Not even a record-shattering Florida heat wave can stop the onset of Florida's outdoor distance running season.
High school cross country formally opened on Monday, Aug. 17 with meets available from now until the regular season closed on Halloween.
The 2025 high school cross country season set a high bar for this year's runners to meet: Spanish River's Preston Sangely won the Class 4A individual state championship and his fellow boys runners chipped in to grab a third-place finish. On the girls side, Spanish River took state runner-up as a team.
While Sangely graduated, a number of talented Sharks runners are back this year, particularly on the girls side. There are plenty more talented cross country runners in Palm Beach County this fall.
Here's
a look at some of the top returning runners:
Get discount to stream games on NFHS Network
Boys
Michael Gomez, Sr., FAU High
2025 Finishes
- Personal record: 16:12.40
- Meet wins: 2
- State: 6th
- Region: 6th
- District: 3rd
- County: 5th
Myles Jefferson, Sr., Dwyer
- Personal record: 16:28.50
- Meet wins: 0
- State: N/A
- Region: 30th
- District: 11th
- County: 14th
Avery Rand, So., Spanish River
- Personal record: 15:56.00
- Meet wins: 0
- State: 39th
- Region: 23th
- District: 10th
- County: 4th
Casey Sangely, Sr., Spanish River
- Personal record: 15:58.70
- Meet wins: 1
- State: 55th
- Region: 16th
- District: 3rd
- County: 2nd
Matthew Ward, Sr., Jupiter
- Personal record: 16:24.00
- Meet wins: 1
- State: 66th
- Region: 22nd
- District: 5th
- County: 7th
Honorable Mention
- Marcus Benavente, Sr., Spanish River
- Colton Langley, Jr., Spanish River
- Erik Moss, Jr., Spanish River
- Jude Sandala, Jr., Dwyer
- Matthew Wallace, Jr., King's Academy
Girls
Alba Antunez-Perez, Sr., Spanish River
- Personal record: 18:04.50
- Meet wins: 0
- State: 6th
- Region: 5th
- District: 2nd
- County: 3rd
Tessa Brown, Jr., Cardinal Newman
- Personal record: 19:06.77
- Meet wins: 3
- State: 47th
- Region: 10th
- District: 3rd
- County: 11th
Babarita Jedlicka, So., St. John Paul II
- Personal record: 19:04.80
- Meet wins: 2
- State: 21st
- Region: 3rd
- District: 5th
- County: 6th
Lailani Levy, So., Spanish River
- Personal record: 17:46.87
- Meet wins: 1
- State: 11th
- Region: 7th
- District: 4th
- County: 2nd
Makaela Morilla, So., Spanish River
- Personal record: 19:08.00
- Meet wins: 0
- State: 21st
- Region: 16th
- District: 5th
- County: 10th
Honorable Mention
- Julia D'Emic, Jr., Spanish River
- Erin Cabrera-Hock, Jr., Saint Andrew's
- Samantha Helfant, Sr., Palm Beach Central
- Brooke Thunberg, So., Boca Raton
- Delaney Ulmer, Jr., Jupiter
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County cross country preview: 20 runners to watch
Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.
