Jupiter freshman Amber Pearce races to district title

Thursday, November 01, 2012
by Steve Dorsey

Amber Pearce did not have long to savor her victory Thursday at the District 9-4A cross-country championships. Shortly after crossing the finish line of the girls 5K race, the Jupiter freshman left Carlin Park to head to swimming practice.

It's a routine Pearce repeats daily.

"I'm tired a lot of times to do homework (at night)," said Pearce, who won the district title with a personal-best time of 20 minutes, 8.70 seconds, about 29 seconds ahead of runner-up Morgan Hull of Palm Beach Central.

This is the first year Pearce, who is a distance freestyler for the Jupiter swim team, has added cross-country to her busy schedule. Her effort helped Jupiter, which finished fourth, earn a spot in next week's Class 4A regional meet at South County Regional Park in West Boca Raton. The top four teams and top 13 individual runners qualified for the regional meet.

Following her victory, Pearce received a congratulatory hug from sophomore teammate Courteney Zboyan, Jupiter's No. 1 runner who had her season cut short three weeks ago because of a pelvis injury.

John I. Leonard senior teammates Salvador Medrano (16:35.95) and Charlie Bengston (17:10.51) finished 1-2 in the boys race. Their strong performance, however, was not enough to overcome Park Vista, which placed its top five runners among the top 12 finishers, led by junior Michael Sonderregger, who placed fourth, to win the team title with 37 points. Defending regional champion Leonard was second with 40 points.

"We didn't do that well today," Leonard coach Al Jordan said, adding that the Lancers' Nos. 3-5 runners will need to perform better to hold off a strong Fort Lauderdale-St. Thomas Aquinas team at the Nov. 10 regional meet. "It's going to be tough."

Park Vista also captured the girls team title with 42 points, seven points better than runner-up Dwyer. Led by junior Kaley Doyle's fourth-place finish, Park Vista placed its top five runners in the top 13.

Girls soccer

Palm Beach Central 5, Cardinal Newman 0: Yulie Lopez had three goals and an assist to lead the Broncos (1-0) to the rout of the Crusaders (0-1) in West Palm Beach. Mickey Agnello had nine saves in goal for Newman.

West Boca Raton 8, Olympic Heights 0: Kelly Harris scored four goals and Rachel Pitell added a goal and three assists to lead the Bulls (1-0) to the rout of the Lions (0-1) in Boca Raton.

Lake Worth Christian 5, Yeshiva 2: Tiffany Anderson had two goals and an assist and Rochelle Murray added a goal to lead the Defenders (2-0) past the Storm (1-1) in Boca Raton.

Benjamin 10, Lake Worth 2: Katie O'Hare had three goals to lead the Buccaneers (2-0) to the rout of the Trojans in Lake Worth.

Berean Christian 1, Deerfield Beach-Zion Lutheran 1: Aubrey Clark scored a goal off an assist by Victoria Meldrim as the Bulldogs (0-1-1) tied the Lions (0-0-1) in Deerfield Beach.

Boca Raton 5, Suncoast 0: Taylor Moos scored three goals to lead the Bobcats (2-0) to the rout of the Chargers (0-3) in Rivera Beach.

American Heritage 10, Fort Lauderdale-Calvary Christian 0: Sabrina Chung had three goals and an assist and Sarah Coy added two goals and two assists, leading the Stallions (2-0) to the rout of the Eagles in Fort Lauderdale.

Martin County 3, Jupiter 1: Bethany Higgins had a goal and two assists to lead the Tigers (2-0) past the Warriors in Stuart.

Jensen Beach 7, Okeechobee 0: Amanda Fote had two goals and an assist and Erica Kick added two goals to lead the Falcons (1-0-1) to the rout of the Brahmans in Jensen Beach.

Correction: The score for American Heritage's regional quarterfinal match Wednesday against Fort Lauderdale-Calvary Christian was incorrectly listed in Thursday's Post. Calvary Christian won 25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 25-17.