Leesburg's Idell Leads From Start To Finish

Lake sports

Runnerup Greg Bardwell Helped Mount Dora Bible Win The Bulldogs Invitational. Also, South Lake Girls Claimed The Top Three Spots.

October 1, 1998|By Robert Pincus special to the sentinel

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS - Leesburg's Chuck Idell overcame a torrential rainstorm and Mount Dora Bible's Greg Bardwell to win the boys individual title on Wednesday at the Bulldogs Invitational held at Hickory Point.

South Lake's Stacey Blake, Jennifer Nicodemo and Nicole Wach finished one, two and three to lead the Eagles to the girls team title.

Joining Bardwell in the top five from Mount Dora Bible were Matt Pruitt and Tommy Bardwell. The three runners received help from Hans Eugene and Bryan Keller to claim the boys team title.

Idell, who led from start to finish, set a meet record with a time of 16 minutes, 21 seconds. He said having Greg Bardwell (16:22) running with him helped tremendously.

``He helped me by having a great race,'' Idell said. ``At the backstretch he was on my heels. My main concern was to stay in front of him.''

Bardwell has finished behind Idell in each of the races they have ran together this season.

``I couldn't beat him,'' Bardwell said. ``He had a little more than me.''

Shortly after the start of the boys race heavy rain and hail started to pelt the Hickory Point complex.

``We couldn't see through the woods because of the rain,'' Greg Bardwell said. ``The wind was blowing hard.''

Idell said the rain helped him relax, ``Because it cooled me down.''

Leesburg Coach Jennifer Anderson was glad that the senior runner won his third race of the early season.

``He works hard every day,'' Anderson said. ``Chuck is a self-motivated kid who will do well in whatever he does.''

Mount Dora Bible Coach Jeremy Winters said his team won the Tavares-hosted event due to improvement by Eugene and Keller.

``Our top three have been there all along, but we've been finishing in second or third,'' Winters said. ``They put us over the top today.''

On the girls side, Blake won convincingly in 22:05. The senior took a big lead early and then extended it.

``I just knew I had to get some distance between me and the rest of the the girls,'' Blake said. ``I sprinted at the beginning and the end.''

The win marks the first time the South Lake girl have won this season.

``We have a lot of pride, and we got beat pretty badly at the Mount Dora Bible meet [earlier in the season),'' South Lake Coach Bobby Haeck said. ``Stacey is not a great runner, but she's a great athlete. She is a soccer player who runs.''

The runners had mixed reactions to the new course. The race is normally run at Lake-Sumter Community College but was moved to Hickory Point because Tavares will host the regionals there.

``It was tough because it was so soft,'' Blake said. ``It makes your quads cramp a little because you are running in muck.''

Nicodemo called the course ``relatively easy.''

Bulldogs Invitational, Hickory Point Boys

Team: 1. Mount Dora Bible 45. 2. Leesburg 50. 3. South Lake 58. 4. Tavares 63. 5. Montverde 213.

Individual: 1. Chuck Idell, Lees 16:21. 2. Greg Bardwell, MDB 16:22. 3. Matt Pruitt, MDB 16:49; 4. Blake Powell, SL 16:59. 5. Tommy Bardwell, MDB 17:03. 6. Roy Williams, SL 17:21. 7. Anthony Cox, Tav 17:40. 8. Ben Meade, Lees 17:47. 9. Troy Sanford, Tav 17:50. 10. Justin Blakley, Lees 17:57.


Team: 1. South Lake 31. 2. Leesburg 45. 3. Tavares 68. 4. Mount Dora Bible 91.

Individual: 1. Stacey Blake, SL 22:05. 2. Jennifer Nicdoemo, SL 22:56. 3. Nicole Wach, SL 23:01. 4. Anna Braun, Lees 23:18. 5. Lindsey Bosshardt, Lees 23:33. 6. Nicole Erler, Lees 23:59. 7. Katrina Jackson, MDB 24:22. 8. Melissa Shepherd, 24:40. 9. Diane Premore, Mont 24:46. 10. Sarah Williams, Lees 25:12.

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