FACA Senior All-Star Classic: Boys Race Preview



On Saturday, many of the all-star seniors of the state of Florida will line up on the Holloway Park course. This race will mark the end of their high school cross country seasons for some, and others will use this race as a tune up before Footlocker and NXR next week. 

We broke down each team to give you a glimpse on our predictions on how the race could go down on Saturday. Here is the FACA boys race preview: 

East Boys: 

Competitors, now teammates, many will look to Brady Zimmerman to lead the East boys. The Florida Southern commit, has the fastest time for this bunch with his 16:12 performance at the state meet last week. The Holloway Park course also happens to be the George Jenkins senior's home course. 

Zimmerman and Matthew Cummings, out Cocoa Beach, will work together to lead the East boys. Cummings has yet to run on the Holloway Park course and ran a 16:14 last week. Cummings has had a very consistent season in the mid 16s. 

Andy Martinez, out of Viera, has yet to run the Holloway Park course this season, but his 16:17 at the state meet and 3A District 13 title, show his strength going into this run. 

West Orange duo, Nicholas Miller and Nicholas Khan will work together for the East boys. Miller ran a 16:22 at state and has had a consistent season running 16:20s-16:30s on a variety of courses. Khan ran 16:44 at state and could pack up with his teammate to beat his state performance. 

Trent Shackelford, out of Lake Brantley, ran a 16:42 at the state meet and has had a smooth progression through the season -- he started with a 17:26 performance at the Mike Gibson Summertime Run. 

Martin County senior, Billy Buntin, ran 17:24 at the flrunners.com Invite and Seffner Christian meets at Holloway Park this season. HIs 16:38 at the state meet last week is a good indicator of what Buntin can do with cooler temperatures and fresher legs. 

Joshua Matzner, out of Dr. Phillips, was the 4A district 4 Champion this season. he ran a 17:37 at the flrunners.com Invitational back in September and has improved his season to a 16:43 at the state meet. 

The East boys will be coached by Danny Sanchez of Jensen Beach. Coach Sanchez led the Jensen boys to a third place district and a fifth place region finish this season. 

North Boys:

Cade Monk, out of Buchholz, is your North boys leader with a 15:52 PR and 16:00 flat district performance. A stomach bug kept him from racing the state meet full-force, but mental toughness pushed him to a 16:55 performance. 

Sukeil Foucha, out of Piper HS, ran a huge PR of 16:22 at the state meet. He has race very few times this season, so having another race with great weather will be a great addition to his season. 

Deiondre Williams, out of Homestead, followed his 16:36 PR at region with a 16:43 performance at the state meet last week. We saw Williams have a breakout race, winning the GMAC Championship a month back. 

Tanner Rosolino, out of Father Lopez Catholic, ran a 17:54 at the Jim Ryun Invitational back in August. This past weekend, Rosolino ran a 16:53 PR at the state meet. With fast conditions on Saturday, Rosolino could have another sub 17 minute day. 

East Lake senior, Michael Welborn, missed out on the state championship last week. He finished 18th at his region meet, just missing his PR by a second with his 16:56 performance. He has run the Holloway hills three times this season and with the right conditions and being pushed by his teammates, Welborn, has a strong shot to break that 17 minute barrier on the Holloway Park course. 

Hunter McAdams, out of Newsome HS, ran a speedy PR at the state meet his past week of 16:49. McAdams has significantly improved over the course of this season. Back in September, the Newsome senior, ran a 17:59 at the flrunners.com Invite. 

Ian Rivera-Garcia, out of Lely HS, and Alex Fiorillo, out of Admiral Farragut Academy, finish out the North boys squad. Garcia PR'ed at the state meet with his first sub 17 minute performance, running 16:57 on the ARP course. Fiorillo ran his season opener on the Holloway Park course at the Jim Ryun Invitational in a time of 18:09. Fiorillo has improved his time by nearly a minute, running a 17:02 at state this past week. 

The North boys will be coached by all-star coach, Eric Nelson of Pensacola Catholic. Coach Nelson led both his boys and girls Pensacola Catholic teams to the 2A Region 1 meet and led the girls a qualifying performance for the state meet.

South Boys:

The South Florida guys are bringing the heat to this competition. 

Tommy Rodriguez has the fastest state time for this group of guys, running a 16:23 last week. Back in September, we saw Rodriguez take the Varsity boys race in a time of 17:09 on the Holloway Park course at the flrunners.com invitational. With much cooler temperatures than back in September, Rodriguez has a strong shot to not only break 17, but get close to his state time. 

Aydan Child, out Marathon, ran a time of 16:31 at the state meet last week. Child raced the flrunners.com Invitational and ran a time of 17:25. Child has a PR of 16:27 and will add to the speed of this group. 

Samuel Munera, out of Jupiter, and Owen Allen, out of Key West, ran the state meet and had very consistent performances. Munera ran a time of 16:40 and Allen ran 16:41. Munera has been on the Holloway Park course this year and has recorded a 17:03 performance. These two will be able to work and push one another on Saturday. 

Spanish River senior, Will Noonan, will be ready to race fast on Saturday. Noonan ran a PR of 16:21 at his regional meet and a 16:32 at Great American earlier in the year. Noonan ran a time of 17:16 and will be ready to take this time down on the Holloway Park course. 

Colin Breslin, out of St. Thomas Aquinas, will add to this group. His 16:34 performance at the state meet and his experience this season on the Holloway Park course is one that his teammates can look up to. Breslin ran a time of 17:16 on a very humid day. With cooler temperatures and fresh legs, Breslin will be ready to rock and roll on Saturday. 

Isaac Louigene, out of Coral Springs, has yet to race on the Holloway hills this season, but his 16:49 performance last week demonstrates he is ready to get after it and have yet another sub 17 minute performance. 

Isaias De la Puente, out of Forest Hill, will be a wildcard for this squad. He is capable of a mid 16 minute performance. This season he ran an 18:08 at the flrunners.com Invitational and last week he ran a 17:01. De la Puente opened his season with a 16:30 performance so, we know he is confident running in the sub 17 minute range. 

The South boys will be coached by all-star coach, Doug Horn, of Spanish River HS. Coach Horn led the Spanish River Sharks to conference, district, and regional sweeps. 

West Boys:

Like the girls race, the West boys seem to be the favorite to win the All-Star team title. With the majority of the team in the low to mid 16 minute range - consistently - throughout the season, the West boys will be very tough to beat. 

The West team is led by Gator commit, Hugh Brittenham, and USF commit, Jacob Hensley.

Brittenham finished fifth at the state meet in a time of 15:55. The Estero senior has had a very consistent season. He was runner-up at the flrunners.com Invitational and ran a 16:01 on the Holloway Park course -- which happens to be the fastest Holloway Park time amongst the entire group of FACA seniors. 

Hensley ran a 15:58 at the state meet, a few weeks after he announced his commitment to the University of South Florida. The Citrus HS senior, ran a time of 16:21 at the flrunners.com invitational this season and will lead the West boys along with Brittenham. 

Nickolas Kamen, out Gulf Coast HS, will go into the race Saturday after a 16:13 performance at the state meet. Kamen ran 16:47 at flrunners.com Invitational back in September. With this competition, Kamen, Brittenham, and Hensley could really push one another to sub 16 minute performances. 

Steinbrenner senior, Ryan Gorman, helped lead his team to a runner-up state finish this past weekend with his 16:26 performance. Gorman has yet to race on the Holloway hills, but he has had a very consistent championship season and is looking to add another great performance to his record. 

Alex Quesada-Perez, out of Gaither HS, raced the Holloway Park course back in August at the Jim Ryun Invitational in a time of 17:03. Since then, Perez ran a PR at the farm in time of 16:26 and followed that performance with a 16:34 run at the state meet. 

John Jessup, out of Gulf HS, and John Perez, out of Port Charlotte HS, have had ver strong progressions this season. Jessup ran a time of 16:31 at the state meet and will race on the Holloway hills for the first time this season. Perez ran a 17:23 at flrunners.com early this season and finished strong at the state meet with his 16:32 performance. 

Sunlake senior, Dominic Burleson, ran a 16:37 at the state meet last week. Burleson ran a 17:50 earlier this season at the flrunners.com Invitational. With great weather and a supportive team like this one, a sub 16:40 performance could be in Burleson's future. 

The west boys will be led by all-star coach Brian Olitsky out of Estero HS. Coach Olitsky led the Estero boys to a runner-up district finish and a top three regional finish. 

Follow us on twitter @flrunners to catch live updates and all the fun from the FACA All-Star Classic. 

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