Belen cross-country, American Heritage and Columbus golf, Pompano football and more
The traditionally strong Belen Jesuit boys’ cross-country team opened its 2025 season with a strong showing at the Cecil Field Invitational in Jacksonville.
This marks the second consecutive year Belen has kicked off its season in Northeast Florida at one of the state’s largest meets.
Belen junior Marcelo Mantecon, ranked No.2 nationally, took the individual title in a meet-record 14 minutes 50 seconds on the two-loop 5K (3.1-mile) course—shattering the previous mark by more than 10 seconds.
Close behind was teammate Armando Cruz, a junior who finished runner-up in 15:15. Nicholas Veloso of Belen was 28th at 16:20, and Davi Bodoh was 39th in 16:29. Matthias Murrle finished 48th in 16:40.
Belen, fielding one of its youngest squads in quite some time, tallied 106 points to secure the team championship, with Oviedo High School placing second at 161 points. Gainesville Buchholz was third at 178.
The event featured 42 teams and 363 runners.
Mater Lakes Academy junior Kevin Aguillar was 29th at 16:21, and North Broward Prep senior Wills Gillis was 30th at 16:22. MAST senior Robert Garcia was 46th in 16:39.
Belen is currently ranked 12th in the country by Milesplit and 10th by Dyestat. Up next for Belen is the Horse Park Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 6 in Ocala.
In the girls’ competition, Lourdes was runner-up with 156 points, nine points behind champion Ponte Vedra. Westminster Academy was 13th of 34 teams at 365.
Freshman Marisa Mantecon of Lourdes placed 19th of 303 runners at 19:30. Junior teammate Alessandra Perez followed closely in 20th at 19:33. Westminster Acdemy senior Eugenia Fantoni was 26th in 19:51.
Lourdes freshman Sofia Jimenez was 33rd in 20:03. Sophomore teammate Ava Barrera was 41st in 20:19. Westminster Academy’s Noelle Richardson was 56th in 20:44.
*NOTE: The Mantecons (Marcelo with Belen and Marisa with Lourdes) are brother and sister. Armando Cruz, the father of Armando Cruz (Belen), ran cross-country at Florida International University with the Mantecons mom Didi.
Golf
The 27th annual American Heritage High School Boys’ Golf Tournament was at Lago Mar Country Club in Plantation.
The boys played an 18-hole tournament from the tips at more than 7,000 yards with the top 3 teams finishing within 5 strokes of each other.
North Palm Beach Benjamin School won the title with a 295. Columbus was second at 299 and host Plantation American Heritage was third at 300.
Tournament medalist honors went to junior Brooks Colton of Benjamin School with 2-under 70. Teammate Clint Lewis was second at 71. Sohan Patel of Plantation American Heritage, Braden Chamberlain of St. Thomas Aquinas and Columbus teammates Sebastian Eterovic and Joe Fernandez tied for third at 73.
Nate Burkhalter of Plantation American Heritage shot 74, and North Broward Prep teammates Max Gressle and John Marzano along with Brookman Tyrer of Plantation American Heritage and Eduardo Marin of Columbus were next at 75.
Results: Team: 1. Champion North Palm Beach Benjamin (1A) 295; 2. Columbus (3A) 299; 3. Plantation American Heritage (2A) 300; 4. Coconut Creek North Broward Prep (2A) 307; 5. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (3A) 308; 6. Delray Beach American Heritage (2A) 333; 7. Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons (2A) 350.
Football
Pompano Beach 48, Marathon 33: In their home opener, the Golden Tornadoes led 20-13 at halftime, but Marathon fought back and took a 33-26 lead with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Pompano Beach then pulled away, scoring the final 22 points for the win.
Pompano Beach senior Ayden Jaouhar, who had six receptions for 130 yards and ran the ball eight times for 78 more yards, scored four touchdowns (2 rushing/2 receiving) and added a 2-point conversion. Junior quarterback Matthew Haydar passed for 205 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for 80 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown run.
Senior running back Ryan DaCosta ran for 102 yards with a 25-yard score. Jayce Vincent led the defense with 10 tackles, and senior Elijah Jarrett made 6 tackles and scored on an 18-yard fumble return.
Davante Ferguson caught three passes for 68 yards. Caesen McDowell had several tackles and assists, recovered a fumble and recorded a 2-yard return.
It marked a successful return for Pompano Coach Rick Nagy, who retired in 2016.
More football
*Ransom Everglades 21, North Broward Prep 0: Sophomore Noah Alce had 24 carries for 142 yards and 2 TDs and 4 catches for 35 yards. RE (1-0).
Volleyball
True North girls’ volleyball opened the season with two victories.
The Titans defeated visiting Carrollton 25-17, 26-24, 25-12..
Top performers: Veronica Fumero 13 kills, 7 digs; Dayleen Valdes 9 kills, 6 aces, 6 digs; Gabriela Giovane 6 kills, 3 blocks; Danielle Morrison 5 kills, 5 blocks.
True North beat host Coral Reef 29-27, 25-20, 25-19.
Top perfomrers: Dayleen Valdes 17 kills, 7 digs, 3 aces; Veronica Fumero 12 kills, 3 digs; Gabriela Giovane 4 kills, 3 blocks.
*It took five sets as Florida Christian opened the season with an exciting, come-from-behind win over Palmer Trinity 25-21, 18-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-9.
Skye Williams led Florida Christian with 26 kills followed by Amelia Gomez with 9 and Jenna Cuadra with 5. Four players totaled 12 aces combined. Jenna Cuadra, Amelia Gomez, Skye Williams and Allison Mantecon had 3 apiece. Cuadra led the Patriots in blocks with 3.
Florida Christian made it wo consecutive wins with a victory over Archbishop Caroll 25-13, 25-23, 25-23. Amelia Gomez led the team in kills with 17, followed by Ske Williams with 12 and Jenna Cuadra with 6. Cuadra and Gomez topped the team in aces with 2 apiece. Allison Mantecon had 13 digs and Gomez 11.
More volleyball
*LaSalle d. Don Soffer (Aventura) 25-16, 25-18, 25-17: Gaby Vanteuben 1 assist, 21 digs; Sofia Dean 5 aces, 1 block, 15 assists, 1 dig; Alex Gonzalez 3 aces, 5 kills, 1 block, 5 digs. LaS 2-0.
*LaSalle d Carrollton 25-21, 26-24, 25-23: Lucia Orelle 3 blocks, 5 kills; Sofia Dean 1 ace, 35 assists, 4 digs; Alex Gonzalez 1 ace, 12 kills, 13 digs. LaS 3-0.
Bowling
The Ferguson bowling program started the season with wins.
The Falcons boys’ team defeated Gulliver Prep 7-0.
High games from seniors Remy Dou (247), Jesus Prieto (211), Miguel Brito (208), and Rashawn Viart (221) and junior Lexander Perdomo (236) led the way. Perdomo also had the high series (625). Riley Prescott of Gulliver Prep had a high game 195.
The Falcons girls’ team also beat Gulliver Prep 7-0.
High game and high series by freshman Angelie Brito of Ferguson had a high game 204 and a high series 585. Senior Emma Jaramillo had a high game 162.
Send Sports Results
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Also, some will be considered for athlete of the week nominations.
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Compiled by Jim Varsallone
jvarsallone@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM.
