INDEX:
Florida State Championships
1A/2A/3A/4A:
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Five straight. It's hard to look past Belen Jesuit's fifth straight FHSAA Class 3A boys title (above).
Five years is a long time. That requires so much, from the dedication as a program, to athletes buying in and getting results.
And the Miami-based Wolverines, a program with an accomplished history, achieved that feat on Friday at the Florida State Cross Country Championships, dominating Fort Myers by 90 points, 42-132.
Better yet, the team was led by two sophomores, two juniors, two seniors -- Adam Magoulas, who finished ninth, was running through injury -- and a freshman. Meaning ...this team could be right back on the podium in 2022.
There were a ton of storylines to take away from the Florida's final race, though.
Chief among them? Caroline Wells and Rheinhardt Harrison.
Wells, a senior from Winter Springs and a Stanford signee, broke her own state meet record in Class 3A, becoming just the third girl all-time to go under 17 minutes at Apalachee Regional Park. She set a new Florida state record of 16:56.6.
Harrison, a Nease senior and Oregon signee, did the same in Class 4A, setting a new Florida state record with his time of 15:03.6, which was the third-fastest mark on the course all-time.
The team race in Class 4A was thrilling, too, with the championship coming down to the sixth-runner. Viera topped Creekside (104-104) by displacement.
In Class 3A, Bolles downed Satellite 67-75.
In the girls classifications, Class 1A Cambridge Christian had the best overall average among all teams and won the state meet merge, putting down an 18:42 average.
Related Links: Caroline Wells breaks Class 3A state meet record -- Frankie Ruiz on Belen Jesuit's fifth straight title
New York State Championships
Class A/B/C/D:
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The powerhouse battle of the day at the NYSPHSAA Championships was the Class A girls race, where cross country blue blood programs Saratoga Springs and Fayetteville-Manlius absolutely threw down.
The Blue Streaks, however, still had F-M's number, scoring a dominating scoreline of 26 points to the Hornets' 46, this coming despite a tremendous improvement coming from the F-M program in recent weeks.
Saratoga Springs is hard to beat right now, though. And two sophomores led the way, with Emily Bush (second) and Alycia Hart (fourth) both finishing in the top five.
For F-M, Izzie Sullivan's win in 17:40.8 wasn't enough, though the program did put Hanna Kaercher in the top 10 and saw its three and four finish in the top 25.
The Class A boys race was, without much surprise, a dominating Corning win.
The program had shown it was the top New York program for much of the year and much again proved it, scoring 30 points in the state-title race to beat Fayetteville-Manlius, which was second with 79.
The top individual performance, however, went to LaSalle Institute's Gitch Hayes, who covered the Chenango Valley State Park course in 15:37.1, tops among all boys.
The nationally-ranked runner earned a 193 speed rating.
Related Links: The Full New York State Championship New York MileSplit Recap
Virginia State Championships
Class 6A/5A/4A:
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In Class 4A, Western Albemarle fought off Grafton (96) and Loudoun Valley (120) in the team standings to score an impressive victory. Loudoun Valley's Graham Mussmon claimed victory with a time of 15:43.00, helping lead the Vikings to a third-place finish in head coach Kevin Shirk's first season with the team.
In the girls race, Battlefield's Sailor Eastman won Class 6A with a time of 17:29.00, earning a 150 speed rating, while Loudoun Valley's Ava Gordon won Class 4A in 17:53.00, producing a 142 speed rating.
Related Links: Boys State Meet Merge - Girls State Meet Merge
South Carolina State Championships
Class AAAA/AAAAA:
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Catawba Ridge senior Sam Rich produced his second straight SCHSL Class AAAA title with a winning time of 15:20.85.
The next-best performance in the boys' field was Jake Liebert of Wando, who went under 16 minutes to win Class AAAAA in 15:42.85.
Related Links: South Carolina State Championship interviews
New England Championships:
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Connecticut-based runners shined at the New England Championships, with Conard (CT) senior Gavin Sherry, coming off his CIAC State Open Championships win, dominating with a time of 15:54.8, which generated a top three speed rating on the season with a 198.
He was followed by Manchester's Aidan Puffer, who continues to look stronger and stronger, week after week. Puffer was second in 16:06.2, earning a 194.
Sherry's brother, Callum, was third in 16:17.5 while East Lyme's Luke Anthony was fourth in 16:19.00. He and Callum Sherry both earned 190 speed ratings.
Coe Brown Academy's Aidan Cox, running in just his fourth race, was seventh in 16:42.00.
And yet, perhaps the story of the day went to Union-32, the Montpelier, Vermont-based squad which overcame perennial programs like La Salle Academy (second) and Bishop Hendricken (fourth) to win.
U-32 scored 139 points, displacing La Salle by 23 points.
Ridgefield was third with 162 points.
In the girls race, Orono's Ruth White won with a similarly impressive outing, going 18:44.8 to earn a 145 speed rating.
Somers' Rachel St. Germain was second in 19:07.5 while Harwood Union's Ava Thurston was third in 19:30.8.
New Milford won the overall team title with 136 points.
Related Links: Ruth White and Milford Girls Best In New England
Maryland Championships
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The Severna Park boys rolled, scoring another Class 4A title with 56 points as it was led by a quadruple of seniors.
James Glebocki was fourth overall in 16:31.66, while Eddie Sullivan, Tyler Canada and Ronan Byrne followed.
Annapolis Senior Luke Coffin won the Class 4A race in 16:14.34.
In Class 3A, Centennial's Antonio Camacho-Bucks had the best overall performance with a time of 15:51.38 for a 186 speed rating.
On the girls side, Frederick's Caroline Gregory won Class 3A in 18:35.62 while Varri Higgins produced a Class 4A win in 18:37.31.