What's It Take to Be Ranked in the Top 20 Boys' 5K in FL XC

Joshua Ruiz of Belen Jesuit has the fastest Florida time over the last ten years with his 2023 win at the Southern Showcase, with a time of 14.38.79.

The 2025 AAU Junior Olympics in Houston, TX are this weekend.  MileSplit will be streaming the races beginning at 9:00 am on the 26th.  After the JO's, all of our attention will be focused on the upcoming Florida High School and Middle School Cross Country seasons.  Florida has a rich tradition of talented distance runners. Just how good are you?  What does it take to be ranked in the Top 20 Boys' 5K in Florida Cross Country? 

We revisited the 2014-2024 Florida Top 20 rankings and compared the No. 1-ranked time through the 20th-ranked time for each season.  From 2014 to 2024, the sub-15:00 mark was run nine times, with the fastest 5K cross-country time recorded in 2023, when Joshua Ruiz of Belen Jesuit ran a 14:38.79 to win the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, AL. The fastest time of the 20th-ranked runner of the eleven seasons also occurred in the 2023 season.  Liam Jordan of Berkeley Prep ran 15:24.50 to finish 12th in the Adidas XC Challenge in Cary, NC. The average time from 2014 to 2024 was 14:43.09 for the top-ranked runners. The average spread from the number one-ranked time to the twentieth-ranked time was 46.71 seconds. Only one runner in the eleven seasons was ranked No.1 twice.  Charles Hicks of Bolles was the No. 1-ranked runner in Florida in 2016 and 2018.  He was number two in 2017.

Bottom line is, if you are going to get into the top 20 rankings in the 2025 cross country season, you will probably need to run sub-15:40.  To be the No. 1 runner, a sub-15:00.

Other Takeaways

-In the eleven years, only 22 Florida boys have run sub-15:00 for the 5K in Cross Country.

- Only three of the number one-ranked runners over the 11 years ran their times in the State.

-49 of the 220 (22%) Top 20 rankings for all eleven seasons came in postseason races.

-14  were run at the Footlocker South Regionals.

-12  were run at the Nike Cross National SE Regions.

-11 were run at RunningLane National Cross Country Championships. (Started in 2020)

-16 were run at the Great American XC Festival. Cary, NC

In State 

-26 were run at the FSU Invitational (Pre-State).

-23 were run at the  FHSAA Cross Country State Finals.

13- were run at the New World Fall Spectacular starting in 2018. 

41-were run at FHSAA Districts and Regionals, questioning the actual distance of some District and Regional courses.

-The most popular meet is the FSU Invitational (Pre-State) on the Apalachee Regional Park (Tallahassee) course.  49 of the fastest times were run at the FSU Invitational (Pre-State) and the FHSAA State Finals.  Perhaps because of the number of ranked athletes at the FSU Invitational (Pre-State) meet and the FHSAA Cross Country State Finals.

-Fastest courses in the state - Apalachee Regional Park and the New World Fall Spectacular course in Jacksonville.

Boys' 2014-2024 #1-20 Rankings, Times and Difference