this level is a rarity but it's a been a staple event at the All-Star Showdown over the years. The 5K offers up a chance to see how your endurance holds up for 12 1/2 laps following the completion of track season and is a precursor of your fitness for follow-on post season events such as New Balance Nationals where the competition is deep and fast.

3 Time Foot Locker Finalist and multiple time State Champion in XC and Track, Holy Trinity's Kayla Hale (Duke 13') was obviously in great shape going 16:53.27 on a most memorable May night back in 2009. 

St Thomas Aquinas Raider, Freshman Alexa Cruz is the fastest seed coming into the race (18:09.24 from XC 2012 Regionals), closely followed by Mount Dora's Ashley Heitling (South Alabama signee) 18:11 from 2011 on a well known fast course at Foot Locker South's McAlpine Park.  To see how this race may play out, it's interesting to look at what the top 2 seeds have done recently in the 3200 this past track season.  Alexa finished 5th at 4A State last weekend going 11:13.34 and earlier in the season went 11:00.99 at the Texas Relays.  Ashley made a triumphant return to racing this past Spring and posted a solid season best of 11:20.40 at the FSU Relays, placing 3rd in her heat and and 11th overall.  One of the good things that we've always stressed at the Showdown is races are meant for the individual to throw down fast times, not necessarily run tactical races or worry about placings.  At the end of the day, all of the competitors are looking to do their best on this given day.  Today could be an opportunity for the top 2 seeds to go sub 18 and the rest of the competitors run really fast times as well.

5000 Boys

Meet Record - Taylor Reeves - Florida Atlantic University - 15:19.30 2008

25 competitors are set to tackle the 5K.  Taylor Reeves record has stood the test of time since 2008 when he went 15:19.30.  This years top seed is Boca Raton alum, Coker College sophomore Josh Peterson with an entered seed time of 15:45.83 which he ran at the Winthrop Invitational on March 31st.  Josh is at a definite advantage as he routinely trains for the 5K in college.  With 8 other competitors seeded 17 flat or better, this race sets up nicely for pulling people along to fast times over the course of 12 1/2 laps at the Jungle.  Yarborough is scheduled to double back in the 5K and Stanton Preps, Eric Tallbacka recently went 9:31.60 in the 3200 at Regionals so he is a top contender along with Thomas Caroll from Flagler Palm Coast (9:45.64 at Florida Relays) and rising star Jonathon Klumpp from North Broward with top notch credentials recently in the 1600 and 3200 (4:23.25/9:31.87).  Like the good many competitors we'll see at the Showdown, Klumpp is coming to the meet to take care of business and hopefully run fast leaving with the space Coast with a new PR which currently stands at 16:10.  The 5K should be another hotly contested race across the board.

World Famous Milk Mile

Meet Record - Daniel Salas - Trinity Prep - 4:57 

The World Famous Showdown's Milk Mile always caps off the evening's race activities.  This year's motto seems to be "just show up and run" which is quite apt as there is no registration or seedings or even a race preview other than to say we've seen some pretty good "action" in may forms over the years.  The "Official", "Unofficial" Mile Record is held by Daniel Salas at roughly 4:57 back in 2011.  With the largest scheduled field ever assembled for the 6th Annual Florida All-Star Showdown, could we possibly see a Milk Mile Star in the offing?