Fab Four headline MustangsFreshmen look to lead cross country team at state

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Cross country practice was over Monday afternoon, and you knew that because Ashley Platt hung upside down from a climbing apparatus in the playground next to the soccer fields behind Lakewood Ranch High.

Next came a game of who can slip the most ice cubes down someone’s back.

“We like to have fun,” said Platt, one of four freshmen on the Mustangs’ state-bound team.

The others are Kristin Zarrella, Olivia Ortiz and Natalie Novak.

They call themselves the Fab Four or, as Zarrella suggested, the Phat Phour.

They have nicknames like Super Freak, Spider Legs, Bug Eyes and Awkward Freshman.

“It’s very strange,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz is the serious one in the quartet.

“Olivia doesn’t talk during races,” Zarrella said.

“We take it seriously,” Ortiz said.

“Speak for yourself,” Platt said.

Actually, they do take it seriously.

From the moment sophomore Devin McDermott begins her pre-race prayer to the moment they cross the finish line, the Mustangs are very focused. How else do you win county, district and regional titles in consecutive meets.

The Mustangs head to Saturday’s Class 3A state meet at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City as the third-best 3A team in the state.

“The times that the girls are running, that’s talent,” Ranch coach Mary Quinn said. “I’ve had hard workers before, and they worked their butt off, but they never ran times like that.”

Zarrella holds the school record of 18 minutes, 57 seconds for the 3.1-mile cross country distance. Ortiz tied the mark set in 2008 by McDermott at 19:05. Novak’s best time this season is 19:49. Platt’s is 20:00.

“You can still have fun when you’re running well,” Zarrella said.

Quinn and McDermott knew Zarrella would be a big addition this year. McDermott remembers Zarrella from the middle school cross country races when McDermott was in the eighth grade and Zarrella was a seventh-grader.

“She beat me,” McDermott said.

But weren’t sure of the other three until the first meet of the season.

“I knew Kristin was coming, I was warned,” McDermott said. “But you can’t really tell what everyone can do until that first race.”

The Mustangs won the Mountain Dew Invitation at the University of Florida.

This is what McDermott learned that afternoon: “That we have some fast ninth graders.”

And they are just as quick with a joke or a dig or a prank.

“We all contribute,” Novak said. “It just depends on the timing.”

They like to sing during training runs. Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” is a favorite of Zarrella. Platt likes “Cheesburger in Paradise.” Novak likes the oldie, but goodie, “Build Me Up Buttercup.”

“I don’t have a song,” Ortiz said. “I kind of go with the flow.”

The humor has been a welcomed addition to the season. Long training runs and intense speed work can be a grind over the course of a long cross country season, especially this fall when the sun remained unforgiving a little longer than normal.

“It takes the pressure off,” McDermott said.

As McDermott spoke, she was pelted by ice cubes from Super Freak and Awkward Freshman.

Do these kids ever stop?

“On rare occasions,” McDermott said. “But that’s what I like about the freshmen.”

Then McDermott returned fire.