The Lady Panther Cross Country team has been back on the trails with some new faces and many returning runners. Julia Rose Travis, a senior, leads the lady panther pack followed closely by Emma Travis, senior, and Natalie Laywell, sophomore. Sophomore Savannah Laywell and senior Natasha Manos round out the Panther top five. Freshman Ashleigh Witherington and sophomore Andrea Mendoza complete the top 7 varsity runners for the panthers. In Cross Country the first 5 finishers are scored for a team total score. If there is a tie, the sixth runners place will break the tie.

The Lady Panthers started their season off right competing at the Cougar Challenge at Elinor Phipps Park in Tallahassee. The challenging course made for an exciting race where senior Julia Rose Travis finished 38th overall out of 224 runners. The Lady Panthers then hosted their first ever home meet at St. John Paul II Catholic High School where Julia Rose Travis, Emma Travis and Natalie Laywell lead our Panthers to a 2nd place finish placing 4th, 6th, and 9th respectively. Eight area high schools were represented at this meet including Florida High, Aucilla Christian Academy, NFC, and even Bishop Snyder from Jacksonville competed. The Lady Panthers continued their season with a great race at the 8th Alligator Lake Invitational in Lake City, Florida. The Lady Panthers finished 5th as a team out of 12 teams competing against schools such as Providence School, Palmetto Senior High School, Valdosta High School, Buchholz High School and Ridgeview High School. This last Saturday the Panthers took on a challenging course at Silver Lake in Tallahassee. Julia Rose Travis pushed through the hills and sugar sand to come in 6th overall followed by teammates Emma Travis and Natalie Laywell finishing 13th and 19th respectively.

The Panthers will be heading to the Aucilla Warrior Stampede this weekend at the UF IFAS Jefferson County extension office in Monticello, Florida to compete against 11 other teams including Aucilla Christian Academy, Chiles High School, Godby High School, and Lincoln High School. It is going to be a beautiful morning with cool weather and great competition. Come out and watch our Panthers run!

For complete results as they come in, school records, and our schedule, you can visit our team page at: http://fl.milesplit.com/teams/JPTA

Results:

F 5,000 Meter Run 38) Julia Rose Travis 24:13.00

53) Emma Travis 24:41.35

85) Natalie Laywell 25:49.22

114) Savannah Laywell 27:35.20

143) Ashleigh Witherington 29:38.96

205) Ana Maria Mendoza 37:02.47

208) Mary Joy DiMarco 37:55.79

211) Shannon Whisenant 38:43.38

214) Ariana White 39:15.03

F 5,000 Meter Run

4) Julia Rose Travis 23:38.19

6) Emma Travis 24:12.53

9) Natalie Laywell 24:39.76

20) Savannah Laywell 27:09.25

24) Ashleigh Witherington 27:35.19

27) Natasha Manos 27:56.64

51) Mary Joy DiMarco 36:28.66

54) Ana Maria Mendoza 37:32.78

55) Andrea Mendoza 38:20.24

57) Shannon Whisenant 38:50.20

F 5,000 Meter Run

11) Julia Rose Travis 22:56.32

20) Emma Travis 23:34.02

22) Natalie Laywell 23:37.38

49) Savannah Laywell 26:21.49

50) Natasha Manos 26:22.30

92) Andrea Mendoza 35:20.15

93) Ana Maria Mendoza 35:27.08

94) Mary Joy DiMarco 35:54.13

95) Shannon Whisenant 36:37.81

F 5,000 Meter Run

6) Julia Rose Travis 23:43

13) Emma Travis 24:39

19) Natalie Laywell 25:53

28) Savannah Laywell 28:51

30) Ashleigh Witherington 29:19

44) Ana Maria Mendoza 38:57

45) Mary Joy DiMarco 39:01

46) Ariana White 39:12

47) Andrea Mendoza 40:09

48) Shannon Whisenant 40:21