Surf's up: Babinec hits the beach after big meet

After turning in arguably the race of his life at Saturday's flrunners.com meet in Titusville, Riverview senior Michael Babinec did something a little unusual, at least for an athlete of his caliber: he went surfing with his best friend.

"Yeah, it was a pretty cool way to spend the rest of the day," Babinec said. "Jared (Vick, who attends Bloomingdale High) and I went surfing (at New Smyrna Beach), chilled at the beach and then drove home."

Babinec might be pretty laid back about his down time but he has been putting in some serious training. It paid off Saturday when he finished 12th in the prestigious Race of Champions division of flrunners.com. In the process, Babinec dipped under 16 minutes for 5 kilometers (15:57) and beat Chamberlain star Max del Monte by one place and one second.