OCALA - With state cross country powerhouse Belen Jesuit landing five runners in the top 10 to crush the field at the Florida Horse Park Invitational Cross Country, Fleming Island High senior Jacob Campbell's 11th-place finish may have landed him as one of the top state contenders in north Florida as area teams trekked to Ocala for the annual slugfest of the state's best runners.
"Half of our team was sick," said Fleming Island coach Dave Allen, who saw his Golden Eagles boys squad finish a distant 14th in team points behind Belen on top with an astounding 22 points; far away from runnerup Buchholz at 105 and Ponte Vedra third at 189. "I'm not happy with where we are right now. But, this will be one of those seasons when we will be significantly better in late October."
Allen's lament is partly due to the graduation of a stellar team in 2024 that included Graham Myers; now at the University of Florida, John Keester IV, now at the University of South Florida, and state 800 champion Roman Mollicone.
With Belen's Marcelo Mantecon winning in 15:06.6 with the top 100 all under 16 minutes, Campbell's strong 16:04.1 was the bright spot for the Fleming Island trip to Ocala as Fleming Island's next runner was Boyer with a 16:37.9 for 45th place with third team finisher, Jacob Sanders, in at 102nd in 17:27.2.
For Keystone Heights in the boy's race, James Thomas was the top finisher in 89th place in 17:17.9. Keystone Heights finished as the 40th team in the
47 team field.
In the girls' race, Allen was optimistic with his top three runners; Brooke Reynolds, Ava Hendryx, and newcomer Jennifer Fagan running another three-strong race strategy to take 10th place overall. Reynolds battled again with the race leaders to take 14th overall in 19:35.3 with winner Daisy Ross of Ponte Vedra running a quick 18:27.1 split to win over Lainee Mercer of Springstead, second in 18:46.9 who outsprinted Samantha Lorey of Bishop Moore, third just four seconds behind Mercer.
In the team scores, Bolles and Ponte Vedra battled through all the finishers at the end with Bolles winning 117-119 and Episcopal a close third at 138 and Ocala Vanguard fourth at 143.
Hendryx who fell off the pace near mid-race, finished in 42nf in 20:28.0 with Fagan, a recent transfer from Texas, 75th in 21:15.1.
"The course was tough as those three all finished the Middleburg course under 20 minutes last week," said Allen. "We've never had three girls under 20 minutes in a race before. Jen has improved a lot already since moving here from Texas."
Fleming Island's fourth and fifth runners are also new faces in the lineup with Kate Giacoman 104th in 22:06.6 and Karissa Lou 134th in 22:49.2. Mercy Gillaspy was just behind Lou in 136th in 22:50.2 which gives Allen room to bring two groups of runners in together to reduce team points.
Keystone Heights had Olivia Griffin in at 143 in 23:13.7 with Melody Tyre 227th in 25:44.5 as the Lady Indians finished 34th in the 35-team field.
Next up for area teams will be the UNF 5K Challenge on Friday, September 14.

College XC Updates: Season openers

In college cross country, Fleming Island High coach David Allen, who runs the summer Angry Eagles running club, noted that he now has eight runners in the college ranks with recent grads Graham Myers and John Keester IV; Myers at Florida, Keester at South Florida, both competing at the UCF Cross Country Invitational on August 30 in a season opener for both programs.
Myers finished in the men's NCAA Div. I rank 27th at 16:09.5 with Keester in 30th at 16:24.2. The top three finishers, all from Florida State University, were led by Idus Misgina's 14:32.4 winning time. The top four runners, including former Belen Jesuit standout Josh Ruiz, running unofficially for Florida, were fourth in 14:53.9.
Ruiz and Myers were high school rivals in Class 3A the past two seasons. FSU won the meet with 15 points off the Seminoles taking three of the top 10 spots with those three being all unattached runners so not counting for team points.
In the girl's NCAA Div. I race, dominated also by FSU with Lily Guinn winning in 17:16.4, Fleming Island's Katelyn Thompson, a sophomore at South Florida, finished 47th in 20:41.5.
At Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho, former Fleming Island High standout Morgan Erler, a 2020 runner who left for Japan with her Navy dad then excelled at Edgren High School in Misawa, Japan with school records in the 800, 1600, 3200, and 5000 in track, now entering her junior season after a sophomore season, Erler opened her season with a first place female finish in 18:36.8 to lead Nazarene to a fourth-place team finish at the College of South Idaho Invitational on September 6.
Erler is ranked 10th in NNU history in the 6K distance cross country with a 21:45 in 2023.
At NCAA Div. III-Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Fleming Island grads Elliott Baker and Sybella Bertolini both competed in their season opener at the Foothills Invitational at Jacksonville State University with Baker, a junior, finishing 86th in 22:09 and Bertolini, a freshman in her first college race, 119th in 24:30.6 with her stylish sunglasses on.
At Charleston Southern University in, at the CSU Buccaneer Invitational season opener, Allie Knotts, a redshirt freshman, is on the team roster.
The University of North Florida has Kameron Wallizada and Emma Millson, both seniors, as returning runners with the Ospreys opening up with their UNF 5K race on September 13.
At the Valdosta Border Wars XC in Georgia, Florida State College-Jacksonville, coached by Jody Hale, finished second overall to host Valdosta, 22-51, with Benjamin Hale top local finisher (St. Johns Country Day School) sixth in 27;06.0 for the 7.25K course and Clay High's Noah Looney ninth in 27:41.0.
From Fleming Island, Aiden Taggert was 17th and Spencer Middleton was 27th for FSCJ.
From Orange Park, Christian Mayfield finished 14th. Also from Orange Park were Jacob Gaskins (31st) and Ty Obermeyer.
In the girls 5K race, from FSCJ, were Ava Banks (RHS) in 46th in 26:43.9 and Lauren Hughes (MHS) in 50th in 26:53.4.
At the Merchant Marine Academy, Fleming Island grad Michael Lyon, a senior, is listed on the men's cross country. Lyon finished 50th in 30:40.5 for an 8K course at the Bethpage State Park (NY) Adelphi Panthers XC Invitational on September 6 in his team opener. The Merchant Marines Academy finished as the third team.
At Troy University in Alabama, Fleming Island grad Alexander Bendig is a junior with a 27:37.7 best for 8K last year and a 17:24.8 5K last year. Bendig also ran 1:54.83 for 800 meters in track.
Lauren Schaudel, of Fleming Island, is slated to run for Florida International University after a standout season with Daytona State College where she had a 20:17.5 5K best (54th) at the NJCAA Div.II Cross Country National Championships last year where Daytona State finished sixth.
At the University of South Carolina-Aiken, Fleming Island grad Sydney Fallin is a freshman cross-country runner. Fallin finished her college opener in 15:44.7 for a 4K (2.485 miles) course at the Elon Invitational on September 6. Fallin was the third finisher for USC-Aiken who took fourth.
From Oakleaf, Sierra Barerra, now a sophomore at the University of Louisiana-Monroe after a standout freshman year at FAMU, finished as fourth ULM runner in 18th place in 20:52.20 at the Mississippi College Opener to put the Pirates women's team in second out of 10 college teams.