FHSAA State Champ and the NXR Southeast

Aug 09, 2025

The Belen Jesuit boys are the two-time defending NXN Southeast Regional champions. This year, they will have a very tough decision to make as a team and as individuals with the FHSAA State Championships and the NXN Southeast Regional on the same day!

Photo by Dan Laughlin

Choices. We are faced with making choices virtually every day, and the choices we make always have consequences, both positive and negative. A difficult choice will have to be made for a few individuals and teams who run cross country here in Florida this season.

Today, Florida, as well as the nation's top high school cross country athletes, run year-round. They train during the hot summer months to get ready for the fall cross-country season. Some then train and participate in the indoor track season, and finally, they prepare for the outdoor track season, run, and for some the season can stretch into late July or August. They pay a price and sacrifice a great deal to run at the highest level they can. The pinnacle of each season, and in particular the high school cross country season, is for a runner as an individual or for a team to qualify and run in the state meet. The post-season National meets or National championships, including the NXR Southeast Regional and the NXN Nike Cross Nationals, are just a dream for many. For the few individual runners and teams in Florida that have the talent to qualify and participate in the NXR Southeast in hopes of qualifying for the NXN Nationals, this year will require a tough choice. The FHSAA State Cross Country State Finals are set for November 22nd at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, and the NXR Southeast Regional qualifier in Cary, North Carolina, are scheduled on the same day.

What high school athlete doesn't want to compete in their State Championship? In Florida, it's estimated that 20,000 girls and boys participate in high school cross country. Participation has been steadily increasing over the years, with many schools having both varsity and JV teams. Middle School programs have been growing. The FHSAA has hosted a Boys State Championship since 1947. The first year for the girls' championship was 1974. Last year in the 1A-4A Boys' races, there were a total of 128 teams with 940 runners. The girls' races had 128 teams with 937 runners. The point being that it is an honor and a privilege to qualify for and run in the State Championships. Less than 10% of those participating in the sport advance to the State championship. Even fewer have the competitiveness to run at one of the national championships.

Marcelo Mantecon of Belen Jesuit was 5th at NXN Southeast Regionals and 15th at NXN. Shown here as he led the Belen boys to the NXR Southeast Regional team title.

Photo by Dan Laughlin

Last year, the FHSAA Cross Country State Finals were held on Friday, November 16. The NXR Southeast Regional was on Saturday, November 23. In 2023, the FHSAA State Championships were held on Friday, November 17, and the NXR Southeast Regional was held on November 19th. While the scheduling conflict this year does not affect many individuals or teams in Florida, it does affect, in particular, the boys' team from Belen Jesuit, as well as several other Florida boys and girls individuals and teams that may have wanted to participate. Belen, running as Miami Havana, is the two-time defending NXR Southeast Regional Champion. The Belen team went on to place 12th at NXN with Marcelo Mantecon of Belen Jesuit finishing 15th. He was the highest placing sophomore and only three underclassmen ran faster. They have also won 8 consecutive 3A Florida State Team titles, and Mantecon is the defending 3A state champion.

Additionally, in last year's NXR Southeast Regional, Florida had two other boys' teams in the top 20 with Buchholz HS running as Dreamville, placing 10th, and IMG Academy, running as the Acenders, placing 16th. On the girls' side last year, the girls from Bishop Kenny, running as Project K, placed 11th.

The Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) advertises itself as the ultimate cross country experience. This year, on December 6, the individual and club qualifiers from their eight regional championships will compete to be crowned the national champion. NXN started in 2004 as the Nike Team Nationals. It was an invitational meet that served as the unofficial team national championship in the United States for high school cross country. The meet and series is not sanctioned by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the high school sports governing body. As a result, the high school teams cannot represent their high school names directly; instead, they run under a club name with the members of their high school team. It is conducted under standard USATF Open competition rules. It was changed to the Nike Cross Nationals in 2008 to recognize individual achievements and teams. For an elite team or an elite high school runner, it is prestigious to qualify and compete in the series.

This year, however, with the NXR meet and the FHSAA State Championships on the same date, some Florida teams and elite individuals are being forced into a difficult choice: "Which do I compete in?" Is there a solution? The easiest solution would be for NXR to move the date of its Southeast Championship. The NXR South Regional is in College Station, TX, on Monday, November 24th. While not ideal, as it doesn't afford adequate recovery for the runners, it would allow the Florida individuals and teams to avoid making a choice. Of course, one recognizes other considerations, the organization of a meet, the course availability, scheduling, registration, officials, travel, etc.. This change, however, would not exclude the Florida runners this year and would allow for planning next year's races to avoid scheduling conflicts. Tough decisions for the hosts, and tough choices for some Florida runners and teams this year. It would be great if some of our best Florida runners and teams could avoid this tough choice as high school athletes and have the opportunity to run in their State Championship and at NXR and NXN.

Photo by Dan Laughlin