The Future Is Fast: Recapping The Action At FLYRA MS States

FLYRA MS State Championships
Adair Lyden


The 10th annual FLYRA Middle School State Championship was a fast one, with many breakout athletes that are sure to be on your radar come high school. The field of qualifying athletes has grown so large from 2010, that athletes were divided up by Private and Public/Charter school divisions. 

Public/Charter School Girls

The public/charter school girls were the first race off at Holloway Park on Saturday. Immediately Noelle Vu and Layla Fuller were your early leaders from the start. We have seen these two young ladies work off one another all season and this race was very similar to FLRunners.com Invitational back in September. 

Vu and Fuller took the race out through the first mile, with Vu separating herself from the rest of the field to finish with her first state championship win in a time of 11:01. Vu has been one of the top athletes at this meet since her sixth grade year, to close it off with a win was one for the books for the Mount Dora eighth grader. 
Fuller, only a sixth grader, took second in a speedy time of 11:10 with Annabelle Melberg, a seventh grader for Emerald Coast Middle School, taking third in a time of 11:13.37. 

It was Ruckel Middle School who took the Public School team title in an incredible 77 points, surpassing the field by 40 points with Fruit Cove Middle School taking second with 117 points.

Public/Charter School Boys


Tallahassee get ready for Patrick Koon on the high school scene next year. The Fairview eighth grader continued his dominating season with a state championship title, winning the Public/Charter school race in a time of 10:13. His favorite accomplishment of the weekend? Having a team transform a football player and a hurdler in to strong cross country athletes that ultimately were state runner-ups in the division. 
Jonah Kirspel, of Emerald Coast Middle School, Aidan Larosa, of East Ridge Middle, and Joshua Hindman, of Hillsborough Harriers, were the next three to battle down to the finish line -- all coming through at 10:29.

Kirspel led his team to victory with 81 points in the division over Fairview's 108. 

Private School Girls

Cambridge Christian sixth grader, Eliana Black, has been out on the high school scene dominating the 5k distance. This weekend, she took her distance down and tried her hand at the 3k, proving that she is one of the top sixth graders in the nation. 

Black and Elizabeth Williamson were the first to head through the mile mark working off one another. Black broke away shortly after and cruised to the finish in a time of 10:51 -- 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field and the earning the fastest time of the day on the Holloway Park course. 

Williamson was next to cross the finish line, coming through in 11:21 with fellow seventh grader, Lucrezia Gowdy rounding out the top three in 11:33. 

The Bolles ladies, led by Leila Bata, were the Private School champions with 43 points. Calvary Christian Academy took second with 65 points. 

Private School Boys

Belen and Bolles continued their cross country legacy, with their future squads making some noise this weekend on the Middle school scene. 

Belen's Joshua Ruiz, took the individual Private School title in a time of 10:19 -- a strong PR for the eighth grader. Ruiz led his team to a 40 point victory over Bolles with a team average of 10:55. 

Calvary Christian's Hunter Morgan was the next to cross the finish line in a time of 10:31 with Storm Weber, of Berkeley Prep, rounding out the top three in a time of 10:35.92. 

The Bolles squad was led by eighth grader William Morales who finished sixth in a time of 10:39 -- his first time under the 11 minute barrier and a great way to cap off his middle school years.

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