Belen wins 14th state cross-country title. Runner-up finishes for Braddock, Columbus, Dillard
At this point, winning a cross-country state championship is just a stepping stone for Belen Jesuit.
The Wolverines found yet another way to stand alone in the state record book on Saturday when they won yet another Class 3A boys’ team state championship at Tallahassee’s Apalachee Regional Park. The win was their 14th overall team state title and their sixth consecutive Class 3A crown. The former accomplishment extends their state record already in place. The latter broke their tie with Tallahassee Maclay for the state record.
But Belen has larger aspirations beyond Saturday’s meet. They entered the day ranked No. 12 nationally by DyeStat and have their sights set on a national championship.
“That has been its own motivator,” Belen coach Frankie Ruiz said.
All five of Belen’s point scorers finished in the top 12, with junior Joshua Ruiz finished runner-up in the Class 3A boys race with a time of 15:37.3. Sophomore Joseph Socarras (fifth, 15:51.2), eighth grader Marcelo Mantecon (sixth, 15:52.7), junior Joseph Ruiz (11th, 16:05.2) and senior Alec Torricella (12th, 16:12.1) rounded out the group. And, for good measure, junior Lucas Garcia also finished 14th at 16:17.6.
With Belen being as dominant as it has been over the past nearly two decades, winning 13 titles over the past 17 years, Ruiz said a lot of the focus during the regular season becomes individualized.
“It’s about helping the kids craft their own objectives,” Ruiz said. “Motivation is certainly something you’re always fine-tuning because your first state championship is the first one. Then maybe your second one is ‘OK. Let’s defend it.’ It starts to get a little more difficult, especially as the competition starts to focus on your back and that target gets more refined for competition.”
Up next for the Wolverines is the Nike Cross Southeast Regionals in Cary, North Carolina, in late November. If Belen finishes in the top-two at that meet, it earns an all-expense paid trip to compete at Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon.
A slew of runner-up finishes
Three other teams and two individuals from Miami-Dade and Broward logged runner-up finishes on Saturday.
The Braddock girls finished second in Class 4A, their best finish at state in school history (previously third in 2017). Junior Annabella Cardona paced the team with a fourth-place finish (18:57.4). Sophomore Kayla Feeney also finished in the top 20, crossing the line in 17th place at 19:31.2. Senior Marlie Gonzalez (22nd, 19:40.6), junior Jada Garcia (29th, 19:55.3) and sophomore Jasmine Trotz (68th, 20:48.5) rounded out the Bulldogs’ scoring and clinched their runner-up finish behind state champion Gainesville Buchholz.
“This team just took it to a different level,” Braddock coach Alex Shaw said. “Buchholz, which ended up winning the whole thing, they were definitely the better team. We finished as high as we possibly could today. The good thing is that we bring back five of the six girls that ran today. It’ll be a great 2023 season.”
Columbus finished second in the Class 4A boys race for its 10th top-two finish in school history. All five of Columbus’ point scorers finished among the top 50. Junior Alejandro Romagosa led the Explorers with a 17th-place finish in 16:05 and junior Danny Garcia followed in 25th place at 16:18.7. Senior Marc Dabby (35th, 16:31.3), senior Giovanni Armas (37th, 16:39.1) and sophomore Anthony Scarcello (47th, 16:50) rounded out Columbus’ point scorers.
Fort Lauderdale Dillard finished as team runner-up in the Class 3A race, with all five of its top runners finishing among the top 40. Junior Christiana Coleman led the team with a sixth-place finish (18:31.6) followed by junior Raquel Edwards (22nd, 19:11.4), sixth grader Miley Gil (31st, 19:34.4), eighth grader Peyton Williams (33rd, 19:40.6) and eighth grader Ja’liah Gammage (38th, 19:51.8).
Ransom Everglades junior David Serra finished second in the Class 2A boys race with a time of 15:27 — the third-fastest time among all four boys races Saturday — in his first season running cross country. He is the first Ransom runner to post a top-two finish since 2011, when Bert Irigoyen won his second consecutive individual state title.
Serra finished 1.5 seconds behind Jacksonville Bolles’ Aidan Ryan.
“He certainly gave everything he could to try to catch him,” Ransom coach Don Kappelman said. “Super exciting to watch. Obviously we hoped that he could finish one spot higher, but certainly can’t fault his race plan today. I really thought he did an outstanding job.”
And Plantation American Heritage junior Ashley Fitzgerald finished runner-up in the Class 3A girls race for a second consecutive season. Her time of 17:56 was less than 2.5 seconds behind Tallahassee Leon’s Lillee Tang. American Heritage coach Thomas Johnson said Fitzgerald matured not only as a runner this year, but as a leader for a team that will return all of its point scorers next season.
“She’s already made up her mind that ‘I’m not going to take second three years in a row,’” Johnson said.
This and that
▪ Beyond Columbus’ runner-up finish, Fort Lauderdale senior Zack Zimmerman finished 23rd (16:16.3) and Flanagan’s Shamar Henry came in 27th (16:23.3) in the Class 4A boys’ race. From a team perspective, Weston Cypress Bay finished 16th, Braddock 19th, Coral Reef 22nd, Flanagan 28th, Coral Gables 30th, Coral Springs 31st and Coral Park 32nd.
▪ Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas had a pair of top-10 team finishes, going fifth in Class 3A for the girls and seventh for the boys. Sophomore Grace Finneran was fourth in the girls’ race (18:18.6), while senior Anthony Herrera came in 10th individually on the boys side in 15:59.1.
▪ Lourdes senior Olivia Fraga finished fifth individually in the Class 3A girls race (18:20) to help the Bobcats to a seventh-place team finish.
▪ A fourth-place finish from St. Brendan senior Emma Hencock (18:06.2) and 21st-place finish from junior Kaycie Aquilino (19:22.2) led the Sabres to a third-place team finish in the Class 2A girls race one year after they finished as state runner-up. Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest junior Brooke Hooper finished eighth individually (18:27.6) to guide the Panthers to a sixth-place team finish.
▪ Mater Lakes Academy finished in fourth place in the 2A boys’ race, led by senior Jeshua Osorio (10th place, 16:19.5) and sophomore Sebastian Coraspe (14th, 16:22.1). Ransom Everglades finished 10th.
▪ Palmer Trinity junior Henry Stark finished sixth in the Class 1A boys race (16:08.7) and the team finished 11th. The Falcons had a 10th-place team finish on the girls’ side.
▪ Fort Lauderdale South Florida HEAT finished seventh in the Class 1A girls’ race and 14th in the boys’ race. Junior Hunter Morgan (20th, 16:36.9) was the team’s top runner on the boys’ side. Mia Taylor (37th, 20:00.1) was their top runner on the girls’ side.
▪ Riviera Prep freshman Sabrina Martinez finished in 14th place in 19:09 to pace area runners in the Class 1A girls race. Westminster Academy seventh grader Claire Chanon (22nd, 19:33.1) also cracked the top 25 individually.
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