Collier County Championships on Saturday Charter school vies for cross country hardware

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Patty Poling/Submitted PHOTO Top ten finishers in the Collier County South Cross Country Championships from Marco Island, from left, Rosie Poling, first, Mickey Poling, 10th and Josh Wagner, second.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde/Staff Kelsey Halaschak, right and Ellen Angersbach charge to the finish line in the Collier County South Cross Country Championships. Angersbach finished 13th and Halaschak 14th as the Marco Island Charter Middle School team came in second.

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Patty Poling/Submitted PHOTO Marco Charter School runners, from left, Matt DeSantis, Mickey Poling and Cody Demalavez, work their way out of the pack at the Collier County South Cross Country Championships on Saturday. Poling ran to 10th, but no team could come close to the Manatee Middle School boys. The Collier County Championships, putting together the north and south runners, begins at 8:30 a.m. this Saturday at Manatee Middle School.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Roger LaLonde/Staff Marco Charter School's Maddie Bonfitto breaks out of the pack in the Collier County South Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Manatee Middle School. Bonfitto raced to 11th. The Marco girls had its top five runners among the top 15, but Gulfview had its point-scoring runners all in the top nine, winning the competition. The North and South come together in the Collier County Cross Country Championships this Saturday at Manatee Middle School, beginning at 8:30 p.m.

The best middle school cross country runners meet in the Collier County Cross Country Championships, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Manatee Middle School on Saturday.

The North and South championships last Saturday saw the Manatee boys and Gulfview girls win in the South, while Golden Gate boys and North Naples girls won the North championships.

The Macro Charter Middle School girls had its top five runners in the top 15, but finished second when the Gulfview girls placed their top five finishers in the first nine.

Charter's Rosie Poling won the event and will be the favorite on Saturday. Josh Wagner ran to second place.

"The girl's did well, but Gulfview is very strong," coach Roger Raymond said. "We must break up their top runners to win. Rosie Poling looked strong, but is a marked runner and must be at her best to hold off some strong runners."

Charter School's Josh Wagner was second in the boys race. The Eagles were missing three runners, playing in a soccer tournament.

"Josh ran a good race, but fell too far behind to catch up," Raymond said. "He will have a great opportunity to win the boys championship, but the competition is strong. Manatee has a great team and looks nearly unstoppable, but that is why we run the races."

Poling finished 59 seconds ahead of her closest competitor in the South championship. She is the defending champion and course record holder at 11:24 in the 1.8 mile race."

The overall girls champion from the North is Corkscrew Middle's Monet Burkett. The overall boys champion is Will McCann of North Naples. Manatee's Jose Rodriguez of Manatee, in only his second race, won the South, beating Wagner by three seconds.

Awards will be given out at 10 a.m. in the Manatee school cafeteria. The top 15 places will receive medals, while the 16th to 30th places will receive ribbons, Team trophies will be given to the team champions.