HOW WE SELECT THE ALL-AREA TEAMS At the conclusion of each high school season, The News-Press staff sends area coaches a nomination form to select and rank players for our all-area first teams and to also nominate athletes for second team and honorable mention. A combination of The News-Press’ research and the coaches’ player rankings lead to the teams being selected and three athletes are named finalists for player of the year. The three finalists and the first team honorees are invited to The News-Press All-Area Stars Banquet to be held June 7, 2016 at Germain Arena in Estero where the player of the year will be announced.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Runner of the Year Finalists

Evan Babatz

School: Fort Myers

Year: Junior

Highlights: The Green Wave runner became the team’s top finisher late in the season and capped off his campaign with an 8th-place finish at the Class 3A championships in 16:09. He was runner-up in Region 3A-3, District 3A-11 and LCAC and finished third at Optimist and the Caloosahatchee Invite. He finished fourth at a postseason Foot Locker South Region race in North Carolina.

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Josh Kennedy

School: Fort Myers

Year: Junior

Highlights: Kennedy was 18th at the Class 3A championships with a 16:39, which followed fourth place outings in Region 3A-3 and District 3A-11. He won LCAC in 17:05 and opened his season with a win in the Caloosahatchee Invite. His best time came at the midpoint of the season at the FSU Invite in 16:12.

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Enrique Jimenez

School: LaBelle

Year: Senior

Highlights: Jimenez was one of LaBelle’s most consistent runners, finishing 12th overall at the Class 2A championships in 16:31. His season-best came at Region 2A-3, when he ran a 16:27. He won both Region 2A-3 and District 2A-12 races, was eighth at the North Port Invite and 61st at the FlRunners.com Invite.

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First Team

Omar Figueroa

School: LaBelle

Year: Senior

Highlights: Capped his career with a stellar race, finishing in 16:30 at the Class 2A championships, which was good for 11th place. He was fourth at Region 2A-3 and runner-up at District 2A-12. He ran a 16:44 at the Disney XC Classic and was 36th at the Flrunners.com Invite in a 16:46.

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Arye Beck

School: Estero

Year: Junior

Highlights: Beck was first in the District 3A-12 race in 16:37, which was a season-best until he broke that time in a Foot Locker South Regional race in 16:32. He was 28th at the Class 3A championships, was sixth at Region 3A-3 and third at LCAC. He was sixth at Estero’s DDD Invite and ninth at Optimist.

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Stephen Fedec

School: Fort Myers

Year: Senior

Highlights: Fedec finished his career with a time of 16:40 at a Foot Locker South Regional race on Nov. 28. It followed a 30th-place performance at the Class 3A championships and a 13th-place effort at Region 3A-3. He was third at the Lely Invite and eighth at Caloosahatchee to begin the season. Fedec will run at Emory University in the fall.

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Sam Hordinski

School: Fort Myers

Year: Junior

Highlights: Hordinski was a solid third runner for the Green Wave for much of the season, running a season-best 16:53 at the North Port Invite in September. He was 49th at the Class 3A finals, 19th at Region 3A-3, third at District 3A-11 and fourth at LCAC.

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Second Team

Yoan Prado, LaBelle

Hugh Brittenham, Estero

Evan Williams, SFCA

Nick Carpenter, Fort Myers

Jacob Dorn, Estero

Dennis Eckilsen, Riverdale

Zach Roussel, Riverdale

Honorable Mention

Bishop Verot: Andrew Shepherd, Thomas Arcentales

Canterbury: Chapin Leatherwood, Griffin East

Cape Coral: Bryan Markovich, Jarod Rehmann

Cypress Lake: Reese Novella

Dunbar: Ty’Relle Powell, Trevor McDaniels

East Lee: Kevin Soto

Estero: Matt Ellard, Delfino Reyes

ECS: Thomas Beutler, Ian Olney

Fort Myers: Luis Padilla, Evan Seech

Ida Baker: Collin Pace, Ryan Ringer

Island Coast: Joseph Poteet, Brandon Garcia

Mariner: Darickson Gonzalez, Sean Kostyk

North FortMyers: Peter Joseph

Oasis: Dylan Reichenbacher, Michael Sabo

Riverdale: Trevin Myers, Austin Macon

South Fort Myers: Michael McCurry

SFCA: David Sievert

LaBelle: Justin Reyes, Dalton Hyser

Coach of the Year

Yancey Palmer

School: Fort Myers

Highlights: Palmer led the Green Wave to a third-place performance at the Class 3A championships and first-place outings at Region 3A-3, District 3A-11, LCAC and Caloosahatchee Invite. The Green Wave were also second at Optimist.