Competing against the nation's best, the Winfield, Ala. native navigated two rounds of qualifying to become just the third collegiate freshman to reach the finals of the USA Championships in more than two decades.

Florida State's home course - Apalachee Regional Park - will be the epicenter for some of the finest cross country racing in the South this fall when the Seminoles host the 42nd annual FSU Invitational, October 10 and 11, 2014.

Florida State’s stars shined on the final day of the Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, with the men and women combining for three wins, including a championship meet record for senior Amanda Winslow in the 3000-meter run.

Marvin Bracy isn’t the kind of person to sneak up on anyone. Usually the music blaring from his Beats headphones gives him away. Of course, so does his prowess as one of the most decorated high school sprinters of all time.

The penultimate event in NCAA Division I cross country is coming to Tallahassee for the first time in 2012 as Florida State has been selected as the host for the NCAA South Regional Cross Country Championships. Tallahassee has also submitted a bid with the Florida High School Athletics Association to host the 2012 state cross country championships at the ARP on November 17.

Ngoni Makusha capped his Florida State track & field career with an NCAA Championship performance to remember in June.

Under controlled conditions the Florida State cross country teams knocked off some rust in Friday's first full varsity event of the season and came away from the Clemson Invitation encouraged about the future. (via www.seminoles.com)

In the most highly-participated fan voting to date, Florida State’s Ngoni Makusha and Texas A&M’s Jessica Beard were the top earners in online balloting for collegiate track & field’s most coveted award – The Bowerman. With nearly 83,000 total fan votes cast since August 1st, a record by over three times, the duo earned one first-place vote apiece towards the award’s final vote tally. The winners of The Bowerman, determined by this fan vote and paper balloting, will be announced in December.

Just shy of two months from his lowest moment in an otherwise outstanding senior season at Florida State, Ciaran O'Lionaird thrust himself onto the world scene in a hastily put together 1500-meter race in Oordegem, Belgium. O'Lionaird's life changed the moment he cross the finish line, where the clock read: 3:34.46.

It's not often the high school 3200-meter race turns out to be the premier race of the day at a major invitational, but the all-star cast assembled for Friday's rain-soaked FSU Relays made that happen.

Feature Story | Interview with Derek Wehunt | Interview with Stanford and Mizereck 

Full Results and Coverage...

National signing day is a big affair at Miami Northwestern, which regularly turns out Division I football prospects by the dozen each year. Senior Skyler Wallen, however, didn’t mind crashing this year’s party.

One of the state’s top middle distance runners, Wallen shared the stage with her more ballyhooed classmates, signing a national letter of intent with The Ohio State University.

Blessed with electric talent and a radiant smile, Miami Southridge sprinter Ebony Eutsey has set her sights on the records of two iconic Florida high school stars.

Given Eutsey’s accomplishments in two seasons, it seems more a question of when - not if - the junior will wipe away the Florida High School Athletic Association state meet records of Sanya Richards and Erica Whipple in the 400- and 200-meter dashes.

Winning state track & field championships has never grown old for Oak Ridge High girls coach Bill Stamper, who enters his 30th season at the helm of the Pioneers on the cusp of a milestone achievement.

Buoyed by returning athletes who contributed 67 individual-event points to last season’s 3A title - and a solid core of relay runners that added 15 more to the cause - the Pioneers open the 2009 season as favorites to win a state record-tying 10th team title.

Two months ago, Patrick Castagno’s Tatnall girls cross country team wrestled the Southeast’s No. 1 ranking away from Collins Hill with a sixth-runner, tie-breaking victory at the McDonald’s X-Country Festival at Maymont Park in Richmond, Va.

Tatnall - albeit running as Wilmington (Del.) XC - strengthened its hold on the top spot on Saturday by overwhelming Collins Hill (aka, Suwanee XC), 45-72 for the NXN Southeast championship title. The schools will continue their battle at Nike Cross Nationals this weekend in Portland, Ore.

One week after successfully defending his Florida 4A state title in record time at Little Everglades Ranch, Melbourne junior Brian Atkinson powered his way to the NXN Southeast Regional championship.

As if Kayla Hale hadn’t done enough for the Melbourne Holy Trinity cross country program over the course of her career, her actions minutes after securing an historic fourth individual state title Saturday, spoke louder than words.

Instead of basking in the spotlight of her record-tying feat - becoming just the fourth runner in state history to win four titles - Hale was in the finishing chute at Little Everglades Ranch, heaping praise on her teammates while helping them to their feet.

Bishop Kenny junior Michael Wallace repeatedly answered every surge thrown his way by Estero junior Erick Montoya in Saturday’s 2A boys state championship race, en route to the individual title.

Neither Wallace, his BK teammates - nor anyone else in the field, for that matter - had an answer for Belen Jesuit. With Joseph Dorfman and Elliot Clemente fronting the Wolverines’ tight-knit group, Belen captured its third consecutive 2A team title and fourth in school history.

A surprise individual champion, a record-tying team championship and a frightening finish - Saturday’s 1A boys state championship race had a little bit of everything, bringing an incredible day of racing to a close at Little Everglades Ranch.

Maclay sophomore Patrick Swain, one month removed from a de-mystifying diagnosis that he had spent the first half of the season running with mononucleosis, sped to victory over the final 200 meters in 15:51.

At this stage of Satellite senior Ashley Shiver’s decorated running career, there are few surprises the multi-time state champion can muster.

Yet it was Shiver who provided the biggest surprise in a full day of racing at Little Everglades Ranch, improbably - but successfully - defending her 3A state championship with an out-of-nowhere, personal best of 17:34.

Stephanie Schappert crashed what appeared to be a Jacksonville-area party in the 2A state girls championship race Saturday, with an historic victory over the 5k Little Everglades Ranch course.

Schappert, a sophomore from Boca Raton Pope John Paul II, broke away from seven-runner, lead pack over the final 800 meters to capture her first state championship in 18:10. With her victory, she joins Nicole Schappert - a two-time champion (

By the midway mark in Saturday

Jon Lanning didn’t take the traditional route to the world of high school running, but in 2 ½ short years, the Sarasota High senior has worn a path littered with success.

As a high school sophomore, Lanning distinguished himself during ROTC fitness competition team by regularly finishing first in area races comprised of running, sit-ups and other physical fitness tests.

“When it ended in February (of 2007), I went out for track,” said Lanning.

In what amounted to a one-year metamorphosis, Lanning blossomed into one of the state’s premier milers by the spring of ‘08, on the heels of a stunning seventh-place finish at the ‘07 4A state cross country championship in his first season of 5k competition.

There is a uniqueness to Tallahassee that separates it from the rest of the Florida when it comes to distance running.

Couple an extraordinary network of running trails, an active and supportive community track club, a county-wide middle school cross country program more than 300-strong with a collection of the state’s most accomplished coaches and you have the blueprint for sustained success.

You could make a compelling argument - without the benefit of lobbyists - that the Capital City is the state seat for high school cross country running, per capita, at least since 1997.

Getting to the starting line for Saturday’s 2A state cross country championship race is Stephanie Schappert’s first goal. Staying on her feet through the two-loop, 5-kilometer course comes in a close second.

Those may seem like modest goals for the talented sophomore from Boca Raton Pope John Paul II, who enters the meet ranked third in the FACA 2A individual standings despite posting the fastest time (18:03), but they are very real.