Lee County Athletic Conference Championship

Recap by Rob Strong - Fort Myers HS

On a typically hot Southwest Florida day, with storms looming, 13 Lee County Schools met at Estero Community Park for the LCAC Championships, hosted by South Fort Myers High School.  

Girls Race

At 4:15 the girls race was off.  Early on, there was a pack of 5-6 girls that included Daley Cline and Bree Salcedo of Estero, Krissy Gear, Abby Fisher, and Mallory Towe of Fort Myers, and Kayla Easterly of North Fort Myers.  By the one mile mark the lead group had dwindled to just 3 girls, Cline, Fisher, and Gear.  

Behind them, a slew of white, Fort Myers jerseys were moving up and taking control of the chase pack.  

By the two mile mark, Green Wave senior Mallory Towe have solidified her spot in 4th place with a small gap back to North’s Easterly, and another group of Green Wave runners.  

The lead pack of Cline, Gear, and Fisher had separated themselves from the rest of the harriers behind them and were focused on trying to secure the individual title to help their team earn that 1 point.  

Throughout the last half of the race, it was Abbey Fisher, a Fort Myers freshman and past DistancePreps.com FROSH of the Week recipient, pushing the pace and trying to string out the lead group.  

Into the sand for the final time, all three runners were strung out single file with Fisher leading the way and Gear attempting to chase Cline down.  

Out of the sand, Fisher had gapped the other two runners just enough to hold on for her first LCAC individual title.  

Gear surpassed Cline coming out of the sand, to earn the Green Wave a 1-2 finish.  Cline fought hard the whole way earning her third All-Conference finish.  

Rounding out the top 7 were Mallory Towe of Fort Myers, Kayla Easterly of North Fort Myers, Sidney Oakes-Lotteridge and Shelby Guttery, both of Fort Myers.  Guttery fought hard the last 200 meters holding off a hard charging Keschel Hernandez of Ida Baker by 1 second.

In the team scores, Fort Myers ran away with the team title, placing 5 girls in the top 7, finishing with 20 points.  In second was Estero with 80 points, followed closely by North Fort Myers with 85.  

Boys Race

At 4:45 the boys race began and within a half mile, Fort Myers senior Dean McGregor made it apparent that this was his race, putting 25 meters on the field going through the half mile.  

Behind McGregor, Estero senior Dillon Vallette had separated himself from the rest of the field, while behind him two packs, one Green Wave, and one Wildcats, were navigating their way through the race.  

Right before the mile, as the race was playing out, the lightning detector from Estero high school sounded, stopping the race, just as it was beginning.

At that point, coaches met, and it was decided that the race would be started around 6:30, after the storm had passed.  For an hour, runners stirred nervously as coaches tried to keep them focused and calm.

Finally, after receiving the all clear to resume, at 6:15, the boys race started again.  

The race had a similar look at the mile as it had previously.  McGregor and Vallette had asserted themselves up front in similar fashion as before.

Early on, Estero was making a strong statement with three boys in the top 5.   Christian Slater and Jacob Dorn of Estero had put themselves in third and fourth trying to help the Wildcats defend their LCAC title.  

The Fort Myers sophomore duo of Sam Hordinski and Josh Kennedy were trying to keep pace along with teammate Daryl Cordova.

Coming through the sand the first time, McGregor had all but wrapped up an individual crown with Vallette holding strong in second place.  

Behind the two leaders, the race was heating up.

Kennedy had moved up into third place and was attempting to close the gap on Vallette.  Teammates Hordinski, Cordova, sophomore Evan Babatz and senior David King had placed themselves in the top ten along with Riverdale runner Zach Roussel.

With not much changing over the last mile the group raced each other for the last three all conference spots.  

Meanwhile, up front, McGregor put 28 seconds on Vallette to win his first LCAC Championship with Vallette running a great race, taking second.  

In third was Fort Myers sophomore Josh Kennedy, running an impressive race to help his team.  In fourth and fifth was the Estero's Christian Slater and Jacob Dorn, who separated themselves from the rest of the field by working together.  

In sixth place, crashing the Estero-Fort Myers Party, was Riverdale’s Zach Roussel.  

Rounding out the LCAC first team was Fort Myers Sophomore Sam Hordinski, followed closely by teammates Evan Babatz, David King, and Daryl Cordova.  Those 4 runners finishing together would prove to be vital in fighting off Estero’s team, led by their top 3 runners in the top 5.

In team Scoring Fort Myers would triumph with 28 points over Estero’s 36.  In third place was an outstanding effort by the Riverdale boys, rounding out the first 3 teams.