St. PETERSBURG — Osceola cruised to boys and girls wins at the Pirate Invitational at Walter Fuller Park on Thursday.
Even without an individual winning either race, its girls topped host Boca Ciega 81-93 and the boys topped Clearwater 38-81.
Warriors coach Pete Eagleson, eyeing Saturday’s Mitchell Invitational, held back lead runners AJ Jimenez and Ryan VanMiddlesworth, who finished 12th and 13th, respectively. That opened the door for No. 3 runner Jac Cautero.
Dealing with Clearwater’s Steven Randall, Sean Heera and Danny Sawayda, Cautero snatched the lead after the first trip around the lake. But the trio clipped him back and held the lead entering the third (and final) trip.
Randall finished first in 17 minutes, 48 seconds. But Cautero, a sophomore, passed Heera in the final seconds to take second in 17:51.
"Our strategy all along was to stick together. It makes it much harder to pass us," Randall said. "If somebody comes up on us, one of us is going to make a move. And neither me nor Danny want to get beat by the sophomore."
Eagleson said he was proud of Cautero.
"This was a huge race for Jac," he said, "especially getting into that 17-minute barrier. Now he feels like he can do it."
The girls race did not have the drama of the boys but did have a surprise ending. A Clearwater runner named Avers won. But it was not senior Erin, who placed fifth at state in the 800 meters in May. It was sophomore Jordyn Avers, her younger sister, in 20:41.
Jordyn Avers was in the lead pack with Northeast’s Hayley Brahm and Osceola’s Lucy Baird then took the lead for good during the second trip around the lake.
"I really didn’t have a plan at all," Avers said. "I was extremely nervous, but I felt good after a mile-and-a-half. So I tried to get out in front of the pack. I kept looking back to see how close the other girls were, but then I just tried to go as hard as I could."
Avers finished in 20:41, six seconds in front of Brahm. Baird was third in 21:16 with nearly a minute-and-a-half between third and fourth place.
