Belen Jesuit wins sixth state title in a row
The Belen Jesuit boys’ cross-country team continued to etch its name into the state record book on Saturday with yet another Class 3A state championship.
The Wolverines won their 14th overall team state title and their sixth consecutive Class 3A crown at Tallahassee’s Apalachee Regional Park. The former extends their state record already in place. The latter broke their tie with Tallahassee Maclay for the state record.
All five of Belen’s point scorers finished in the top 12. Junior Joshua Ruiz led the way with a runner-up finish in 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.
Three other teams and two individuals from Miami-Dade and Broward logged runner-up finishes 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. Sophomore Kayla Feeney also finished in the top 20, crossing the line in 17th place at 19:31.2.
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, with junior Alejandro Romagosa leading the Explorers with a 17th-place finish in 16:05 and junior Danny Garcia following in 25th place at 16:18.7.
Fort Lauderdale Dillard finished as team runnerup 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.
Ransom Everglades junior David Serra finished second in the Class 2A boys race with a time of 15:27 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.
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.
THIS AND THAT
● 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. Fort Lauderdale Pine
Crest junior Brooke Hooper finished eighth individually (18:27.6) to guide the Panthers to a sixth-place team finish.
● 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 seventhplace 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).
● Palmer Trinity junior Henry Stark finished sixth in the Class 1A boys’ race (16:08.7). 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.
● Riviera Prep freshman Sabrina Martinez finished in 14th place in 19:09 to pace area runners in the Class 1A girls’ race.