The Florida Elementary and Middle School cross-country and distance-running base has been developing and getting stronger each year for both boys and girls. At the 2025 AAU Cross Country Nationals at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville, TN, last Saturday, one of the top Florida clubs, the Red Sea Running Club, demonstrated the strength of this growth. They came away from the championships with one National champion, one runner-up, 3 All-Americans, and five medalists.
On a cold, muddy course, fourth grader Aliana Alvarez won the 9-year-old 3K AAU National Championship. Alvarez finished with an incredible time of 11:18.20 on the rolling hills, after two restarts and a virtual mud pit for the first 200m, Alvarez took control of the race over runners from North Carolina and Colorado to win her 2nd national Championship of the year. She won the Middle School XC Nationals 2K title in November with a time of 7:17.00.
Jimena Nava-Garcia placed 2nd in the 15/16-year old girls 5K in 19:44.8 to earn individual National Runner-up status. Jimena charged hard through the pack to reach the leaders and broke away in a group of three after the 2K. The course conditions were so poor that the race turned into a test of half-racing, half-survival. After briefly taking the lead at 4K, Jimena and Louisiana high school State Champion Grace Keene battled to the finish, with Jimena finishing second to Keene, who has run 17:21.70 this year. The conditions were so difficult that, among multiple state champions, only three girls ran sub-20s, and no boy dipped below 16:15.
Navid Lozano was Red Sea's 3rd All-American of the day, placing 7th in the 13-year-old 4K division with a time of 14:04.3, while twin Emiliano Lozano was a top-25 medalist, finishing 21st in 14:37.1. Ninth grader Nicholas Alvarez, was the top performer from Florida in the 15-18 boys age group finishing 12th in 17:39.7. Red Sea Running Club's final national medalist came in the 10-year-old 3K girls race, where fourth grader Avery Maldonado ran 12:53.8 and placed 21st.
