Gulf County cross country runners catching their stride
Cross country runners from both Gulf County High Schools had an impressive showing at the meet hosted by Sneads High School on Sept. 20.
With several runners hitting their best times and teams ranking in the top ten, both Port St. Joe’s and Wewahitchka’s coaches said the racers made the district proud.
“They didn’t quite meet my goals for their first and second mile times, but you really can’t beat that outcome,” said Port St. Joe Cross Country Coach Keion McNair, whose girls team came in first place at the meet.
“We had five (runners) in the top 10.”
McNair said three of the girls ran record times at the Sneads meet — Kate Patrick, who also won the race with a time of 22:26.5, Libby White, with a time of 23:42.4, and Arlena Gleichner, with a time of 23:50.2.
Port St. Joe’s boys cross country team also had an impressive showing, ending up placing fifth overall at the meet.
Wewahitchka Cross Country Coach Mary Holley said her young team also ran some of their best times at Sneads last Wednesday.
“We did really well,” she said. “Each one of them probably beat their time by at least a couple of minutes. So, they’re getting in shape.”
The Wewahitchka cross country teams, which combined had only nine high-school-aged competitors at the Sneads meet, are made up of mostly middle-schoolers.
“I have a lot of seventh and eighth graders,” Holley said. “So in the next few years, as they get a little older, we’re going to have a pretty good little team. They’re going to get better and better.”
Wewahitchka’s girls runners took sixth place at Sneads, and the boys team finished in eighth place.
Both Port St. Joe’s and Wewahitchka’s runners competed in Blountstown on Sept. 27. Details from the meet will be printed in next week’s Star.
Results from Sneads Home Meet 2023 5000m
Wewahitchka Girls
25:53.4 Graci Brock (8) 13th
26:35.3 Kyleigh Catrett (9) 17th
28:23.3 Madi Brock (8) 26th
28:49.2 Payton Combs (7) 27th
29:05.5 Katie Watts (7) 32nd
29:58.6 Mia Beatty (8) 35th
32:05.9 Cameron Easter (9) 42nd
38:28.7 Valerie Shiver (7) 60th
38:30.0 Katelynn Slay (7) 61st
Wewahitchka Boys
21:45.9 Lucas Wreath (7) 36th
21:53.2 Davy Gray (10) 40th
22:00.7 Bryce Ethridge (10) 43rd
22:37.4 Jaxon Sweat (7) 49th
22:38.0 Ryan Coxwell (12) 50th
22:55.8 Tyler Johnson (10) 59th
23:03.1 Calvin Ross (9) 60th
24:04.7 Wyatt Linton (10) 66th
26:04.9 Christian Johnson (10) 77th
27:30.4 Wesley Spencer (8) 81st
29:44.4 Cecil Linton 85th
Port St. Joe Girls
22:26.5 Kate Patrick (8) 1st
23:12.8 Molly Partin (9) 4th
23:42.4 Libby White (8) 7th
23:50.1 Hannah DaCosta (12) 8th
23:50.2 Arlena Cleichner (12) 9th
25:55.0 Farrah Spring (10) 14th
26:44.7 Celie White (10) 18th
33:50.7 Katie Trochessett (10) 47th
33:50.7 Kaylee Schweikert (12) 48th
Port St. Joe Boys
19:22.5 Jude Fosshage (7) 11th
19:43.4 Nathan Lipford (10) 15th
20:52.5 Chase Ford (7) 28th
22:40.0 Rhys Bennefield (9) 51st
22:46.4 Preston Beckwith (9) 57th
25:31.2 Dane Fosshage (9) 71st
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.