Florida’s 2015 State Cross Country Championship for high schools is history, but the sport lingers on into the post-season. Our own special part of the post-season is FACA’s Senior All-Star Cross Country Classic; the 19th annual edition of which will be contested on Saturday morning, 21 November 2015, at Tallahassee’s Apalachee Regional Park. For seniors who closed out their regular season at the State Meet, it’s a chance to say farewell to both the championship course and high school cross country.

The format is simple enough. There’s both a girls’ 5K and a boys’ 5K. In each race there are four regional teams--North, South, East, and West. The best seniors in Florida are invited to be on their region’s team, up to eight on each roster. Other than that, it’s like any other high school meet, with awards to the top team and top individuals.

RELATED - SEE THE FACA SENIOR ALL-STAR MEET ENTRIES

Because the Classic is limited to seniors, you don’t necessarily see the best cross country runners in Florida on the course. Over the years the date of the meet has also often conflicted with Foot Locker or Nike Cross Nationals events. This year, though, the Classic falls the week before the Foot Locker South Regional and the NXN Southeast Regional, both in North Carolina. Seniors headed to the Carolinas on November 28 could view the Classic as either a distraction or an excellent tune-up. Similarly, only two weeks after the State Final, an athlete can either feel exhausted from long season, or still peaking from the championship.

The athletes may or may not be ready for another top performance, but the Apalachee Regional Park Cross Country Course is. A week after the last runner stepped off the course, Ricardo Estremera raced a 15:10 5K at ARPXC in a community race, the Trash Dash. It was the fastest time on the course since Sukhi Khosla went 15:01.80 at the State Meet in 2014. In the days after the Trash Dash, the staff of Leon County Parks & Recreation has continued to keep the course groomed. If any athlete is inclined to run fast at the All-Star Classic, ARPXC is ready.

Of the athletes entered in the boys’ race, Flagler Palm Coast’s Justin Pacifico is the most likely to throw down a fast time. Running for the North team, Pacifico is the only runner in the field to have gone sub-16:00 at ARPXC, posting a 15:50.54 in the 4A boys race at the State Meet. Lake Howell's Jan Figueroa and Shorecrest Prep's Luke Peterson could challenge Pacifico. Figueroa ran 16:03.86 behind Pacifico in the 4A boys Championship, while Peterson ran 16:02.55 in the 1A boys race--run later during a warmer time of the morning.

Emma Tucker of Chiles, running for the north, comes into the girls’ race with best credentials. Tucker went 18:13.02 at the State Meet on what might as well be the Tallahassee runner’s home course. Running for the south, Pine Crest’s Julia Montgomery and St Thomas Aquinas’ Alexa Cruz went 18:35.94 and 18:40.67 at Apalachee Regional Park during the State Meet. St Augustine’s Kelly Aponte ran 18:52.47 at State and Chiles’ Alex Wallace 18:56.82, they’ll be running for the North. The East has Victoria Jung of George Jenkins, who ran 18:55.19 at ARPXC on November 7.

Fort Walton Beach's Maddie Fulmer will compete for the Senior All-Star West Team

(Brad McCann -2015 3A State XC Championships)

This will be the fourteenth time the All-Star Classic has been in Tallahassee and the sixth time the All-Stars have raced at Apalachee Regional Park. Except for 2014, when the meet was held at Lake Nona, the Classic has been in Tallahassee continuously since 2001 and at Apalachee Regional Park since 2009. In 2012 FHSAA chose ARPXC as the venue for the State Meet, making the course an especially fitting site for the Senior All-Star Classic. The Classic, after all, is a curtain call for Florida’s seniors. Why shouldn’t it be on the stage where those seniors raced for the last time for their school cross country teams?

Regardless of the location, it’s an encore worth watching.