Week one of the official season of competition is gone! Before we know it, the first month will have blown by! We took a look at who made their way to the top of our Cross Country rankings.

RANKINGS - See where you stack up!

Charles Hicks (Bolles High School)

It’s week two and the times are starting to drop. Taking over as our state leader on the boy’s side is Bolles sophomore, Charles Hicks. Hicks threw down an impressive 15:44 personal-best to win at the Spikes and Spurs Classic hosted by Flagler Palm Coast High School, just getting out of reach of last week’s ROTW, Mason Jones (15:51).

Finishing fifth at last year’s 2A cross country state meet and having a previous personal-best of 16:00, he also had an awesome 2016 indoor and outdoor track season, finishing 4th in the Freshman Mile at New Balance Indoors, putting up personal-bests of 4:24 in the 1600 at the 2A Region 1 Championships, and 9:17 in the 3200 at the FSU Relays in late March, where he finished sixth in a very stacked field of seniors.

The Spikes and Spurs course has been known to be a fast one, if you know how to run it. Hicks surely showed how. Keep an eye out for him, as he’s definitely poised to be a favorite in 2A in November.

Bailey Hertenstein (Riverview High School)

Naturally, Florida residents know when it’s hurricane season. For those who are from out-of-state, it usually comes in the form of a 5 foot 6-inch blonde-haired girl named ‘Hurricane Hertenstein.’ Our second female ROTW ─ Riverview junior, Bailey Hertenstein!

Posting a state-leading 18:10.0 to open her season at the Hillsborough Invitational earlier this week, Hertenstein attacked the familiar course, as she’s performed well on it before.

She took the race out, passing the mile mark at 5:52, a very solid opening mile. But then she continued to accelerate, negative splitting the next two miles (5:50, 5:48).

“I feel comforted by the time I ran,” Hertenstein said Sunday evening. “It’s a great start to the season for me and I know my training will only help me further myself. Especially with the help of my coaches and teammates.”

Hertenstein posted her personal-best of 17:32 last year when she won the 4A Cross Country state title. Bailey had a fantastic 2016 outdoor track season, most notably at the State Championships when she was tripped up during the 1600, got up, and powered her way to her first state title in 5:05!

She also finished second in the 800 (2:13) and third  in the 3200 (10:48, PB) at the state meet. The girl has some wheels.

As far as what to expect next from her, she says that not even she know what the future holds.

“And I don't want to assume anything this early,” she said. “But do expect that I will try my hardest with every meet thrown at me.  And that's all I can ask of myself.”

Bailey Hertenstein and teammates posing for a picture at the conclusion of the East Hillsborough Invitational (Courtesy Photo)

Congratulations to all of our runners who competed this weekend! We hope you ran a personal-best, or maybe even won the race! Run fast, trust your training, and keep an eye out to see who will be next week’s DyeStat Florida Runners Of The Week!