Providence girls run to cross country state championship

DADE CITY - What's that the Good Book says about a little child leading them?

Danielle Van Lier, a Providence eighth-grader, was younger than just about all of the top runners in the Class 1A field Saturday at the state cross country meet. Nevertheless, Van Liere's sixth-place finish led a balanced performance that brought the Southside private school its first cross country state title by three points over Gainesville Oak Hall at the Little Everglades Ranch.

Van Liere, who also plays soccer for Providence, ran 18:39.21 for the 5-kilometer race, with more hills than Jacksonville has, on a humid morning in Pasco County. Eden Meyer (19:17.30) finished 10th, Camile Jackson (19:38.18) came in 14th and Emily Stallings (20:17.06) was 25th to deliver the state title over favored Oak Hall and Holy Trinity (third place).

The unexpected championship for Providence came on a day when Bolles, Bishop Kenny and Episcopal were turned back in the girls 2A meet and Bishop Kenny in the boys 2A. Bolles finished third in the girls meet to Plantation American Heritage and Carrollton, with Kenny coming in fifth and Episcopal sixth.

The BK boys finished second by 26 points to Ransom Everglades. Also finishing second in their class was Bartram Trail's boys in 3A.

Complete state cross country meet results

Providence coach Jeannie Jackson said that in a meet that came down to a handful of points, every runner her girls passed meant something.

"I told the girls that it's not about how fast sometimes, but who you beat," she said. "They all ran hard, right down to the end, and tried to finish ahead of whoever was close to them."

Meyer finished less than three seconds ahead of Calvary Christian's Carolina Pauls and Jackson finished less than two seconds ahead of Evangelical Christian's Sarah McBeath. Reverse those finishes and it's an even closer race.

"We knew all seven of us had to run as hard as we could," said Van Liere, who was nipped at the wire for fifth by Kelly Fahey of Trinity Prep. "We practiced and ran as if we all had to set our personal best to win."

Aside from that, it was mostly a discouraging day for area teams, especially in the class 2A races. Bolles, Kenny and Episcopal had finished 1-2-3in the girls regional meet and Kenny and Bolles ran first and second in the boys regionals.

Christine Griggs of Episcopal had the area's low time in the girls 2A meet, 19:33.16 for ninth place. Michael Barr of Kenny was ninth in the boys 2A meet in 16:35.19.