Satellite girls, Astronaut boys win Cape Coast Conference cross country
There are years at the Cape Coast Conference cross country meet when a huddle of runners race for the finish line, squeezing their shoulders together to slide between competitors and reach the end first and finally click the stop button on their wristwatches.
Thursday, it was all Addison Elwell and Jack Girard, securely in front, both in green Viera jerseys. Satellite won the girls team title, and Astronaut took the boys.
Elwell won the girls individual championship by almost 19 seconds, a sophomore well ahead of where she thought she'd be now. She won the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:04.5. Merritt Island's Brooke Yates followed in 18:23.3, and then Madison Carr of Astronaut (18:31.1).
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Girard crossed a hair shy of 10 seconds before the runner-up, a junior with the experience that propelled him to the boys championship in 15:59.8. Astronaut's Brandon Farris (16:09.7) and Michael Girard of Viera (16:51.1) were second and third.
Girard said his goal through the postseason is to "just keep running faster, to stay below the 16-minute threshold the rest of the year and just use today as an example that I can do that."
Elwell said her performance produced "an insane time" for her.
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"I've been consistently a minute faster than I was last season," she said. "It's crazy how fast I'm running. I think having the experience of freshman season and training over the summer is really what's helped me."
The Satellite girls placed four runners in the top nine and all five scorers were in the first 12. Astronaut boys finished second, fourth and seventh, and all five War Eagles scorers made the top 23.
District races begin Oct. 30. Wickham Park will host District 4-2A teams on Nov. 2.
Scroll down for more complete CCC cross country results.
Cape Coast Conference 2023 cross country meet
Girls team standings: 1. Satellite 41; 2. Edgewood 107; 3. West Shore 110; 4. Viera 133; 5. Melbourne 147; 6. Merritt Island 155; 7. Cocoa Beach 164; 8. Astronaut 180; 9. Rockledge 194; 10. Bayside 249; 11. Heritage 285; 12. Palm Bay 336.
Girls top individuals: 1. Addison Elwell, V 18:04.5; 2. Brooke Yates, MI 18:23.3; 3. Madison Carr, A 18:31.1; 4. Ava Quattrocchi, R 18:38.3; 5. Keira Merrick, S 18:54.4; 6. Veronique Gividen, E 19:30.6; 7. Braelyn Wahy, S 19:31.0; 8. Celina Coryell, S 19:31.0; 9. Gabriela Bernard, S 19:33.1; 10. Lily Myers, E 19:33.6.
Boys team standings: 1. Astronaut 49; 2. Satellite 81; 3. Edgewood 94; 4. Viera 101; West Shore 101; 6. Rockledge 158; 7. Cocoa Beach 171; 8. Melbourne 177; 9. Titusville 256; 10. Bayside 279; 11. Eau Gallie 333; 12. Merritt Island 351; 13. Space Coast 359; 14. Heritage 387.
Boys top individuals: 1. Jack Girard, V 15:59.8; 2. Brandon Faris, A 16:09.7; 3. Michael Girard, V 16:15.1; 4. Shane Kinsey, A 16:20.0; 5. Devon Giuliani, WS 16:21.5; 6. Logan Carr, S 16:23.3; 7. Jackson Champagne, A 16:24.7; 8. Aiden Germain, E 16:25.8; 9. Trenton Riley, M 16:26.2; 10. Aaron Murphy, WS 16:26.4.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 2023 Cape Coast Conference cross country championship meet
