FHSAA Cross Country State Finals 2016

Now's your chance to show everyone your knowledge of the sport (or just your powers of prediction)... It's our 2016 Cross Country Finals Prediction Contest... and you have just two days to enter. Guess correctly and you could be on your way to some sweet prizes. Ready... set... go!

Grace Blair of Oak Hall was third at last year's Cross Country Finals and the Eagles finished 4th. It marked the first time in a long time that Coach McTureous' program failed to make the podium. Is 2016 the year Blair and the rest of the girls win another title? Will Chase Hyland of the Pine School end his high school career with a championship? We answer these questions and more in our 1A preview.

Across the board 2A might be the most competitive classification. On the girl's individual front, three of the top five runners in the whole state, Natalie Varela, Amanda Beach and Tsion Yared go head to head with 2015 runner-up Caitlin Collier. Yared's Pine Crest Panthers look to end the four year title streak by Collier and the Bolles Bulldogs. Speaking of streaks, the Trinity Prep boys have won four in a row and are looking to make it five, but Coach Butler one of the winningest coaches in state history and his Satellite Scorpions have other plans. We preview the class 2A state meet.

Florida sees its fair share of freshmen talent every year and 2016 is no different. In the 3A girls race two of the state's best will be on display in Lincoln's Alyson Churchill and Mater Academy's Valerie Lastra. On the boy's side it will be yet another duel between UF commitment Matthew Clark of Creekside and Michael Phillips of Chiles. Add in Joshua Collins of Belen Jesuit and this race will be fast with major team implications on the line. Belen Jesuit has been missing from the podium the last two years and Collins can change that. The girls team battle is one-sided with Niceville, the best regardless of class, leading the way. We preview all the action of class 3A.

In the state's largest classification 4A, three of the four state champion individuals and teams from 2015 have a good chance to repeat in 2016. The easiest perhaps is in the team races where the Winter Park girls are looking for their third straight while the St. Thomas Aquinas boys are favorites to go back to back with their core nucleus. Bailey "Hurricane" Hertenstein is the reigning girls champion, is ranked number one, and has lost one race in her whole career as a junior. On the boy's side the title is up for grabs with a group of runners all relatively close in time and skill. We take an in-depth look at the 4A meet.

Grace Blair led the Oak Hall Eagles back to the top of the podium after a 4th place team finish last year. Blair picked up individual honors as well to win her first state title. On the boy's side Mt. Dora Christian Academy's Gabriel Curtis won and helped the Bulldogs place second as a team behind Westminster Academy who won for the first time in over three decades. Andy Warrener recaps all of the 1A races.

The 2016 Cross Country Finals are shaping up to be one of the best with epic battles on both the team and individual fronts slated for Saturday on the Apalachee Regional Park course in Tallahassee. We will have LIVE UPDATES and on-site coverage including photos, videos, interviews, and recaps of all the action! This article will be your go to HQ throughout the day Saturday and weekend!

The Mt. Dora Christian Academy (Bible) boys' cross country team is currently ranked third going into this weekend's 1A Cross Country Finals. The Bulldogs have won their last four meets in a row with sophomore Gabriel Curtis leading the team to a first place district and regional finish. Last year, he was the lone representative for the school in Tallahassee where he crossed the line in 8th place. We caught up with Coach Zack White to talk about the teams road to state.

A look back to last year's race video coverage of this upcoming weekend's state championships across the country. Flashback Friday video coverage from 2015 state cross country meets in Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

The Chiles girls made the 3A podium for the second straight year. After winning it all in 2015, the Timberwolves were the runner-up behind Niceville this year. Chris Tucker was on-site for flrunners.com and captured this great photo of the team after the 2016 Cross Country Finals and a total of 1,675 pictures of all the action.

The 2016 Cross Country Finals lived up to the billing of exciting races, individual match ups, and team battles that came down to the wire. Don't miss a minute of action with all of our race highlight videos.

Tyler Copeland was on-site at the 2016 Cross Country Finals and snapped over TWO THOUSAND photos from all eight races including this one of Rutherford's Davide Genette in the 2A race who was dotted with motivational messages. The senior finished 45th out of 191 runners. 

2A was one of the most exciting classifications of the day. On the girl's side Caitlin Collier revenged her heartbreaking loss from 2015 while the Pine Crest girls finally defeated Bolles after four years in a row as the runner-up. On the boy's side, Caleb Pottorff and Charles Hicks battled it out for 5,000 meters with Pottorff winning his first XC title. The team trophy came down to the narrowest margin as Trinity Prep took their fourth straight 2A crown. Andy Warrener recaps all of the 2A races.

If you want photos from the 2016 Cross Country Finals we have you covered with over SIX THOUSAND from three different photographers. Cedric Gillette was on-site and captured over TWO THOUSAND including this image from the girl's 3A race that pitted two of the top freshman in the state in Lincoln's Alyson Churchill and Valerie Lastra of Mater Academy Charter. Churchill won the race in a new personal best of 17:55.22.

Freshmen Alyson Churchill and Valerie Lastra battled it our in the girls race as Niceville captured the team title. On the boy's side it was a rematch of regionals as Creekside edged out Chiles for the team trophy, but the Timberwolves crowned the individual champion in junior Michael Phillips. Andy Warrener recaps class 3A.

Bailey Hertenstein and Kayley Delay came into the 4A Cross Country Finals with the top two times regardless of class. In the end it was Hertenstein who came away with her second straight title. On the team front, Steinbrenner ended a two year run by Winter Park at the top of the podium. Matt Doyle of Winter Springs won his first state title to end his senior cross country season, while St. Thomas Aquinas took their third team trophy in four years. Andy Warrener recaps the class 4A meet.

Check out the weekend's fastest performers

It's no secret every year that some classifications are stronger than others. That is why we took the results of all four classes from the 2016 Cross Country Finals and merged them together. Would you have finished higher in another race? Take a look at the top 500 girls and boys times overall.