Belen Repeats as NXR Southeast Champions

The Belen Jesuit boys, running as Miami Havana, continued their exceptional year by repeating as the NXR Southeast Regional champions. Led by sensational sophomore Marcelo Mantecon's 5th-place overall finish, the team scored 94 points to outdistance the second-place Mt. St. Albans TC team which scored 134. Mantecon ran 14:55.60 and the boys had an average time of 15:27 and a 1-5 split of just 0.55 seconds. Sophomore Armando Cruz continues to improve in his sophomore season as the number two runner for the team, finishing 12th in the team race, with a 15:23.60. Senior Justin Ruiz was their third runner today finishing 16th in the team race with a 15:31.40. The number four runner today was senior Marco Prieguez who was 22 in 15:35.80. Senior Diego Magarino completed the scoring for the squad finishing in 40th with a 15:51. Senior Michael Brunet was in the sixth spot with a 15:52.90 and senior Joseph Socarras was seventh with a 16:09.90.

The Belen boys were not the only Florida runners at the NXR Regional today. Buchholz's senior Gino Palazzolo was seventh in the team race with a 15:07.3 leading the Dreamville boys to a 10th-place finish. Also going sub-16 was junior Demetrie Meyers of Buchholz. Meyers was 43rd with a 15:53.80. Junior Matthew Dodds of IMG, running for the Ascenders went 15:35.6, finishing 46th in the team race. His teammate, senior Pedro Ferreira de Abreu was 48th in 15:58.70. Senior Kenan Willard of Vero Beach, running unattached, finished 63rd with a 15:43.90, and Dillard senior Joshua Gammage was 81st with a 15:51.00.

In the Girl's Championship, two Florida girls were under 18:00, senior Grace Aldrich of the Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, running for the Miami Cyclones, was 23rd in 17:51.30, and eighth grader Avery Hartley of the Cornerstone Classical Academy, running unattached, was 27th in 17:54.