JACKSONVILLE - Fleming Island High School's boys and girls cross country teams had solid senior representation last year and the result was top finishes in the biggest races in the state as well as a state champion 4 x 800 relay track derived from the cross country mainstays.
With graduation knocking the lineup down to fairly new faces minus one; senior Jacob Campbell, the Golden Eagles boys team took some lumps Friday night at the Cecil Field Summer Classic Elite races that featured one of the toughest team lineups in recent history; Belen Jesuit (3A champs), Buchholz (4A champs), Westminster Academy (1A 6th), Bishop Kenny (2A 2nd) and Braddock High (4A 10th) in the top five for boys and Creekside (4A 7th), Ponte Vedra (3A second), Ocala Vanguard, (3A 6th) Our Lady of Lourdes Academy (3A 3rd) and Buchholz (4A champs) for the girls.
Note: Fleming Island's boys finished fourth in 3A with seniors Graham Myers, John Keester IV, and Roman Mollicone three major players for coaches Jason Poole and Dave Allen. Fleming Island's girls finished 13th with senior Allie Knotts injured but returned in 2024 with Brooke Reynolds and Ava Hendryx, top returners.
At Friday's Cecil Field Summer Classic, Fleming Island's boys were led by Campbell's 17th place finish in 15 minutes, 59 seconds behind a field of 18 runners under 16 minutes with the winning time at 15:01 by Belen Jesuit sophomore Marcelo Mantecon.
For the girls, won by Creekside junior Alyson Johnson in a quick 18:00.00, Fleming Island's duo of Reynolds and Hendryx broke the tape at 14th and 16th; 19:22, and 19:29, to give the girls' team another strong 1-2 punch with Poole and Allen needing to push the 3-4-5 closer to the front packs.
Oakleaf finished 31st in the girls' elite race with the Oakleaf boys getting an outstanding 16:28 33rd place finish from Jack Strombeck.
In the boys varsity race, St. Johns Country Day School got edged out by Fleming Island; 14th and 16th, with Ridgeview 27th, Oakleaf 32nd (sophomore Jelani Chester top area finisher in 18:27 for 22nd) and St. Johns Classical Academy 36th.
In varsity girls, St. Johns Country Day School eighth grader Kate Staten stamped her name as a contender with fifth place in 21:49 with Ridgeview junior Emily Turner with 21:49 also. St. Johns finished seventh, Fleming Island 20th, Ridgeview 26th, Clay 33rd and St. Johns Classical 34th.
At Flagler Palm Coast's Spikes and Spurs season opener, won by Nease High, Middleburg finished 14th for the boys led by junior Daniel Johnson in 76th in 20:11. Winner's time was 16:54.
For the Middleburg girls, 10th team, senior Paloma Romero was top finisher in 50th in 24:57. Girls race champion was Peyton Cerasi of Flager in 19:47.60.
Next race up is August 31's Middleburg Bronco Classic with the Clay County Invitational on Saturday, September 7 promising to be a rugged course at the Seamark Ranch in Green Cove Springs featuring a 3K for junior high and 5K for high school. The Clay County Invitational (meet director Eli Sunquist 423-943-5507) will be run on the moderately hilly grounds; two major climbs, as the rugged Seamark MudRun staged at the Seamark Ranch in its 11th year and will also be a Florida FLYRA Middle School Cross Country state championship qualifier.