TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Friday was a great day for the Chiles High School Swim and Dive team at the 3A State Finals. The boys won and the ladies finished third, plus several individuals brought home gold medals.
The Timberwolves hoped that gold medal fever carried over into Saturday's Cross Country State Finals, and their wishes were granted.
Michael Phillips claimed the Class 3A State Championship for the boys, taking first with a time of 15:30.55. Even better? The Chiles boys finished second overall.
"A lot of my friends, a lot of my family were here so it was great that they were there," said Phillips after the win. "They definitely encouraged our team to run fast so it was great, great environment. We definitely showed up, came to run, so I was excited."
"It's certainly excited to do it in front of the home fans," agreed head coach Mike Phillips, who as Michael's dad, admitted today was extra special. "We've practiced and done a lot of workouts on the course and we knew that we would feel very comfortable on the course and to be able to come out and have such a great showing, it's certainly an enjoyable thing to do."
The Chiles girls claimed the Class 3A team title, but the spotlight was on Lincoln freshman Alyson Churchill, who won the individual title with a time of 17:55.22.
"I'm really excited to be able to do that!" she exclaimed after claiming the first State Championship in Cross Country at Lincoln since 1992. "I think it means a lot for Lincoln and it means a lot to me. I didn't expect my season to go quite this well. A lot of people have said encouraging things to me, which has been really helpful, but, yeah, I'm excited."
Churchill also won District and Region Championships in her freshman campaign. For a complete list of Big Bend winners, head on over the FHSAA's website.
