By DAN HOEHNE
daniel.hoehne@newssun.com
The traveling road show that has been the Sebring Cross Country season thus far continued Saturday at the Florida Runners Invitational in Titusville, and the results continue to impress.
Under unseasonably warm conditions along the Atlantic Coast, runners representing 20 schools took part in a tough test.
Taylor Tubbs continued her lead performances by taking a rousing second place out of 159 runners with a time of 19:34 over the challenging 5K course.
And Hannah Schroeder played her usual strong backup, staying within the top 10 with her ninth-place finish in 20:43.
"It was a lot hotter than we expected," Schroeder would say after. "But it turned out to be a pretty fun race."
Staying in the top 100 were Ashley Castelli and Laura Eshelman, with respective times of 24:51 and 25:40, while Cassandra Marentes' time of 26:04 left her just outside.
"It was a really tough race, but despite the really hot weather, we all pushed on and the course was fun to run," Marentes said. "I was surprised to have gotten my season PR (personal record), so I'm satisfied with how I did."
Other varsity runners who finished out of the team scoring, but gained valuable experience in the process, were Erin Lamb, Katie Stoll, Ashley White and Christen Pyles.
Competing in the Large School race, consisting of 3A and 4A schools, the Lady Streaks total of finishes placed them at number 12.
"The invite was a great experience for the team," head coach Krista Schult said. "It was one of the more competitive races we will attend this year, which is great for the girls to mentally prepare them for districts, regionals and hopefully even state.
"With the race being held in the afternoon, we knew it would be hot and we, unfortunately, didn't get the cloud coverage we were hoping for," she continued. "With that being said, most of the girls times weren't far off of last week and there were even a few season PR's."
The team travels continue Friday at the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic.
Saturday, October 13, 2012 - www.newssun.com/WED-10-3-12-SebGCC