By Gary Curreri

Fittingly, Ryan Szklany is planning to study at Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach. With a month to go in the cross country season, he was concerned that the gap between him and the top-ranked Class 1A runner in the state (Trevor Foley) may be a little too large. Szklany was nearly a minute behind Foley’s fastest time of the season.

The Highlands Christian Academy 17-year-old won six meets this year and showed at state that he had tremendous heart as he closed the gap considerably falling by just eight seconds with a personal best 15:55 clocking at the FHSAA Class 2A Cross Country State Championships at Apalachee Regional Park. Foley won the event in 15:47.25.

“It was just a great finish for me,” said Szklany, who trimmed nearly 20 seconds off his previous best time. He will be running this Friday in the FACA Senior All-Star Meet. “The last month of the season I just kept putting in the work and training hard. It was a great way to end my senior year in cross country. I just went all out at the end and it paid off.”

Foley has a best time of 15:20, so Szklany knew he had to stay within striking distance at the state meet. Szklany’s time this season was 16:16.40, which was three seconds off the previous 16:13.0, which he ran in the Foot Locker South event in Nov. 2015.

Foley, who transferred from Nature Coast Tech (Class 2A) to Citrus Park Christian (1A) before last year’s track season, had defeated Szklany earlier this season.

In their lone head-to-head meeting, Foley won the Flrunners.com Invitational 18 Race of Champions Boys Division at Holloway Park in Lakeland on Sept. 30. Foley won the event with a 15:54.64 clocking, while Szklany covered the distance in 16:23.15. Szklany was third in the Jim Ryun Invitational by Fellowship of Christian Athletes (16:35.80).

“This is good for confidence knowing that I could hold down a strategy,” Szklany added. “I was a little disappointed because I didn’t get a PR, but I was able to get my second fastest time of the season and I am happy with that.”

Szklany said he has started to return to the form he was at two years ago when he ran his personal best time of 16:13.00 towards the end of the season and won the district and regional championships.

“I just think the development paid off,” Szklany said. “I think the training caught up a little bit and I starting to transition back into it. It really showed in the end.”

By Gary Curreri

Lighthouse Point’s Ryan Szklany is making the most of his senior cross country season.

The Highlands Christian Academy 17-year-old won a major invitational for the third time this season as he captured the Pine Crest Cross Country Invitational at Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek last week.

Szklany ran a 17:08.70 on the 5K layout to win the boys varsity race by 11 seconds over runner-up Robert Pedroza, a sophomore from Key West High School, who ran a 17:19.52. They were the only two runners to run faster than 18-minutes in the boys race.

Szklany also won the individual championship in the Boys High School Select Division at the FSU Pre-State Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, as well as the 35th annual Spanish River Invitational at South County Park in Boca Raton.

When he won the Pre-State meet, Szklany started out in sixth place at the mile mark as he went out in 5:00.7, but by the second mile he had moved up to first. With a strong finishing burst, he held off Lakewood Ranch’s Jonathan Reid to clock 16:21.3. Reid was second with a time of 16:25.1.

“The first mile we went out far and, after that, there was a group of a two or three guys that were about 20 meters ahead that I wanted to catch before they broke away,” said Szklany, who was third at last year’s Class 1A state cross country championships. “I was able to stay with them and pushed ahead.”

“This is good for confidence, knowing that I could hold down a strategy,” Szklany added. “I was a little disappointed because I didn’t get a PR, but I was able to get my second fastest time of the season and I am happy with that.”

Szklany said he is starting to return to the form he was at two years ago when he ran his personal best time of 16:13.00.

“I just think the development is starting to pay off,” Szklany said. “I think the training is starting to catch up a little bit. I am starting to transition back into it.

“I know what the course is now and I am a little more used to where I should go a little harder or maybe lay back a little bit,” Szklany said of the 5K layout at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. “I have that aspect of it and also being able to compete against the guys I am going to be racing against to kind of get to know their strategies and race against them.”

Trevor Foley, who transferred from Nature Coast Tech (Class 2A) to Citrus Park Christian (1A) before last year’s track season, is going to be Szklany’s main rival. Foley’s best time is 15:20, so Szklany will have his work cut out for him as his best time this season is a 16:16.40 and his personal best is a 16:13.0, which he ran in the Foot Locker South event in Nov. 2015.

In their lone head-to-head meeting, Foley won the Flrunners.com Invitational 18 Race of Champions Boys Division at Holloway Park in Lakeland on Sept. 30. Foley won the event with a 15:54.64 clocking, while Szklany covered the distance in 16:23.15. Szklany was third in the Jim Ryun Invitational by Fellowship of Christian Athletes (16:35.80).

Szklany has his sights set on competing in college at Emory Riddle.

“I haven’t committed anywhere yet,” Szklany said. “It is giving me a little more drive to keep working hard and training hard to make sure I am there at the end of the season.”

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach cross country coach Jerry Guthrie believes his team has a chance to make it to the FHSAA Class 4A state meet with a good effort on Friday.

The Bucks will start their quest for a state berth when they run in the District 12-4A meet at Tradewinds Park on Friday at 9 a.m. It had a strong showing in the recent Westminster Academy meet in Lauderdale Lakes.

The boys’ team was runner- up and was led by junior Romilaire Ambroise, who took fourth in the meet with a 17:40.60 clocking. John I. Leonard won the meet with 34 points.

“The boys really stepped up,” Guthrie said. “We finished in a tie with Boyd Anderson and our sixth runner (Aaron Johnson) broke the tie. You talk about BA and John I. Leonard in front of us and those are two powerhouses. I think both of our teams have a good chance at districts.”

Deerfield Beach’s girls finished fifth in the recent Westminster Invitational with 101 points as Lineliz Cartegena led the team with an 18th place finish (26:52).

Ambroise took 39th in the BCAA meet last Friday at Markham Park to lead the Bucks with a time of 18:50.72. Bryan Hursh (18:44.99) and Evens Fleurantus (19:54.53) took 73rd and 80th in the BCAA meet.

“About a month ago, I was able to talk some of the soccer boys into running and Romilaire came out and won his first race with a 17:40,” Guthrie said. “I think he has a really good chance to go to state. I only have one senior on the team and everyone is in the 18s.”

Guthrie thought his girls team would be the stronger team; however, two of his girls transferred to Pompano Beach and Cardinal Gibbons, respectively. Guthrie hit the soccer fields again and brought in Patricia Leiva.

“She’s come a long way,” Guthrie added. “Sarah Strothman is our No. 1 runner and she is also a soccer player. I just saw them running in the stands one day and said, ‘why don’t you run with us, and,all of a sudden, I have a nice little girls’ team.”

Guthrie, who has been at the school since 1998 and has been the cross country coach since 2000, said he had 60 runners come out for the team this year and said he is looking at the future.

“We worked hard all summer,” added Guthrie, who said there were approximately 40 athletes at tryouts last year. He went to all of the other teams around the school and tried to get them to come out for the team. “I told them they were sitting on the end of the bench for their teams; come run for us. We had 11 girls on the team last year and now we have 23.”

Bucks win in OT

Brandon Powell scored on a 3-yard run in overtime to lift visiting Deerfield Beach to a 27-24 victory over Monarch at Coconut Creek High School on Friday night in a District 12-8A matchup of two unbeaten teams.

Monarch (7-1, 4-1) had taken a 24-21 lead in overtime on a 24-yard field goal by Tyler Johnson.

Powell ran for 134 yards on 21 carries and scored on a 51-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Bucks (7-0, 5-0) a 21-14 lead. Monarch quarterback Mike Harris scored on a 1-yard run to tie the game.

The Bucks fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter before mounting a rally. Monarch’s Brandon Pope caught a 10- yard pass from Mike Harris and Tyrone Woods scored on a 7-yard run for the Knights.

Justin Morgan caught a 30- yard scoring toss from Denarious Graham, and Jamal Patterson hauled in a 41-yard scoring pass to tie the game for Deerfield Beach, which won for the seventh consecutive time.