TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Florida State Seminole cross country team is fresh off the ACC Championships, and hungry for more.
Female freshman runner Camela Cardama Baez wowed everyone in attendance, finishing ninth overall. Baez helped the ladies to a seventh place team finish, and it will be the freshman who helps set the pace for this weekend's South Region Championships, and in turn, hopefully earn a bid to Nationals.
"Being able to compete with the team and also being able to compete as an individual is a really good opportunity," she said Monday. "The team and I are really looking forward to make a good performance and try to be in the top two that will lead us to be in the Nationals."
"She's so easy to coach," said head coach Kelly Phillips of her phenomenal freshman. "She'll do everything you ask and she's so competitive that I have to remind myself that she is just a freshman often because she's just, she'll be great this weekend. She doesn't know anything but to be very competitive."
The men's team is competitive as well, bringing home a seventh place finish like the ladies at ACC's. Two Seminole guys earned All-ACC Honors at the race, and one of them was Wakulla High School grad Stanley Linton, who now has his sights set on the race this weekend.
The race could possibly be his last as a Seminole, as he will leave FSU bound for naval flight school. Linton, a former walk-on, said he was happy with his performance at ACC's, and looks to finish the year just as strong.
"I never expected to do so well in college," he said. "I had goals coming in that I've already exceeded and I'm excited about that. I never thought I was going to be this good. I never thought I was going to be this fast and now it's just what else can I do? What more can I do? It's a good feeling to have."
The Seminoles travel to Tuscaloosa for the South Region Championships on Friday.
