Cross Country: Naples' Bickwermert headed to state race

Watch her run, though, and the Bickwermert looked an awful lot like a seasoned veteran instead of a freshman runner in the biggest meet of her life.

Bickwermert blazed her way to a fifth-place finish and a spot in the Class 3A state meet in Tampa next Saturday by completing the 3.1-mile course in 20 minutes 17 seconds.

"I just didn't want any other freshmen to finish ahead of me," said Bickwermert, who has only been running competitively for two years. "I kept telling myself that everyone in front of me were freshmen."

By the time she got done, there weren't many runners -- of any age -- in front of her. Bickwermert set a personal record by going out strong and keeping it steady over the second half of the race.

"I was excited," Bickwermert said. "I wasn't thinking about what place I was in. I just wanted to get up there."

Though the Naples girls team didn't make it, finishing ninth overall, Bickwermert will have plenty of company at the Ed Radice Sports Complex next weekend.

The Naples boys' team, the Barron Collier girls' team and Estero junior Chris Delago will also make the trip up I-75. The top six teams and the top 15 individuals qualify for the state meet.

The Golden Eagles finished a close second in the boys race. Naples had 99 team points, trailing only Port Charlotte's 90. Estero was seventh with 219 points.

Senior Sean Brann led the Golden Eagles, fighting off cramps to finish 10th in 16:56. He was soon followed by Kurt Roeser (14th in 16:58) and Billy Bromley (15th in 16:59), as the trio were in the midst of a huge pack that included Delago (12th in 16:57).

"I was just trying to make sure I made it to state," Brann said. "I was just trying to hang in there because I knew I wasn't going to do any better."

Though none of the Cougar girls cracked the top 15, they were bunched close enough together that they pushed the Cougars to the state meet for the second straight season. Barron Collier finished with 117 team points, good enough for fifth behind winner Manatee's 68.

"The girls ran great today," said Barron Collier coach Erica Szilagyi. "All five ran within one minute of each other. They ran in two little packs and they pushed each other."

Senior Megan Deavers turned in her strongest performance of the year, running a season-best 21:35.

"It hasn't been the best year for us, but today I was really happy with the way the girls ran," said Szilagyi, whose team finished 10th in the state meet a year ago. "Next week we're just going to go out there and go for it. Hopefully some girls can run some (personal records) and have a nice finish."

Class 3A Region 3 Cross Country at Lee County Sports Complex

Boys Team Results: 1. Port Charlotte 90, 2. Naples 99, 3. Fort Myers 105, 4. Mitchell 110, 5. North Fort Myers 111, 6. Wesley Chapel 153, 7. Estero 219.

Boys Individual Results: 1. Masterson (Mit) 16:07, 2. Able (WC) 16:28, 3. Bell (LOL) 16:34, 4. Gering (PC) 16:35, 5. Hazim (PC), 16:35, 6. Nilson (NFM) 16:45, 7. Forry (WC) 16:47, 8. Tuccio (Mit) 16:48, 9. Gonzalez (RR) 16:54, 10. Brann (N) 16:56, 11. Dawson (FM) 16:57, 12. Delago (E) 16:57, 13. Litak (RR) 16:57, 14. Roeser (N) 16:58, 15. Bromley 16:59.

Naples (99): 10. Brann, 14. Roeser, 15. Bromley, 28. Scott, 32. Milligan.

Estero (219): 12. Delago, 46. Morfoot, 50. Adams, 55. Gibbons, 56. Kincaid.

Girls Team Results: 1. Manatee 64, 2. Fort Myers 90, 3. Largo 98, 4. Cypress Lake 101, 5. Barron Collier 117, 6. River Ridge 175, 7. Estero 193, 9. Naples 223.

Girls Individual Results: 1. Shimer (LOL) 19:39, 2. Amerman (WC) 19:48, 3. Moore (FM) 20:12, 4. Roff (Man) 20:13, 5. Bickwermert (N) 20:17, 6. Coylel (NPR) 20:19, 7. Ward (NFM) 20:20, 8. Watson (CL) 20:29, 9. Deschryver (Co) 20:30, 10. Dickson (PC) 20:30, 11. Crabb (LOL) 20:34, 12. Schwan (Man) 20:35, 13. Jacobson (NPR) 20:51, 14. Sunkle (CL) 21:00, 15. Brooks (FM) 21:01.

Barron Collier (117): 17. Deavers 21:35, 19. C. Johnstone 21:48, 20. Dixon 21:53, 29. A. Johnstone 22:09, 32. Mattio 22:21.

Estero (193): 28. S. Lyon 22:05, 33. J. Lyon 22:25, 36. A. Adams 22:21, 45. Hunter 23:17, 51. Rodriguez 24:04.

Naples (223): 4. Bickwermert 20:17, 41. Bonello 22:56, 44. Kavin (N) 23:14, 61. Avola 24:29, 668. Bamrick 24:57.

CSN's Carufe, Neumann teams advance

Community School eighth-grader Kyle Carufe finished 15th in the Class A Region 2 meet Friday that was held Taylor Park in Largo.

Also, both the boys and girls teams from St. John Neumann qualified for the trip to Tampa with third- and fifth-place finishes, respectively. It makred the 10th consecutive season the Celtics have been represented at the state event.

Carufe finished in 17:58, just 10 seconds slower than his time at last week's district meet.

"That was a great performance by Kyle," said Seahawks coach Esse Satari.

David Mixter finished 20th for the Seahawks, who finished seventh out of 12 teams overall. Mixter's time was 18:20.

Phillip Belcher finished 41st (19:15), Joey Dernbach was 55th (20:18), Colin Reale was 72nd (21:16) and Chris Reale was 81st (23:07).

For Neumann, Matt Ashby tied a personal best and Jessica Marulanda set a personal best. However, coach Mike Olayos felt his team was a little flat.

"(Neither) the boys nor the girls really didn't run their best race of the season. Because of their summer base and their hard work through out the season, they were still able to advance."

Class 1A Region 2 Cross Country at Taylor Park, Largo

Girls Team Results: 1. Indian Rocks Christian, 80; 2. Berkley Prep 90; 3. Shorecrest Prep 96; 4. Keswick Christian 108; 5. St. John Neumann 123; 6. Lakeland Christian 141.

St. John Neumann (123): Nichole Grothaus 20:17; 23. Jessica Webb 22:17; 26. Ali Gardino 22:26; 36. Lauren Joens 22:54; 39. Jessica Marulanda 23:14; 41. Kristine McGinnis 23:23; 60. Katherine Brock 24:59.

Boys Team Results: 1. Indian Rocks Christian 26; 2. Frostproof 52; 3. St. John Neumann 127; 4. Santa Fe Catholic 136; 5. Keswick Christian 140; 6. Shorecrest Prep 161; 7. Community School 197.

St. John Neumann (127): 23. Jimmy Farinacci 18:30; 24. Brandon Fogg 18:32; 25. Charles Bentley 18:36; 27. Matt Ashby 18:40; 28. Matt Clemente 18:49; 29. Danny Roubicek 18:52; 38. Ben Gillenwaters 19:13.