The 2010s: FLRunners All-Decade XC Athletes & Programs

Florida Boys All-Decade Individuals

We sorted through all the results to pick out our top seven athletes of the decade.  Times, state titles, margin of victory, and number of national qualifying performances all had a contributing factor to narrowing down the field. In no particular order, meet our All-Decade Squad below.


Charles Hicks (Bolles)

Graduation Class: 2019

Highlight Race: 2018 Manhattan HS Invitational Eastern States 4k Win

Over the course of his career, Hicks has won two 2A FHSAA Cross Country State titles in 2017 and 2018. He was state runner-up his sophomore year with a time of 15:09 and placed fifth his freshman season. In his senior season, Hicks led the Bolles squad to a record tying performance of 21 points at the state meet to win the team title. He also led the Bulldogs to two national qualifying performances at the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional where he won individually in 2018. 


Sukhi Khosla (Leon)

Graduation Class: 2015

Highlight Race: 2014 FSU Invitational (Pre-State)

This Leon graduate holds two state titles to his name (2013, 2014) and qualified for Nike Cross Nationals his senior season with a second place performance at the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional. His Apalachee Regional Park course record of 14:59 still stands and his 15:01 performance at state his senior season is the second fastest state time of the decade -- the top time from the ARP course.


Jimmy Clark (Creekside)

Graduation Class: 2011

Highlight Race: 2010 Foot Locker South Regional 

Clark kicks off this decade, but his top national performances still stand today as Florida's best in the past ten years. The Creekside graduate dropped the hammer in the Foot Locker South Regional qualifier to be the last Florida winner of this race so far in history. He followed that performance up with a seventh place finish at Nationals -- the best finish by a Florida boy over the course of these ten years. In this decade, Clark has won one state title. He finished out his high school career with a 14:53.29 PR to win the flrunners.com Invitational 11. 


Michael Phillips (Chiles)

Graduation Class: 2018

Highlight Race: 2017 FHSAA Cross Country State Finals

Phillips transferred onto the Florida running scene his sophomore season from Ohio, but he quickly became a Florida staple in his tenure for Chiles. His junior year, he won his first Florida state title with a time of 15:30 on the Apalachee Regional Park course. His senior year, he took the field by over 15 seconds to win his second state title with a time of 15:14 to give Chiles a fighting chance against Belen. Phillips qualified for Foot Locker Nationals that year and took home a 16th place finish as Florida's only boy to qualify for the meet that year. 


Franco Martins (Windermere Prep)

Graduation Class: 2015

Highlight Race: 2014 FHSAA Cross Country State Finals

During his career for Windermere Prep, Martins took home two state titles and traveled to Nike Cross Nationals once in 2014. Over the past decade, Martins has been one of the top 1A boys with his 14:59 high school PR at Nike Cross Nationals Southeast. The Windermere Prep alumnus improved drastically as he started his career in 2011 with a 16:52 PR at the Edgewater Invitational and brought that time down to a 14:59 by the end of his senior season. 


Steven Cross (Merritt Island HS)

Graduation Class: 2016

Highlight Race: 2014 Foot Locker South Regional

This Merritt Island alumnus took home one individual state titles over the course of his career and traveled to California twice for Foot Locker Nationals as a junior and senior. Cross went from running an 18:02 his freshman year to miss out on qualifying individually for the state meet, to earning all-state honors his sophomore year with a time of 15:36. Cross finished second to Kholsa in 2014 at the 3A state meet as a junior with a then PR of 15:23. He came back that next year to win the meet and then run a new  PR of 15:01 to qualify him for his second and final Foot Locker Nationals run in 2015. 


Ryan Pickering (John I. Leonard HS)

Graduation Class: 2011

Highlight Race: 2010 flrunners.com Invitational 11

Ryan Pickering along with Jimmy Clark kick off this decade with their state title wins in 2010 -- not to mention their epic battle in the Race of Champions at the flrunners.com Invitational 11 that ended with two sub 15 finishes. Pickering won the 4A individual title with a 15:03 on the Little Everglades course. He then went on to qualify for Foot Locker Nationals the next week at the South Regional with a tenth place, 15:10 finish. A few weeks later, Pickering shocked himself and Florida with a stellar ninth place, All-American Finish at Nationals with a time of 15:25. 

Honorable Mention: