MICMS teams chase CCAC championships

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Patty Poling Special to the Eagle Jack Remaks pushes ahead of a runner in the South Division Collier County Athletic Conference meet.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Patty Poling Special to the Eagle Rosie Poling concentrates in the 3K run at the South Division CCAC meet, which she won. Poling and her teammates, along with the boys, will run in the CCAC Championships on Saturday.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Patty Poling Special to the Eagle Charter and Manatee Middle School runners in a pack at the South Division CCAC meet. Leading the way is Charter's Maddie Bonfitto, followed by teammates Julia Cartwright, left and Bibi Marrroquin.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Patty Poling Special to the Eagle Charter's Elliott Totten runs with two competitors in the South Division CCAC meet.

The Collier County Athletic Conference (CCAC) held North and South Division meets on Saturday.

This Saturday the overall conference championships will be at Manatee Middle School, beginning at 8:15a.m., with the boys championship, followed by the girls at 8:45a.m.

The Eagles did not have a great day for either boys or girls in the North Division competition.

The boys problem was all about absenteeism. The top five runners were missing and that was a problem. The boys that ran in the championship race for the most part had never been in the position they were placed in. They ran hard and represented MICMS well.

Andrew Sprankle, Jack Remaks, and Jacob Schneller were the first three Eagles across the line. Sprankle had his best time of the year. It was a great learning experience for these young men.

The girls looked tired from the outset. A hard week of work ended up costing the ladies a great finish in terms of time. Overall, they finished second to Gulfview. This is a team they tied a week earlier.

Rosie Poling once again paced the field with a first-place time of 11:58 for the 3k (1.86 miles). Finishing in the top 10 were Madison Bonfitto in fifth and Julia Cartwright in 10th. The fourth through seventh runners ran into some rough times and could not overcome the tough running of Gulfview.

This is a team they must compete with for the Collier County Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday. North Naples, in the North Division, is a very tough team as well. It will take an all-out effort to defend last year’s county championship. They will run hard and see what happens.

The Eagles also run on Friday night at North Collier Regional Park in The Chik Fila’ Invitational, hosted by First Baptist Academy. Races begin at 4 p.m. with boys and girls high school 5k competitions. Marco Island Academy boys will be entered as well.