Lawrence, Stanton named XC runners of the year

Holly Stanton and Luc Lawrence had each run at the FHSAA state cross country meet before.

Just one year prior while still at Rocky Bayou Christian, Stanton competed in and placed in her second-straight finals meet, finishing 16th. Lawrence, a first-year cross country runner at Fort Walton Beach, placed 41st as the Vikings finished third overall as a team.

Still, each entered their senior season yearning for more.

“Ever since my sophomore year when I saw that you could get on that (medal) platform, I thought it was possible,” Stanton said.

Last season, both Stanton and Lawrence came through on their personal goals of self improvement, as Lawrence finished 16th at state to help the Vikings take fourth. Stanton, having since transferred to Fort Walton Beach herself, finished ninth individually at the state finals to lead the Viking girls to another No. 3 state finish.

Each played a major part in leading the Fort Walton Beach cross country program to a second-straight top five finish and each has been named the All Sports/Daily News Runners of the Year.

After first joining the cross country team last year with hopes of merely improving his time in the 800 event, Lawrence soon found the camaraderie of cross country, not to mention the competition, to his liking. And after experiencing the thrill of one top five finish at state, Lawrence was eager for more.

“We had more focus at the beginning of the season,” Lawrence said. “To get top five two years in a row, not many schools can say that.”

Lawrence’s strong run at state was precluded by a third-place run at county, a sixth-place finish at districts and 11th place finish at regional.

“Most 800 runners don’t want to make that commitment (to cross country training),” Vikings coach Lissette Moller-Fields said. “I think that’s one of the reasons Luc became the great runner his is.”

For Stanton, moving from Rocky Bayou to Fort Walton Beach meant more than making new friends, to a degree it entailed starting over from scratch. No longer did practice consist of Stanton running off and leaving her teammates behind, instead the senior found practices to be more demanding than ever.

And she loved it.

“It really pushed me,” Stanton said of joining a larger and more diverse team. “I’m very competitive, so having competition within the team as wonderful for me.”

Running alongside teammates such as Iolnai Scanlan and Ivy Chastain, Stanton was pushed on a daily basis to dig deeper. Moller-Fields believes it was during those practice sessions that Stanton laid the foundation for a season that twice saw her twice break the 19-minute mark, well eclipsing her previous personal record time of 19:14.

But for as instrumental a role as her new teammates played in Stanton’s success, Moller-Fields credited her senior’s team-first mentality.

“She made those girls that much stronger,” Moller-Fields said. “She was almost as concerned, if not more concerned with how her teammates performed. She was just that type of person.”

Boys Runner of the Year:  Luc Lawrence, FWB

Girls Runner of the Year: Holly Stanton, FWB

Coach of the Year: Lissette Moller-Fields, FWB

Boys

First Team

Matt Bevil, FWB

Jake Dearmon, FWB

Chris Douglas, FWB

Jacob Gourlie, Crestview

Michael Graziani, Freeport

Luc Lawrence, FWB

Robert Mann, Navarre

Hakeem Tarpley, Choctaw

Honorable Mention

Baker: Dylan Scott, John Scott, Austin Stanton

Choctaw: Alec Herrera, Tim Maney, David Van Steenburgen

Crestview: Dylon Brown, Connor Marshall

FWB: Sam Ammons, Brian Day, Alex Godfrey, Brian Stanton

Freeport: Hunter Bailey, Dalton Morrison

Laurel Hill: Travon Calloway, Daniel Fortune, Jeremy Grezlik, Tyler Grezlik, Tanner Williams

Navarre: Cody Hayden, Callen Nation

Niceville: Robert Burnett, Michael Cooper, Cullen Fralix, Patrick Lacombe,  Jason Riggs, Cody Skarupa, Joseph Vernier

Paxton: Josh Collins, Brandon Garrett, Tyler Garrett, Zach Hunt, Derrick Foley, Michael Price

RBCS: Hudson Pierce

SW: Wells Buzzett, Cody Ficorre, Tristan LaNasa, Ruben Lopez

Walton: Keith Pannell

Girls

First Team

Ivy Chastain, FWB

Brittany Long, FWB

Marsel Mosley, Niceville

Laura Nelson, Niceville

Iolani Scanlan, FWB

Holly Stanton, FWB

Sarah de Vaux, FWB

Alex Weiner, SW

Honorable Mention

Baker: Cheyenne Brannon, Anastasia Scott, London Thiessen

Choctaw: Sara Fraser, Brooke McSheehy, Lisa Spikes

Crestview: Lauren Day

FWB: Lizzy Gallagher, Briana DeGennaro, Melissa Radford

Freeport: Erica Donahoe, Cara Griffith, Dannica Mosher, Emily Rice, Megan Salzlein, Catherine Trotman

Laurel Hill: Austyn Evans, Shania Purchase, Kasey Trunk

Navarre: Kristen Cross, Karlee Tyler

Niceville: Casey Luzius, Abby McCool

Paxton: Krysten Cuchens

RBCS: Kristy Allen, Jessica Maney

SW: Allysa Bump, Kaley Findley, Stefani Pall, Jessie Taylor, Julie Williamson

Walton: Joan-Ann Wilson