IMG Academy Sweeps Team Titles Against Top Talent In Florida; Annabella Tomasic Returns To Racing With Victory

By Ricky Quintana for DyeStat

Photos courtesy Cedric Gilette

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Belen Jesuit (Miami, FL) junior Marcelo Mantecon lowered his personal best to 14:33 and Annabella Tomasic returned to action to claim the individual titles at the New World Fall Spectacular on the Cecil Field cross country course Saturday morning.

IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) rebounded after the Great American XC Festival last week to claim the boys and girls team titles in convincing fashion.

Unlike his previous wins this season, Mantecon darted away from his teammates and the field enroute to a 4:33 opening mile. Chiles (Tallahassee, FL) senior Joshua Hicks attempted to keep pace, but the relentless pace was too much and he began to drop back after the mile.

“I just wanted to push myself and see what I could do as an individual today,“ said Mantecon, who still felt the effects of last week’s Great American win, though he took a day off and took it easy this week. “I didn’t have a specific race plan. I took it by feel for  every mile, so I felt really good for every mile so I was really happy with that.”

Fresh off a personal best of 14:49.70 last week at the Asics/Alexander Invitational in Fairburn, GA, Hicks came in looking to be competitive, but the pace became too quick.

“I knew Marcelo and the other boys were going to be pushing hard. I had to go up there and compete and see how I’d do place wise. For now, there is still room for improvement,” Hicks said. “I came through thinking I almost hit my mile PR , but I didn’t want that gap to get too big. I tried to maintain the gap and tried to survive and not go lactic and fall out of the pace.”

Cool temperatures and a gusty wind at times made Mantecon feel like “I hit a brick wall,”  but he continued to press on hitting the two mile in 9:17 (4:43) and the three mile in 14:05.4 (4:49) before sprinting to the finish.

Mantecon has now averaged 14:45 for his five wins and hasn’t run slower than 15:10. His top two performances have been 14:33 and 14:39. His 3-mile split (hand timed) broke the legendary mark of 14:07 set by Rockledge’s Kenny Clark in winning the 1977 3A  state cross country title.

IMG Academy’s 15:32.6 average and 33 second spread was too much for the Wolverines and it handed Belen Jesuit a rare in-state loss, 90-133.

Sophomore Fletcher Dorbor finished 11th 15:21, senior Pedro Ferreira De Abreu 14th 15:27, junior James Pfuhl 15th 15:28, senior Lucas Brighty 20th 15:33, and junior Jose Cedeno 15:54 scored for IMG Academy, who were without No. 1 runner, Matthew Dodds, sat out for the second meet in a row with an injury.

Tomasic, a Bishop Moore (Orlando, FL) freshman, returned to action after a four week battle with shin splints to win in a personal best of 17:25.

She had company this time, turning back state leader and Oasis (Cape Coral, FL) senior Jazlyn Forbes, who also was battling allergies that stifled her breathing.

“I’ve been under the weather for about twelve days now. I’m almost over it, but when I was running, I could definitely feel it,” Forbes said. “I tried to hang on as long as I could and I knew there were a pack of girls coming behind me in the last 800 meters so I just tried to leave it all on the course today.”

Tomasic had supplemented her training with aqua jogging and cross training. She only began running a week ago, but on Saturday, the pain was gone and she was able to execute her plan.

“I love these races. They're so competitive and there is so much talent.  I was just really grateful to be able to race today, “ she said. “I didn’t have one specific plan. I just wanted to go out and see what I could do. I kind of gauged where my fitness was at this point. Obviously, there are always things you can build on, but I was really happy with the way it worked out.”

Forbes was challenged late by Wiregrass Ranch (FL) junior Natalia Gaona-Zelaya, but she was just able to hold onto second with a 17:35.

For Gaona-Zelaya, it was a big breakthrough. She had finished eighth at the North Port Invitational, 30 seconds behind Forbes, but on Saturday showed some grit as she chased down the early leaders and finished third in 17:37.

“Honestly, it’s all mental. I knew it was going to hurt, but I don’t even remember how much I was hurting,” Gaona-Zelaya said. “I tried to keep where I was and tried not to let anyone pass me and if they did, I took a deep breath  and then went to pass them again. I just kept repeating in my head, keep pushing and pushing. It hurt then but it doesn’t hurt now.”

Like the boys, IMG Academy’s girls team packed it in. Senior Danielle Graham finished seventh in 17:52, sophomore Sydney Johnson was eighth in 17:58,  senior Alyson Johnson was 16th in 18:17,  senior Huntley Buckingham was 18th in 18:20, and senior Aurora Bertelsen Del Solar was 19th with 18:26 to average 18:11 and had a spread of 33 seconds to score 53 points.

Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville, FL) finished second with 125 points.