A Preview of Friday's Cecil Field Summer Classic

Cecil Field Summer Classic
Mark Stonecipher

Fl MileSplit is livestreaming the Cecil Field Summer Classic on Aug 23rd. Watch as Florida's top returning Boys' and Girls' XC talents go head-to-head in the early season! 

WATCH:  The Cecil Field Summer Classic




BOYS ELITE RACE   Pre-Season 2024 Rankings

In the Boy's Elite race, the numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 16, 18 and 19 ranked returners in the Pre-Season rankings are scheduled to race. This early-season race may be one of the best we see all year and one that might see the top 10 all go under 15:30. Only three boys, including the course record holder Patrick Koon of Leon, have gone sub-15:30 on the course.  Koon's record of 15:15 was set in 2021 as he was chased by Matthew Stratton of St. John's Country Day School  who was 2nd in 15:21, and Trinity Preps Nick Carpenter who was 3rd in 15:26.00.

The pre-race favorite is Belen Jesuit So. Marcelo Mantecon.  He is the #1 ranked boy in All-Divisions.  He was 2nd in last year's FHSAA 3A State meet with a 15:09.90 to Patrick Koon who took the title in 15:02.10.  Mantecon has a PR of 14:48.00 in a 3rd place finish at the Great American XC Festival.  He was 23rd at Nike Cross Nationals in 15:37.10.  On the track he was outstanding with an 8:50.02 3200 and a 4:10.88 1600.  He leads an experienced Belen team that was 4th at the Nike Cross Nationals and returns four of their top seven, including Seniors Justin Ruiz (4), Tiago Socarras (11) and Diego Magarino (18).

Indian Rocks Christian Sr. Blake Young was 3rd last year in 15:58.00.  He was runner-up in the 1A State Championships last fall.  He is the #2 ranked returner in the pre-season rankings.   Friday evening he should be one of the front runners in a race that may challenge Koon's course record.   A lot may depend on early season conditioning for all the runners, but also watch for #6 ranked, Gulf Breeze So. Andrew Beroset to be in the mix up front.  Beroset, like Mantecon, had an outstanding Freshman year.  He was 4th in the 3A FHSAA State Meet in 15:25.00, and on the track in the FHSAA 3A State Meet, he was 4th in the 1600 with a 4:11.27. Beroset and Mantecon's 4:11.27 and 4:10.88 are Florida Freshmen #1 & 2 All-Time for the 1600m and nationally they were ranked #1 and #3 in the 1600 in 2024. Their 1600 times also ranked them #7 and #10 All-Time nationally.

Two other top 20 returners from the 2023 race are:  Sr. Gino Palazzolo of Buchholz who was 5th in 16:00.00.  He is the #7 ranked pre-season runner.   Jr. Samuel Freas of Buchholz is the 19th ranked returner.  He was 17 last year in 16:22.00.  Palazzolo has run 15:27.  He ran a 9:05 3200m at RunningLane last spring.  Freas has run 15:58.70

Others to watch:

Jr. Walker Elrod of Grace Christian Academy (Bainbridge, GA) is the #12 ranked runner in Georgia with a 15:32.01.

Sr. Cade Culpepper of Sunlake is the #10 ranked returner.  He has run 15:38.8.

Sr. Parker Adams of The Bolles School.   Adams is ranked 19th and has a 5K XC PR of 15:46 and had an excellent spring on the track running a 4:13.61 1600m and an 8:58.00 3200m. 

Sr. Jonathan Pena of Westminster Academy.  Pena is ranked 16th in the rankings.  He was 3rd in the 1A FHSAA State Championship last year running 15:57.00 and has run 15:43.30.  He was 2nd in the 1A State 100m with a 4:18.59. 

Sr. Tanner Andrade-Brinsko of Ponte Vedra is ranked 23rd.  He has run 15:49 and had an excellent spring on the track running a 9:25.50 3200m, a 4:14.57 1600m and a 1:52.12 800m.  

BOY'S TEAM RACE  Florida's Top 100 Fastest Returning Boys XC Squads by Div

In the Elite Boys Team Race, 7 of the Top 10 teams return from last year's race. Creekside is ranked pre-season #6.  Bolles #7 and Buchholz #8.  Indian Rocks, the defending Cecil Field champion and the defending 1A State Team Champion is in a rebuilding year and ranked 30th.  Bolles is the defending 2A State Champion, Buchholz was 2nd in the 4A Championship, and Indian Rocks is the defending 1A Team champion.  Creekside was 4th in the 4A Championship.

2023 Team Race

1 Indian Rocks Christian     66      3+6+8+24+25 (74+135)      0:39 1-5 Split | 16:16 Avg

2 Bolles HS    121      7+22+26+27+39 (44+56)       0:50 1-5 Split | 16:34 Avg

3 Buchholz HS    127      5+12+15+17+78      1:38 1-5 Split | 16:30 Avg

4 Creekside HS    168      4+14+32+51+67 (79+83)      1:31 1-5 Split | 16:45 Avg

6 Fleming Island HS    207      9+11+58+59+70 (80+87)      1:22 1-5 Split | 16:56 Avg

7 Bartram Trail HS    252      30+46+50+60+66 (90+118)      0:44 1-5 Split | 17:11 Avg

9 Richmond Hill    263      10+19+47+72+115 (120)      2:07 1-5 Split | 17:07 Avg

2024 Top Returning Team Rankings


6741
1) Asa Swope16:05.5052
2) Jackson Lafser16:17.2074
3) William Foulk16:39.80165
4) Samuel Cassiani16:46.50190
5) Eli Scharf16:57.90260
Average Time: 16:33.38
Total Time: 1:22:46.90
1-5 Split: 52.40
6) Ishir Jha17:38.20502
7) Gavin Stopa17:38.70508
7
Bolles HS (FL)
763
1) Parker Adams15:46.1019
2) Alexander Ruge16:15.7471
3) Julian BARRE16:42.00177
4) Jack Camp16:47.88199
5) Henry Camp17:04.70297
Average Time: 16:31.28
Total Time: 1:22:36.42
1-5 Split: 1:18.60
6) Max Truog17:27.52432
7) Aidan Chandler17:38.19501
8785
1) Gino Palazzolo15:27.007
2) Samuel Freas15:58.7038
3) Calum Watson16:27.50112
4) Bennett Sager16:37.00149
5) Quinn Meyer17:35.00479
Average Time: 16:25.04
Total Time: 1:22:05.20
1-5 Split: 2:08.00
6) Zachery Sain18:01.00705
7) Finn Mcdermott18:24.20947
301385
1) Blake Young15:18.592
2) Ethan Esposito15:57.0034
3) Anthony Hickey17:14.60352
4) Andres Luna17:30.80450
5) Micah -Josiah Berry17:43.30547
Average Time: 16:44.86
Total Time: 1:23:44.29
1-5 Split: 2:24.71
6) Crosby Kappeler18:11.20801
7) Cooper Ryan18:11.60806

This year, however, there are three other teams entered that change the Team Race dynamics:  Belen Jesuit, Sunlake and G. Holmes Braddock.  Belen Jesuit is the #1 Ranked team in Florida.  They were the 3A Team Champions last year, scoring just 33 points, and 4th at Nike Cross Nationals.  They return 4 of last year's scorers.  This will be their first outing of the year and could set the stage for a Belen boy's team that may challenge for the National Championship.  

187
1) Marcelo Mantecon14:48.001
2) Justin Ruiz15:23.734
3) Joseph Socarras15:40.7911
4) Diego Magarino15:44.0518
5) Marco Prieguez16:05.7053
Average Time: 15:32.45
Total Time: 1:17:42.27
1-5 Split: 1:17.70
6) Armando Cruz16:21.5086
7) Adrian Almeida16:22.8494

Sunlake comes into the race ranked Pre-Season #4 and are led by the #3 and #10 ranked returning boys.

4606
1) Christian Hindman15:22.473
2) Cade Culpepper15:38.8110
3) Joaquin Abansas16:06.2754
4) Oscar Brown16:20.4084
5) Jadon Sparer17:31.78455
Average Time: 16:11.95
Total Time: 1:20:59.73
1-5 Split: 2:09.31
6) Drew Zevin17:36.36492
7) Jason Stempien17:48.00595

G. Holmes Braddock enters as the #5 Pre-Season ranked Florida team based on their average time of 16:32.04 and a 1-5 split of just 49.88 seconds.

5706
1) Mauricio Escalona16:00.0043
2) Liano Lacayo16:34.30140
3) Andre Santos16:37.25152
4) Luccas Torres16:38.78159
5) Jacob Castanedo16:49.88212
Average Time: 16:32.04
Total Time: 1:22:40.21
1-5 Split: 49.88
6) Jhonny Felix16:53.40236
7) Nicolas Shaw16:58.60264