Saint Stephen’s sweeps district cross country team titles

BRADENTON Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School captured both team titles and an individual championship at the Class 1A, District 7 meet at G.T. Bray Park on Thursday.

Senior Andrew Csubak won the individual boys crown in 17 minutes, 17.06 seconds to lead the boys to a 33-point team total, 29 better than runner-up over the 12-team field. The Falcons girls’ finished with 34 points, 22 ahead of Shorecrest Prep.

Csubak collected the second win of his senior season. He was closely followed across the finish line by teammate Henry Howell, who finished second. Four Falcons finished in the top 10. Csubak finished 15th at last year’s District meet, but he has elevated his performance throughout his senior campaign.

“It’s been really amazing to watch his development, his focus, his self-discipline in this last year,” Saint Stephen’s head coach J.B. Wolcott II said. “It really started last winter, and he had a very impressive track season, that’s where he broke out. He’s built on that further this fall.”

The boys team qualified for the state meet in each of the last two seasons, but it had never captured a district title. While the goal at the Region 2 meet remains advancing to states for a third straight year, the team may contend for the top spot at that event as well. Csubak is eager for regionals, which are scheduled for Oct. 28 at Lakeland’s Holloway Park.

“There’s great competition, people that are faster than me that can push me,” Csubak said. “So I’ll just try to stay with them and see what happens.”

Thursday also marked the first district title for the Saint Stephen’s girls team. An aggressive late-race surge allowed the Falcons to take the top spot despite Shorecrest Prep, the defending champ, posting the top two individual times.

“The way we attack it is to try and gain ground later in the race, we knew what we needed to do and the girls executed the game plan perfectly,” Wolcott said.

The top five Saint Stephen’s girls all placed in the top 13, led by junior Baylee Barker’s third-place finish.

The boys’ teams from Cardinal Mooney and Out-of- Door Academy placed third and fourth in the team standings to advance to the Region 2 Meet.

Class 1A District 7 meet

GIRLS

Team: 1. Saint Stephen's Episcopal 34; 2. Shorecrest Prep 56; 3. Northside Christian 57; 4. Canterbury School 95; 5. Cardinal Mooney 97.

Individual: 1. Rovin, Olivia (SP) 20:16.32; 2. Saunders, Isabelle (SP) 21:26.35; 3. Barker, Baylee (SS) 22:25.08; 4. Fomina, Daria (SS) 22:30.40; 5. Hernandez, Jasmine (NC) 22:30.78; 6. Ferwerda, Emma (NC) 22:33.09; 7. Popp, Madelyn (SS) 22:35.83; 8. Pierce, Catherine (SS) 22:54.36; 9. Studdiford, Maeve (ODA) 23:05.22; 10. Skirball, Jessica 12 (CM) 23:10.65.

BOYS

Team: 1. Saint Stephen’s 33; 2 Northside Christian Schoo 62; 3 Cardinal Mooney Catholic 87; 4 The Out-of-Door Academy 109; 5 Admiral Farragut Academy 158; 6 Bradenton Christian 181; 7 Shorecrest Prep 196; 8 Keswick Christian 218; 9 St. Petersburg Catholic 223; 10 Imagine School 258; 11 Canterbury School 273; 12 Sarasota Christian 314.

Individual:1. Csubak, Andrew (SS) 17:17.06; 2. Howell, Henry 11 (SS) 17:19.28; 3. Nunamaker, Justin (NC) 17:28.48; 4. Ross, Tyler (CM) 17:48.55; 5. Oare, Derek (KC) 18:06.93; 6. Herdegen, Kyle (SP) 18:28.67; 7. Soderberg, Kai (ODA) 18:34.73; 8. Hamilton, Dawson (SS) 18:41.86; 9. Chatham, Angus (SS) 18:42.18; 10. Carbone, Nicholas (NC)18:48.83.

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Saint Stephen’s sweeps district cross country team titles."