Reigning champion Carrollton track no longer unknown among college coaches

The Carrollton Cyclones, who are coming off the first track and field state championship in program history, return eight of their top nine athletes.

Among the returnees are four girls who made first-team All-Dade: senior Arianna Garcia (won state titles in the 100 hurdles and the 400 hurdles); junior Daniela Hernandez (800 meters); junior Emma Filippi (3200 relay); and junior Gabriella Socarras (3200 relay).

Garcia has earned a full scholarship to compete for the Miami Hurricanes next year. She finished top-eight in the country in her two main events at the Under-20 nationals in Oregon last season.

Hernandez finished second at state in the 800 meters. She also was part of the state championship 4X800 relay team.

Filippi finished seventh at state in the 800. She was also part of two relay teams, winning gold in the 4X800 and silver in the 4X400.

Socarras finished sixth at state in the 800, and she was part of that championship 4X800 relay team.

Other top Carrollton athletes include seniors Andrea Gross; Francesca Taracido; and Scarlet Lie-Nielsen.

Gross, who has signed with Columbia University, won a silver in the 4X400 relay. She also runs the 100, 200 and 400.

Taracido, who is committed to Loyola University Maryland, runs the 200 and the 400. She is the third member of the team committed to a Division I university, joining Garcia and Gross.

Lie-Nielsen won a silver in the 4X400 relay team. She also runs the 100 and 400.

In addition to all of that, Carrollton coach Dylan Hermelee said his school has just 400 students and is often competing against opponents with as many as 1,600 kids.

“We pulled off an unlikely championship last year,” Hermelee said.

To Hermelee’s point, the Cyclones finished just half a point ahead of second -lace Montverde, and it came down to the final event. In that 4X400 relay race, Montverde finished first, and Carrollton’s second-place showing gave the Cyclones the points they needed to hold up the big trophy.

Hermelee, 40, grew up in Coconut Grove, not far from the campus of Carrollton, which is an all-girls Catholic school with high academic standards.

A distance runner at Western Carolina University, Hermelee has been at Carrollton for 12 years, and this is his fourth season as the head coach. The program has been built step by step as the core athletes on the current roster went undefeated in middle school and then won district and regional titles in 2024 before their breakthrough last year.

Because it’s a small campus, there is no room for an actual track, which means that the Cyclones practice at a rival school, Westminster Christian.

Despite the aforementioned challenges, Carrollton – thanks to athletes such as Garcia and Gross – is now getting attention from colleges.

“In the past,” Hermelee said, “college coaches would walk right past us, and they wouldn’t know who we were.”

That has changed, and it helps that the girls who attend Carrollton are, in general, “great young women,” according to Hermelee.

“We get kids who are goal-oriented and driven,” he said. “I love coaching here.”

Carrollton is one of four Miami-Dade/Broward schools that won a state title in track and field last year, joining Columbus (4A); Belen (3A); and American Heritage (3A girls). Here’s a look around the two counties:

BOYS’ OUTLOOKS

• Columbus, which will be bidding for its third straight state title, returns three first-team All-Dade athletes: senior Alec Cruz (100); senior Gianluca Padilla (discus); and junior Zamarion Lawson (400-meter relay). Cruz is also a baseball player (outfielder); Padilla is the reigning GMAC champ; and Lawson competes in football (running back, cornerback).

• Belen won just its second state title in track and its first since 2007. The Wolverines return three first-team All-Dade athletes: junior state champ Marcelo Mantecon (3,200); junior John Amador (sixth at state in the pole vault); and sophomore Jack Michalak (third at state in the 800). Another athlete to watch is junior Armando Cruz (fourth at state in the 3200).

• Gulliver Prep is coming off the first regional title in program history, and the Raiders return a strong group of distance runners, including junior Adrian Iziliaev (800, 1600). Seniors Champ Smith (first-team All-Dade in the high jump) and Luc Carroll (100, 200) also return.

• Southridge will be led by seniors Avery McCray (200, 400); Jaden Jones (triple jump, 400 hurdles); and Andres Oropesa (800, 1600).

• Braddock is led by seniors Mauricio Escalona and Jhonny Felix, freshman Ian Vicente and junior Jacob Castanedo in the distance events.

GIRLS’ OUTLOOKS

• Gulliver Prep, who will try to repeat as district champs, will be led by sophomores Ellie Schnur (first-team All-Dade in the high jump) and Lilly Haley (triple jump, long jump) and freshman Natalie Grausam (pole vault). The Raiders have solid distance runners and great depth in the sprints and field events.

• Southridge return all four members of the first-team All-Dade 400-meter relay team: junior Amari Vaughan; and seniors Jalisa Marshall, Tamiya McCoggle and Janeise Guevara.

• Lourdes hopes to carry over momentum from a strong cross-country season, led by freshman Marisa Mantecon and seniors Daniella Fraga and Kylie Fernandez in the distance races. Senior Katerina Chacon is also one of the county’s top javelin throwers.

• Plantation will be led by seniors Nyla Christian (long jump, 100, 100 hurdles), a transfer from Miami Northwestern, and Darriana Kendrick (200, 400, triple jump, high jump). In addition, the coaching staff believes that Plantation’s freshmen and sophomore class will be special.

This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 6:00 AM.