George Jenkins' Caden Baker emerges as top boys cross country runner with breakout season
LAKELAND — Most high school students are asleep at 4 a.m. What were Caden Baker and his George Jenkins cross country teammates doing?
“We do doubles, so we run before school every morning at 4 o’clock and then we’d have practice (after school),” he said. “I woke up at four o'clock every morning and was outside of my house by 4:15.”
That work paid off.
Baker, a junior, showed potential as an up-and-coming runner his first two seasons. This past season, however, he had the definitive breakout campaign, winning four races, including county, district and regional titles while setting a personal record that is ranked fifth in Polk County since 2000, putting him on the verge of being one of the best cross country runners in county history.
Baker is The Ledger’s 2023 Cross Country Boys Runner of the Year.
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During the summer, Baker discovered his potential. He won his first summer race in the Watermelon Series in July with a personal record. His dominance rose from there.
“I got confident after I won that race,” he aid. “I was like, oh crap, I just PR’ed and of course with that I was like, oh yeah, this is going to be a good season if I keep on training.”
He ran 16:14.50 and finished second in his first meet of the season at the Bay Zaharis Twilight Challenge. His time was about one second off his high school personal record.
“I was like, oh yeah, this could be one of the best seasons,” he said.
"That gave me confidence. Now I can run with the top guys in Florida. I can go out and compete and race. I trust my coaches, trainers and running with my teammates. If I could do these workouts, if I could knock these out, I can go out and go have fun.
And off he went. Baker then set a PR the following week by winning the George Whitmire Invitational in 15:59.90.
It was a different sort of season, however, for Baker. In his first two seasons, he had Brandon Milo and Sam Otero to run with at practice. The three were close in ability, especially depending on the event in track. However, Milo moved and Otero was hurt, leaving Baker as the lone top runner for Jenkins. He enjoyed watching his younger teammates emerge, and one, sophomore Colin Wagner, joined him on the All-County team.
“Having those guys step it up, it helped a lot and then it was like, hey, we can have a good season and see where we can go this year,” he said.
Baker was the up-and-coming runner the past two seasons, showing potential when he finished fifth at the county cross country meet as a freshman. During his first two high school seasons, he finished between third and fifth in his county races in cross country and track, and his best result in any big race were a pair of runner-up finishes in the 3,200 at the district meets.
After winning the Whitemire Invitational, he went on three weeks later to set a PR by running 15:34 at North Port. He ran a strong 15:53 at pre-state then finished fifth in the competitive FLRunners Invitational at Holloway Park.
By then, Baker was poised for a strong postseason run. His time at county wasn’t impressive (16:23.60) but he wasn’t challenged and won by 27 seconds. He then ran 15.48.40 in winning districts and 16:01.70 in what was considered an upset win at regionals. The state meet where he finished a more than respectable 15th in 15:59.00 was a learning experience as he felt he went out too fast.
“Next year, I’m definitely not going to lead the first mile,” he said. “I’m going to go out in like fifth place, top 10, then make a move from there. I would love to win it.”
Baker’s goal this year was to get down to 15:30 and he was four seconds off. Next year, his goal — other than winning state — is to get under 15:30 and possibly challenge for the county record, held by Anderson Denton’s 14:57, which was set on a fast course in 2020. Scott Mackley (15:21), Paul Stafford (15:23) and Mac Updike (15:27) are next in his sights.
“The goal next year is sub-15,” he said “I’d like to have the county record, and I know on a fast course, if I’m healthy and start training really well, I could break that record.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: George Jenkins' Caden Baker emerges as top boys cross country runner
