* Patrick Koon takes the victory at the FSU Invitational for the third year in a row
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The two major questions going into this weekend were if Patrick Koon would be able to earn his third-straight title and whether a seventh-grader could take down a strong girls elite field at the premiere FSU Pre-State Invitational.
The answers to both? Yes.
Koon, Leon (FL) senior and Stanford commit, won his fourth-straight 5k title this season and his third-straight FSU Invitational title, while middle schooler Annabella Tomasic won the elite girls race at Apalachee Regional Park on Saturday morning.
En route to his win, Koon had to take down the fastest runner in the nation at the distance.
Koon and Belen Jesuit's (FL) Joshua Ruiz battled it out for the majority of the race. Eventually, Koon was able to add separation between him and his closest competitor during the latter half of the race.
The senior crossed the finish line in 14:50.40, just four-tenths of a second off his meet record of 14:50.00 from 2022.
Ruiz was the second boy to break 15 minutes for 5k in Tallahassee with a 14:59.60 while Nease's (FL) Matt Ryan was a few strides behind as he clocked 15:00.90 for third.
Ruiz led Belen Jesuit to a dominant 2-4-8-9-15 finish to grab the team title with 38 points. Belen Jesuit finished the 5k race with a 15:26 team average and a 54-second split. Brother Martin was second with 124 points and Nease was third with 148 points.
On the girls side, Tomasic, the seventh-grader from Lake Highland Prep (FL), went on to win her fourth-straight 5k race and set a new personal best against a strong field.
Tomasic lined up in the elite championship race against Florida's No. 1 and No. 3 runners on the ARP course. The Orlando-based standout completed the course in 17:35.50. American Heritage (FL) senior Ashley Fitzgerald finished five seconds behind Tomasi in 17:40.
Addison Dempsey, who still holds the fastest 5k time in the state with a 17:20, would settle for third this weekend in 17:41.
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