Mustangs second in state

DADE CITY — In the week leading up to the most anticipated race in program history, Mary Quinn noticed something about her Lakewood Ranch athletes.

They were calm. They were relaxed.

“They’ve been kind of goofy the last week or so,” said Quinn, the Mustangs girls coach. “I think it’s been to their advantage that they haven’t felt the pressure.”

If the expectations were weighing on the Mustangs, they didn’t act like it.

And Saturday morning at the Class 3A state meet at Little Everglades Ranch, they sure didn’t run like it, finishing with 62 points, second in the state behind Tallahassee Chiles (40 points).

It was a proper ending to the best season in program history, one which included county, district and regional championships.

Now the Mustangs will lug the runner-up trophy back to east Manatee County.

“They put in that extra effort ... I’m choked up,” said an emotional Quinn. “They put it on the line (Saturday), and they left it on the field.

“They’ve been at the big meets ... and they rose to the occasion at those meets. But you hope for them to peak and do their ultimate best at this meet here.”

That they did.

Kristen Zarrella placed fourth with a time of 18:44.97, shaving nearly a minute off her regional time.

Not far behind Zarrella was Olivia Ortiz, eighth at 18:55.03 — half a minute better than her regional performance.

Both are freshmen, as is Natalie Novak (15th, 19:31.25) and Ashley Platt (31st, 20:00.99).

Emily Wray was 88th (21:21.44) for the Mustangs, who defeated third-place Fort Walton Beach (94) by 32 points.

“I feel like we definitely rose to the occasion and did the job as well as we could,” Zarrella said. “It was good.”

Ortiz had a symbolic finish by holding off Fort Walton Beach’s Holly Stanton, who finished in 18:55.32.

“We knew we expected to do well,” Ortiz said, “and we knew we had it all in us.”

The Mustangs knew a bit about Little Everglades Ranch, having taken part in the pre-state meet earlier this season, and used it to their advantage.

“I’m one to get lost usually, so it was good that I knew the course, and I knew there was no way to get lost,” Zarrella said. “It helped us out a lot. I’m glad that we had the chance to do that.”

While they spent the fall taking on hilly courses and tough opponents in preparation for the final meet of the season, the Mustangs spent the week staying relaxed and, as Zarrella said, focusing on other things besides racing.

The approach worked.

“Obviously, it’s not the most fun sport, but we make it fun,” she said. “At the hotel, we’d get into adventures and joke around, and try not to think of the strategy until the race.”

Palmetto’s Jessica McKin-nis, the area’s other Class 3A qualifier, capped her prep career by finishing 20th (19:35.53).