Belen Jesuit Claims Eighth Consecutive State Title, 16th in School History; Mackenzie Roy Cracks Top 20 in State Meet History

Apalachee Regional Park | Tallahassee, FL

 

Belen Jesuit sophomore Marcelo Mantecon continued his dominant season with the fastest time of the day in the boys 3A race on Saturday at the Florida state cross country championships.

 

Mantecon showed why he is one of the best sophomores distance runners in the country coming through the one mile mark with a second lead at 4:29.7, doubling that after mile two, and dismantling the 5,000-meter Apalachee Regional Park course in 14:57.8, the second-fastest ever at a state meet behind only Patrick Koon's 14:56.7 in 2022.

 

Andrew Beroset of Gulf Breeze broke up the Wolverines' bid for a perfect score with his second-place finish and time of 15:21.8. Behind Beroset was the formbidable pack of navy and gold Wolverines including senior Joseph Socarras (third in  15:33.3), senior Justin Ruiz (fourth in 15:34.4), and senior Marco Prieguez (fifth in 15:36.4). Joshua Grimmage of Dillard was sixth and Armanda Cruz of Belen placed seventh.

Belen Jesuit won their eighth straight team title with a score of 20 points, the third-lowest in Florida history.

 

The Wolverines, who posted a team average of 15:28, won their 16th championship, which is the most ever for a cross country team in Florida. Next up will be the NXR Southeast Regional in Cary, N.C.. where the Wolverines will look to defend their title from 2023 and make a return trip to Nike Cross Nationals.

 

On the girls side, the star of the meet was Spruce Creek senior Mackenzie Roy, who led the race from start to finish to pick up her first state title of any sort in a time of 17:19.5, ninth on the list of fastest times in state meet sandwiched between former state champions and collegiate standouts Alyssa Hendrix and Bailey Hertenstein. It marked her eighth win of the season, seventh time under 18 minutes, and fifth under 17:30.

 

Although, Roy finished fourth in 2023 at the state meet, her time was nearly 90 seconds faster than the 18:42.3 one year ago. After an incredible track and field season that saw her finish runner-up in both the 1,600-and 3,200-meter runs, she was able to dip under 18 minutes this season for the first time in her career.

Finishing behind Roy was Sarasota Riverview freshman Madison Muller, the 4A Region 3 champion, who crossed the line in a very impressive 17:54.2. The Creekside dynamic duo of freshman Sydney Johnson and junior sister Alyson Johnson, the reigning cross country state champion (who also won the 1,600 and 3,200 on the track) finished third and eighth respectively to help the Knights win the team title with 70 points. Buchholz finished second with 153 points.

Mary Summers of  Seven Rivers Christian School rose to the occasion in the 1A girls race. After finishing third as a seventh grader, Summers had the tall task of going against Eliana Black, who was competing in her fifth FHSAA Cross Country State Finals, and was the 2022 state champion. Summers kept pace through one mile, but then ran away, leaving a 10-second gap between the two runners at the two mile mark, winning the race easily in 17:58.4, her third-fastest time of the year. Black was second in 18:17.2 followed by Pensacola Christian junior Jaimee Tutton (18:49.4.)

Cambridge Christian, led by Black, won the team championship with 59 points over Pensacola Catholic (70). The team placed their top five runners, all of which were upperclassmen, in the top 25. 

In the 1A Boys race, Indian Rocks Christian senior Blake Young moved up from fourth at the mile mark, then behind Evan Spreitzer of Holy Trinity, before edging him out in a race to the finish. Young crossed the line with a time of 15:37.8 with Spretizer one second behind him in a time of 15:38.9. It was Young's first state championship after finishing runner-up in 2023 and fifth as a sophomore in 2022. 

The team battle was just as close with Cambridge Christian finishing the sweep with 95 points and Holy Trinity (103 points) edging out Providence (104), and Westminster Christian (104) in one of the closest contests in meet history.

Margaret Barlow of North Bay Haven won the 2A Girls race with a time of 17:56.2. The senior won seven out of eight races on the season and is likely to compete at the Foot Locker South Regional where she finished 29th last season. Jacksonville schools went head to head in the team standings with Bishop Kenny (88 points) defeating perennial powerhouse Bolles (114), and Episcopal (135 points).

Fort Myers senior Masha Dorafeev moved up from fourth at the one mile mark and then took over the 3A girls race with a five-second lead at two miles, and a nearly 10-second win. Dorafeev, who was seventh last season at state, won conference, district, and regional titles before picking up her first state championship with a time of 18:05.5 beating Cheyenne Thomas of Tavares, Lainee Mercer of Springstead, Daisy Ross of Ponte Vedra and Lydia Vincent of Zephyrhills who rounded out the top five. Ross' fourth-place finish along with top 20 performances from teammates Samantha Gore (13th) and Olivia Kennedy (19th) guided Ponte Vedra to a 63-86 victory over Dillard for the team title.

Buchholz senior Gino Palazzolo was three seconds behind the lead pack and sitting in 23rd place at the one mile mark. At two miles, Palazzolo had moved up to third behind seniors Sebastian Coraspe of Doral Academy and Caden Baker of George Jenkins, but after that he decided enough was enough and it was his turn to lead. He crossed the line in 15:23.6, only his second win of the season to capture the 4A boys crown ahead of Oak Ridge senior Jayden Santos-Gonzalez (15:33) and Parker Banzhaf of Vero Beach (15:34.6). Palazzolo's teammate Demetrie Meyers was fourth in 15:38.6 to help Buchholz (143 points) edge out Hagerty for the team title (160).