JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Katie Caples Invitational at Bishop Kenny is one of the most visible cross country races of the year.
And Rheinhardt Harrison always races his best when the stakes are high.
Recommended Videos
The 24th event on Saturday night saw Nease’s Harrison set a new race record and the event crowning a new girls team champion for the first time since 2013. Ponte Vedra won the elite division in front of Buchholz and Bolles. The Sharks had three finishers in the top 10 and edged Buchholz, 89-91.
And Oregon commit Harrison, the two-time All-News4Jax cross country runner of the year, posted a time of 15 minutes, 12 seconds to set a Caples mark. Creekside’s Jimmy Clark ran a 15:18 in 2010 to set the previous record.
Harrison beat Leon’s Patrick Koon (15:27). Bolles’ Aidan Ryan was the area’s top boys finisher after Harrison, taking seventh in 15:53. The Bolles boys finished runner up as a team, posting 115 points to Satellite’s 108. Bartram Trail was fifth (170) and Creekside 10th with 241.
The Bulldogs girls, who won the event the previous seven years, finished third. Bolles didn’t compete with its top three runners, Jillian Candelino, Elizabeth Csikai and Ella Mickler.
Gainesville Buchholz’s Kate Drummond won the girls elite race in 18:50. St. Augustine’s Reilly Barber finished third in 19:03, followed by Ponte Vedra’s Sofia Bushkell (19:03) and Ellite Moritz (19:22) in fourth and fifth, respectively. Teammate Amelia Tackling took 10th in 19:30 to give the Sharks three in the top 10.