Ruiz produces fastest 5-kilometer cross country effort in Florida prep history of 14:38.79 at John Hunt Park in Alabama, leading five Wolverines in top 45 to secure team title; Seventh-grader Tomasic becomes fourth female athlete at meet to eclipse 18-minute barrier, including first since 2018

By Todd Grasley of DyeStat

It’s still early in the Florida high school cross country season, but that isn't stopping  some of the state's top individuals and teams from making some major waves. And this week's top performers came in out of state competition starting with the Southern Showcase in Alabama.

Southern Showcase

Belen Jesuit Coach Frankie Ruiz mentioned earlier this season that this group was special and the Wolverines lived up to that billing Saturday by capturing the team title in the boys championship division at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala., with senior Joshua Ruiz winning in 14:38.79, the fastest 5-kilometer cross country performance in Florida prep history.

Ruiz prevailed against some of the Southeast’s top runners, including fellow seniors Miles Ramer of Ravenwood High in Tennessee (14:39.50), Ethan Edgeworth from Cold Springs High in Alabama (14:40.85) and Jake Liebert of Wando High in South Carolina (14:43.67), who are all headed to the University of Tennessee.

The Belen Jesuit standout, who is committed to the University of Florida, broke the previous record of 14:41.45 set by Viera’s Michael Toppi at the 2021 Running Lane Championships at John Hunt Park.

“I have always known that Josh Ruiz is a special young man. What he did on Saturday was in line with how he lives every day of his running career. He runs without fear and with his team in mind all the time,” Coach Frankie Ruiz said. “That’s what drove him in Huntsville. What’s really cool is he has a sidekick that is also humble and team oriented.”

Freshman Marcelo Mantecon was seventh in 14:52.59, as the Wolverines won the team championship with 73 points, placing their top five in the top 45 with a split of 66 seconds and team average of 15:12.

Jesuit of New Orleans, which had a pair of athletes run sub-15:10 in addition to five scorers in the top 60, finished runner-up with 124 points.

“As young as he is, Marcelo Mantecon is nearly stride for stride with Josh in races and workouts," Coach Ruiz said. “They each bring out more in one another and the rest of the team. They all like to be consistently dependable when they race. They have shown me that they are driven by fun and with a tremendous amount of pride for representing Miami and Florida. These guys are fun to coach and I think they have even better shows up ahead. I like where they are now in the process but they know they can’t stay here.”

Florida was also well represented in the girls championship division, with the individual and team titles both going to Tennessee.

Jaynie Halterman of Independence High was victorious in 17:38.52 and Brentwood had five finishers in the top 20 to prevail with 66 points.

Maclay sophomore Caroline Couch secured sixth in 18:09.39, while the Pensacola Christian Academy duo of sophomore Jaimee Tutton (18:31.62) and senior sister RaeAnne Tutton (18:33.29) finished 20th and 22nd, respectively, and led PCA to a seventh-place effort with 261 points.

adidas XC Challenge

Elsewhere in the Southeast, Cardinal Mooney senior Addison Dempsey, the Bolles School girls and the Nease High boys ventured to the adidas XC Challenge at the WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C.

WakeMed also serves as the host of the NXR Southeast Regional in November.

Dempsey ran 17:38.2 and finished third behind Hannah Rae Shaffer of Cardinal Gibbons High in North Carolina, who won in 17:18.8, and Alyssa Sauro from Williamstown High in West Virginia, who clocked 17:26.2.

The 2A state runner-up as a junior, Dempsey finished 15th at the CHAMPS Sports South Regional last season. She ran sub-18 in those two races and did it again in Cary.

The Bolles School girls, one of the winningest programs in Florida cross country history, placed eighth in the girls championship race with 267 points, led by eighth-grader Sofie Stam, who was 27th in 18:44.6.

Episcopal of Jacksonville, which placed second as a team to Bolles School at last year’s Class 2A state meet, finished 18th with 492 points.

On the boys side, Nease senior and defending 4A state champion Matt Ryan finished 10th in the boys championship division in a personal-best 15:02.9.

Nease secured second in the boys championship with 202 points, trailing Calvert Hall College HIgh of Maryland (122 points). Nease had a 1-5 split of 78 seconds and a team average of 15:55.

Future star

Florida has had its fair share of young phenoms through the years and this season appears no different.

Seventh-grader Annabella Tomasic, the reigning FLYRA Middle School state cross country champion at the 3-kilometer distance, is in her first year competing against high school athletes at Lake Highland Prep.

After finishing runner-up in her first meet in 18:15.0, Tomasic has won her past three races, all with sub-18 performances, including a 17:48.82 victory Saturday at the prestigious Katie Caples Invitational, hosted by Bishop Kenny High in Jacksonville.

Not only did Tomasic prevail against the field by a minute, she also became the fourth runner in meet history to eclipse the 18-minute barrier joining former Ocala Vanguard standout Kelly Parrish in 2004 and 2005 (17:43), Carly McNatt (17:53) in 2018 and Kayley Delay (17:55) in 2016.

Parrish ran identical winning times of 17:43 in her 2004 and 2005 victories, and is the only other runner in meet history to have run faster than Tomasic.

Parrish went on to qualify for Foot Locker Nationals in both seasons. McNatt is a freshman at High Point and Delay recently completed her collegiate career at Washington and recently signed a professional contract with Brooks Running.