The 2016 Martin County Under the Lights Invitational is a large early season meet with teams from as far south as Key West to as far north as Brevard County on the East Coast of Florida.  A span of over 350 miles.

A total of 8 races (MS, JV, Varsity and Elite) will be contested and our hopes that Invest 99-L wouldn't zoom in on Florida for this weekend's XC action have largely been granted.

The meet has proved so popular over the years, management has decided to thin the fields and offer an Elite Division with the Girls scheduled for a 9:00 PM start and the Boys at 9:30 PM.

GIRLS ELITE PREVIEW:

Teams

20 top notch Girls teams are entered. Last week, we saw 5 teams entered compete at the Wickham Park Jamboree.  With Holy Trinity's Samantha Folio going uncontested, Holy Trinity was the best of those teams first out of the gate this season.

Now we add in the notable individuals from the 2015 season which include power-house teams the likes of 1A defending State Champions Circle Christian and 2A Runner-up Pine Crest and we have a pretty good indication that the Girls Elite race will be heavily contested.

Teams with runners at the Wickham Park Jamboree.

If we had to pick the 5 best teams this early in the season, keep an eye on the Panthers of Pine Crest, Circle Christian, Holy Trinity, Westminster Christian and Rockledge.

Individually, we're really looking forward to seeing healthy runners who have put in the work over the summer duel it out "Under the Lights".  The 2014 State XC Champion for Pine Crest, Tsion Yared is hopefully healthy once again and ready to roar. She's the favorite going in but we fully expect a strong contingent in the lead pack with quite possibly a few new faces and names looking to make an impact.

Rockledge's Dominique Coriell finished 2nd at the 2016 Wickham Park Jamboree

Last week, Holy Trinity's Samantha Folio showed she's in great shape getting the win easily.  Look for her to be in that front pack and expect to see Key West's sophomore Conch star, Nicole Matysik, Rockledge's Dominique Coriell, Boca Raton Christian's Jasmine Hincapie, and Circle Christian's Sinkenesh Parker. 

Boys Elite Preview

Teams

20 Boys Teams as well in the Boys Elite Field.  Although an out of season Jamboree without any official team scores, we saw a good many runners from Teams entered into tonight's contest take to the course at the Wickham Park Jamboree last weekend.

We've crunched the team numbers from last week and the top team we saw last week was host Martin County led by Michael Hurt.

Teams with runners at the Wickham Park Jamboree

Last week we had a chance to see Rockledge's Troy Smith finish 2nd overall as he laid off the early pace and moved steadily up on the field over the last 800 meters.  Will that added confidence boost be enough to be in the hunt with the top returners of 2015 who have yet to open their 2016 campaign?

The top 20 returners from 2015:

Individually, it may be a tall order to hang with the likes of Lincoln Park Academy's Caleb Potorff and Calvary Christian's Danny Ferro both of whom had great track seasons this past spring.

Tactically, last week the field was tentative to go out in sub 5 pace with eventual Jamboree Champion Titusville's Mason Jones.  Before-hand, we thought The Pine School's Chase Hyland would keep it close but the torrid early pace shed all doubters.

Expect this week that LPA's Caleb Potorff, Calvary Christian's Ferro, Jupiter Christian's Josh Skielnik, Pine Crest's Michael Kennedy and Columbus junior Deshay Fernandes will be in the hunt early and for Rockledge's Troy Smith to once again move up steadily.

We expect in the end it will be between Potorff and Ferro for the win.

Team-wise, the favorite's going in should be the Pine Crest Boys.  Second place is really a toss up and may very well be somewhat of a surprise.  We saw what Martin County did last week with a solid outing and a narrow 32 second spread.