Spanish River cross country successfully defended its home turf against a field of South Florida’s top runners this weekend.
Seniors Casey Sangely
(15:46.41) and Alba Antunez-Perez (18:03.19) each posted personal-best times to win their respective races at the 44th annual Spanish River Invitational on Saturday morning at the newly named Rick Rothman Cross Country Course at Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park in Boca Raton.Led by Antunez-Perez and a talented group of underclassmen, the Spanish River girls captured the team championship with all five scoring runners finishing among the top 16. The Sharks’ boys team placed fourth behind G. Holmes Braddock, Columbus and Doral Academy.
The results further cement Spanish River’s status as Palm
Beach County’s premier cross-country program.
Sangely’s older brother, Preston, won the Class 4A state championship last season, becoming the first Palm Beach County boys runner to capture a state title since 2015. Antunez-Perez also excelled at the state meet, finishing sixth and sweeping The Palm Beach Post’s Cross Country Runner of the Year honors with Preston Sangely.
While Preston’s historic 2025 season drew much of the attention, Casey Sangely has long established himself among the county’s elite runners. His winning time Saturday marked the first sub-16-minute cross-country race of his career and currently ranks 26th in Florida this season.
Antunez-Perez appears poised for a breakthrough of her own. The Spain native’s personal-best 18:03.19 ranks seventh in Florida this year, and only five runners statewide have broken the 18-minute barrier so far this season.
In Friday’s Class 1A/2A race, FAU High’s Michael Gomez earned his first victory of the season, crossing the finish line in 16:13.33.
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@usatodayco.com.
44th Annual Spanish River XC Invitational (Top Finishers)
Boys Race of Champions
- No . 1 — Casey Sangely, Sr., Spanish River (15:16.41)
- No. 9 — Elijah Arterburn, Sr., Atlantic Christian (16:02.54)
- No. 18 — Miguel Gutierrez Guzman, So., Suncoast (16:28.50)
- No. 22 — Myles Jefferson, Sr., Dwyer (16:32.15)
- No. 25 — Marcus Benavente, Sr., Spanish River (16:39.26)
- No. 26 — Titus Fike, Sr., Jupiter (16:39.46)
- No. 28 — Jude Sandala, Jr., Dwyer (16:40.24)
- No. 36 — Aiden Sandmaier, So., Spanish River (16:49.46)
- No. 40 — Spencer Singerman, Jr., Spanish River (16:54.14)
- No. 41 — Will Irby, Fr., Spanish River (16:55.11)
Girls Race of Champions
- No . 1 — Alba Antunez-Perez, Sr., Spanish River (18:03.19)
- No. 4 — Samantha Helfant, Sr., Palm Beach Central (19:16.74)
- No. 7 — Makaela Morilla, So., Spanish River (19:29.80)
- No. 12 — Brooke Thunberg, So., Spanish River (19:51.30)
- No. 13 — Delaney Ulmer, Jr., Jupiter (19:51.52)
- No. 15 — Lailani Levy, So., Spanish River (19:57.88)
- No. 21 — Julia D'Emic, Jr., Spanish River (20:16.95)
- No. 30 — Olivia Downes, So., Spanish River (16:49.46)
- No. 32 — Emma Sandoval, Sr., Spanish River (20:57.50)
- No. 40 — Savanna Boettge, Jr., Jupiter (21:08.60)
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Casey Sangely, Alba Antunez-Perez lead Spanish River XC at home meet
