Buchholz’s Eleanor Whisler and Demetrie Meyers easily outdistanced the pack in winning the girls and boys cross country races at the Bobcat Classic on Saturday.

Whisler ran her 5K with a time of 19 minutes, 8.4 seconds – 31 seconds ahead of the second-place finish of 19:39.5 by Gainesville’s Audrey Dunn – at the annual cross country meet held at Santa Fe College in Gainesville.

The first-place time, coupled with Alanna Doyle finishing fourth (20:10.5), Maddie Russel in sixth (20:32.6), Valeria Beaver in seventh (21:10.2), Jamey Armstrong in 10^th (21:35.1), Ashely Hamilton at 12^th (21:50.9) and Jayden Pritt at 16^th (22:27.6), tallied 26 points for first place in the girls team standings.

“I was very pleased with how the team performed today,” said Buchholz coach Mike Maren. “Eleanor Whisler had a great race and she won it in a good time. On the JV side, Ava Journey was impressive from start to finish. They both showed grit and determination. The course was slow with all of the rain and construction going on. I am proud of both of them and proud of all the girls.”

Oak Hall finished second on the girls side with 61 points and led by a third-place finish from Estella Collante at 20:02.4 with Lola Murfee taking fifth (20:23.7) and Alexis Thur de Koos at 15^th (22:01.3).

Other prominent top-20 finishes included Gainesville’s Audrey Dunn in second with a 19:39.5 time followed by her teammates Harper Lyons in 11^th (21:50.0) and Kiera Forbes at 20^th (23:14.4) as the Hurricanes too third with 64 points.

Eastside’s Quinn Ryan Altiera (21:56.2) and Ingrid Astrom (22:00.7) finished back-to-back at 13^th and 14^th, respectively. Keystone Heights’ Olivia Griffin took 17^th at 22:36.5 and P.K. Yonge’s Nora Hancock at 18^th (22:47.4).

On the boys side, Meyers won his 5K race in 16:33.3, nearly 19 seconds faster than West Port’s Eliezer Mateo-Santiago’s second-place finish at 16:52.0.

Even with the first-place finish by Meyers, it was Oak Hall that took the boys team title scoring 43 points to Buchholz’s 48. The Eagles were paced by Peter Pelosi’s 17:12.9 time for fifth place and Grant Curtis’s 17:13.5 for sixth place. Andrew Eiser took eighth at 17:34.4, Benjamin Gollogly finished 10^th at 17:38.0 and Phillip Peddle was 14^th at 17:59.8.

Buchholz took second behind Meyers and Brennen Bentley finishing seventh (17:20.1), Sam Stone at 11^th (17:41.9), Luke Geltner at 12^th (17:48.3), Zachery Sain at 17^th (18:23.2) and Finn McDermott at 20^th (18:33.3).

Other area runners in the top 20 included Keystone Heights’s James Thomas at ninth (17.35.5), Eatside’s Matheus Ribeiro do Valle at 13^th (17:54.5), Keystone Heights’s Noah Yara at 15^th (18:13.4) and St. Francis Catholic’s Landon Turley at 16^th (18:16.7).

Team results

Boys

1. Oak Hall, 43; 2. Buchholz, 48; 3. West Port, 90; 4. Belleview, 147; 5. Eastside, 200; 6. St. Francis, 207; 7. Keystone Heights, 208; 8. Baker County, 219; 9. P.K. Yonge, 238; 10. Gainesville, 247; 11. Columbia, 269; 12. North Marion, 281; 13. Peniel Baptist, 287; 14. Newberry, 338; 15. Santa Fe, 369; Bell, DNP; Bradford, DNP.

Girls

1. Buchholz, 26; 2. Oak Hall, 61; 3. Gainesville, 64; 4. Eastside, 102; 5. Keystone Heights, 147; 6. Columbia, 177; 7. Belleview, 185; 8. Baker County, 190; 9. Newberry, 260; West Port, DNP; P.K. Yonge, DNP; Santa Fe, DNP; North Marion, DNP; Bell, DNP; Peniel Baptist, DNP; St. Francis, DNP; Fort White, DNP.

Individual results (top 20)

Boys

1. Demetrie Meyers, Buchholz, 16:33.3; 2. Eliezer Mateo-Santiago, West Port, 16:52.0; 3. Zachary Townsend, Belleview, 16:55.8; 4. Luke Lombardo, West Port, 16:59.4; 5. Peter Peloso, Oak Hall, 17:12.9; 6. Grant Curtis, Oak Hall, 17:13.5; 7. Brennen Bentley, Buchholz, 17:20.1; 8. Andrew Eisner, Oak Hall, 17:34.4; 9. James Thomas, Keystone Heights, 17:35.5; 10. Benjamin Gallogly, Oak Hall, 17:38.0; 11. Sam Stone, Buchholz, 17:41.9; 12. Luke Geltner, Buchholz, 17:48.3; 13. Matheus Ribeiro do Valle, Eastside, 17:54.5; 14. Phillip Peddie, Oak Hall, 17:59.8; 15. Noah Yara, Keystone Heights, 18:13.4; 16. Landon Turley, St. Francis, 18:16.7; 17. Zachery Sain, Buchholz, 18:23.2; 18. Chapman Stewart, Belleview, 18:27.7; 19. Tannon Trias, West Port, 18:28.3; 20. Finn McDermott, Buchholz, 18:33.3.

Girls

1. Eleanor Whisler, Buchholz, 19:08.04; 2. Audrey Dunn, Gainesville, 19:39.5; 3. Estella Collante, Oak Hall, 20:02.4; 4. Alanna Doyle, Buchholz, 20:10.5; 5. Lola Murfee, Oak Hall, 20:23.7; 6. Maddie Russell, Buchholz, 20:32.6; 7. Valerie Beaver, Buchholz, 21:10.2; 8. Natalie Nelson, West Point, 21:14.1; 9. Ximena Diaz, West Point, 21:29.1; 10. Jamey Armstrong, Buchholz, 21:35.1; 11. Harper Lyons, Gainesville, 21.50.0; 12. Ashley Hamilton, Buchholz, 21:50.9; 13. Quinn Ryan Altieri, Eastside, 21:56.20; 14. Ingrid Astrom, Eastside, 22:00.7; 15. Alexis Thur de Koos, Oak Hall, 22:01.3; 16. Jayden Pritt, Buchholz, 22:27.6; 17. Olivia Griffin, Keystone Heights, 22:36.5; 18. Nora Hancock, P.K. Yonge, 22:47.4; 19. Georgia Smith, Buchholz, 23:00.1; 20. Keira Forbes, Gainesville, 23:14.4.