* Annabella Tomasic won the FSU Invitational/Pre-State meet last month
Photo: Chris Shonk/MileSplit Florida
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As we sit less than a month out from the end of the 2025 cross country season, experience is continuing to play a huge role, as it typically does. However, just like every year, there are a handful of young distance stars who don't follow the norm and march to the beat of their own drum.
Whether they were competing for a spot at Nike Cross Nationals or simply taking care of business on the way back to the state championship, these four athletes displayed grit and determination as they left their mark.
Check out this week's four Future Stars!
After a breakthrough season on the track back in the spring, where she notched PBs of 4:59 and 10:32 in the 1600m and 3200m, Ermitage has continually raised the bar throughout her first full cross-country season. Through 11 races, the sophomore has yet to finish outside of the top 10 and saved her two best performances of the year for last. A week ago, Ermitage finished third overall (16:19 for three miles) at the IHSA State Championships. This past Sunday, she held her own against the big dogs, finishing seventh in Terre Haute, Indiana, at NXR Midwest. Ermitage was the second-fastest underclassman on the day, trailing only first-place finisher Natasza Dudek (Ann Arbor Pioneer).
For the third time in seven races during his sophomore campaign, Zimmerman broke the 15:00 barrier, this time at NXR Northwest - the biggest race of his career. Out in the Northwest corner of the country, the recently crowned WIAA 1A State Champion finished inside the top 10 in his second trip to NXR Northwest. As a freshman, he placed 120th in the open race, and almost exactly a year later, he was nearly two minutes faster and just four seconds shy of an automatic ticket to Nike Cross Nationals. One of 14 boys who ran sub-15 in Spokane, Washington, Zimmerman proved he's on his way to greatness.
No stranger to the high school running landscape, Tomasic is continuing to do what she has done since seventh grade: excel. After an FHSAA 2A state title in 2023 and a third-place finish a year ago, the freshman has had a perfect season up to this point. Made up of wins at the New World Fall Spectacular and Pre-State, the experienced freshman is undefeated through six races and is coming off her third-straight District and Region titles. In her most recent Region victory, Tomasic established a new lifetime best, running 17:23.7 as she clocked a sub-18 performance for the 15th time in her career and the sixth time this fall.
After recent years of dominance from Tyrone Gorze, Tayvon Kitchen, Josiah Tostenson, and now teammate Garrett Faught, the Crater program has had a number of stars for White to learn from. Now that his freshman cross country season is coming to an end, it's safe to say he is going to fit in quite nicely. Wrapping up the fall with a 49th-place finish and a 10-second PB at NXR Northwest (15:27), White is in a good spot heading forward. For now, he sits No. 3 all-time in Oregon's freshman record books, ahead of all the Crater legends previously mentioned except Tostenson, the state class record holder (15:03). White played a pivotal role in Crater's fourth-place finish, coming just 33 points shy of an automatic NXN qualifier. He was the second freshman finisher in the Boys Championship division and one of only two under 15:40.