Rutledge, Eagle men take top honors at Alligator Lake
LAKE CITY, Fla. (September 19, 2021) – A change in venue proved to be no problem for Tallahassee Community College's men's cross country team on Friday as the Eagles soared to a first-place finish at the 13th annual Alligator Lake Invitational.
Recent rains forced event organizers to relocate the 5K run from Alligator Lake Park to The Oaks Equestrian Center in Lake City. Despite the alternate location, Tallahassee, with 44 points, still outran its competition in the team scoring. The University of Florida running club and Florida State College at Jacksonville tied for second with 55 points each. Thomas (Ga.) University finished in fourth and Edward Waters College, fifth.
Individually, freshman Leo Rutledge made it a sweep of the top honors for the Eagles. His 5K time of 16:43.9 bested the school-record by 38 seconds. Brandon Flagler owned the previous mark of 17:21.48, set in 2018 at the UNF XC Invite.
Rutledge finished 32 seconds ahead of the field, which included four runners from NJCAA No. 2 Daytona State College. Entering the back half of the Eagles' fall schedule, Rutledge is poised to threaten the school-record for the 8K.
Jalani White was the next Eagle across the finish line in 12th place with a time of 18:10.1, which landed him on the school's list of top ten times (8th).
Ryan Sloan was right behind in 13th with a time of 18:13.7, which now ranks tenth all-time for the Eagles.
Bryce Bass (16th place, 18:28.4) and Shawn Marcum (18th, 18:40.9) finished the scoring for the Eagles while Khary Wright (21st, 19:05.8) and Jahari White (27th, 20:23.9) completed the Eagles' finishers on Friday.
"Leo (Rutledge) continues to demonstrate that in cross country, autumn champions are built over the summer," said Tallahassee head coach Gary Droze. "His relentless training in the off-season paid dividends (on Friday), where he displayed superior endurance after a smart, well-paced first kilometer. The rest of the team collectively ran close to par, but are collectively motivated to close the time gap to our frontrunner."
The Eagles are currently ranked 13th nationally and continuing improvement across the roster should position the team for a strong showing at October's Region 8 Championships at Apalachee Regional Park. and November's NJCAA Championships in Richmond, Va.
In Friday's women's 5K, Arielle Valdes posted a 25th-place finish in a time of 25:03.0.
As a newbie to the sport, Valdes continues to learn and grow with each race. Friday's run was no exception.
"She (Arielle) received a valuable lesson about pacing (at Friday's meet)," said Droze. "With an overly bold start, she found herself in sixth place (out of 45 runners) at the halfway point. Her finish was no indication of a lack of effort or will, but rather a reminder that she is still very new to the sport, albeit with a lot of promise."
Valdes is expected to be joined by teammates Elisandra Santana, Fatima Morris and Raeven Byrd when the team travels to Albany, Ga., on October 1 for the Willie Laster Invitational.
