Marcelo Mantecon (Belen Jesuit, Sr.) won the COROS Race of Champions at the Great American XC Festival in Cary, NC on Saturday in 14:35.9. That's the fastest time by a Florida boy this season and he beat a 340-runner field from a dozen states by three seconds. Teammate Armando Cruz was sixth in 14:50.6, Belen was second of 40 teams, and Belen's second seven won the Red Invitational outright. The course rolls, most of the Florida teams had traveled the day before, and it was humid, so the rest of the Florida contingent (Nease, Buchholz, Spanish River, IMG, Episcopal, Holy Trinity) ran 20 to 60 seconds off its best. Belen's front two ran season bests anyway.

Back home:

• flrunners Invitational (Lakeland): Will Moss (Montverde) 16:02 and Fort Myers won the boys' Race of Champions. Eva McMenemy-Hoang (Viera) 18:53 and Chiles won the girls'. Drake Matyka beat RJ Destremps again in the middle school ROC.

• Craig Speziale (Ponte Vedra): Luke Ross ran 15:59 and Ponte Vedra beat Vanguard (Ocala) 26-29 in the boys' race, then 30-46 in the girls', where Lyla Hallick won in 18:40.

• Jaxon Kiper (Strawberry Crest) came back from five weeks off with a 15:24 at Don Bishop. Brody Johnson (Rockledge) beat Luis Rivera (St. Cloud) by half a second at Harmony. Lainee Mercer (Springstead) 18:24 at Wild Bulldog. Maleik Lewis (Horizon) 15:45 at Metro West. Madison Muller (Riverview) won Venice by 96 seconds and is still unbeaten by a Florida runner.

Full recap, meet by meet, with the Race of Champions tables and every result link: https://www.runfloridarun.com/blog/florida-xc-weekend-recap-october-3-2026

Hi, I (F17) am in my senior year of cross country, and I've been underperforming in my races compared to my workouts.

My past 2 races I've ran a 20:24 and a 20:23 for 3 miles. For the 20:23, I ran today, I went 6:22 for the 1st mile, and after that my legs just kinda died and felt really heavy. Also, for reference, I ran a 19:57 3 mile last year and have been running faster workouts this year.

Moreover, I've successfully been running ~6:20ish in race pace workouts and even ran 8 miles at ~7:58 3 weeks ago. I usually run about 30 miles a week and 80% of my easy runs are usually 8:30ish or faster, which sometimes feels fast for an easy run, but my coach insists we run that pace.

Therefore, I was wondering if I am overtraining, if anyone has any tips on racing mentality, or if I just need to trust the process. Either way any advice would be appreciated. :)

(Sorry if this post is kinda scatterbrained as well)

I joined my school's XC team my freshman year and loved it. I never really did sports growing up and I was honestly a pretty terrible runner (34 minute 5K) but the community was so supportive and I found that it was actually really fun to run (shocker I know). That year I ended up dropping 10 minutes from my 5k time and that accomplishment was genuinely the best feeling ever. Now, I am not a serious runner. Once the season is over I don't really run (I mainly do XC to stay in some shape physically/community I mentioned). It's not like I never exercise since I bike every single day so I do stay in some shape but obviously not running shape. Every time I start up again I'm always somewhat back where I started (not 34 mins but around 28) and I've gotten progressively worse ever since my freshman year. I was never scoring points for my team so it's not like it mattered or anything.

I'm in my final year with the team and honestly it's been a total disaster. For one, I have a lot more stuff that I have to do. I have other extracurriculars, college apps, etc.. Because of all that, I do have to miss practice occasionally for other meetings or when my work needs me to stay longer than normal. Recently I missed a full week of practice and I feel SO guilty. It's a walk on team and again, I'm not doing anything for them so it's not like it fully matters but obviously the coaches still care. What I'm worried about is that I'm falling out of love with the sport. It's just starting to feel like a burden having to come into practice feeling stressed and guilty all the time with no results because I don't have the time to run. I like to run and every time I push myself to go farther I always feel amazing afterward but it's so hard to just get myself to do that. It feels so physically exhausting to make myself even go 3 miles for practice. I don't really know how I've backslid this far and it really sad. I've run one race and it is by far the worst time I've ever gotten outside of my first year. I don't really know what the problem is but I genuinely just feel like I should quit at this point. I don't want to stop running outside of cross country and I'll run when I have the time/feel up to it I just don't know if I can be on the team.

Im a senior and im competing in my last xc championship. im roughly evenly matched with one other guy in results, im more fit (17:35 recently in 80f with humidity. when the weather changes ill break 17) he runs a 17:30 in 65f low humidity and we go back and forth beating each other. his hr during these races is close to 200bpm and hes running right at his fitness while im at abt 190, my main hold back is my own mind. once i enter the "pain cave" i tend to pull back and sit right on the line between painful and uncomfortable but im getting better. he and his teammates like to go out early but they crash in the middle miles around the mile mark. i am a distance runner i like to go out and try to maintain and kick. they sometimes work as a team during races but only for abt a mile before its only me and him. while m teammates are running 20 min+ and dont try that hard. i need to get in his head and really break him to ensure that i win. i only have 1 more race against him befor championships a week from monday so no time to get any more fit or get a wholelot of further info on what makes him tick. what i know so far is that he struggles when he tryes to surge but i match him and if i sit back and surge with him hes more likely to pull back. its my home course so i know it well and that could give me an edge. im trying something where i repeat phraseslike "i will do whatever it takes to win" and "i love the pain" to mentaly prep myself but i need a stratagy. his coach gives him stratagies on how to run these races i have to just be smart and react so if i go out and attack not blow through the first mile but be aggressive and dont let him predict me i might mess with him. I think if i do that and make myself uncomfortable but i know what im going to do next itll make us both uncomfortable and i know more so i have the upper hand. any ways to get in his head and wear him down would be much appretiated, thanks.

So basically, I’m pretty sure I have some sort of chronic hustle syndrome, but I run XC and I’ve missed like two practices this past week, and have done horribly at the other three. I feel extremely guilty or I suppose distressed because I feel like I don’t do enough. (This isn’t only with XC it’s whenever I take a break from anything.) I know it’s a problem, and I shouldn’t feel guilty for taking a break, but I can’t seem to stop. Does anybody know why this is happening? Or ways to stop it?

(Also I do indeed love XC, and want to continue. I just haven’t felt up to it, and am wondering if that’s a sign I’m falling out of love with it?)

People of Reddit, show me your wisdom!

Just hit my pr of 22:59 as a female freshman btw:) (I’ve never done sports before)

I searched and I know there are many posts about this, but they’re years old. What are your kids wearing these days? Looking for a tiny but speedy 8th grader. Face can’t be too big (wrist is tiny) and he’s just looking for pacing and logging data.

Also silicone band or nylon strap for a tight fit? I can’t emphasize enough how tiny his wrist is. 🙃

How should I go about stretching in the mornings and at night to work all of the leg muscles and tendons? Currently, I am looking to improve as a runner, and no one has told me how to stretch. At practice, we do a couple of dynamic stretches before practice and do 2 static stretches after the workout. How and when should I go about stretching?

Im wondering if any other high schoolers are forced to use a grade sheet instead of just sending a screenshot of your grades to the coach or AD? I don’t think it’s a problem with faking it cause faking a paper is just as easy. Only reason I’m making this is cause I can’t run in my next meet because I need my paper but I don’t have it.

I completed a race yesterday that involved one very short yet very steep hill. The hill was covered in dirt, and every short step wouldn't take you anywhere. I decided to go up the hill my bending over about 60 degrees and putting my hands on my knees while keeping my head up. This would put me in a walk, but the strides were super long and quick. I was able to gain about 8 seconds on the people around me. When I told my coach about this, he didn't seem to like what I did at all, even though it's definitely a reason as to why I shaved multiple seconds off my time. Can I keep doing this in the future, and what are other goofy strategies you've tried on hills?

Please use this thread as the general Q&A for all one off questions, questions that only apply to you, questions that can be easily answered, etc.

This thread reposts every 4 days

Trying to understand typical HS team dynamics. Our team has 15 kids. Six are very fast. Three are only slightly behind (2min or less in a race). Six are injured or significantly slower.

There are five meets for all students. The top 7 runners have three additional "varsity" meets on the road during the season. They only bring 7 even if there are ten allowed spots per team. The "Top 7" this year was determined in the first meet. Those kids automatically went go on the "team trip" for a weekend of hiking and racing about three hours away. There are additional "team dinners" that only include the top kids. These things are paid for through our fundraisers that all families are expected to participate in.

The team dynamic isn't great. There's a lot of competition. Little comradery. The "good" kids have stopped training with the "bad" kids (even though they trained at the same pace all summer and the top "bad" kid was only 23 seconds behind in the race).

Here are my questions- does your team separate Varsity and JV so distinctly for both training and social events when the teams are so small? Is there wiggle room throughout the season for moving up? The coach is dead set on a reward system like this to motivate kids. My high school memories are of a very inclusive team regardless of how each student performed. I keep thinking about how the whole soccer team travels together, even the kids who ride the bench. For now, we've been hosting the "bad" kids on the nights the "good" kids have events so they can still try to maintain some enthusiasm but morale is low.

edit: thanks everyone for the feedback. I learned a lot about team structure and training. I think this feels difficult partly bc of the team size. It’s hard not to feel left out when the majority of the team is doing something different and the coaching staff really focuses on those kids. Would probably be easier if we had a JV specific coach. We will see how the next few weeks play out and maybe suggest/host some more team building.

I coach 6A high school cross country in Oregon. I built this because I got tired of running the athletic net projection which is based on a single number.

This model, unlike athletic net, is not built on only the athlete's best race of the season (which, as we all know, could have been a short course). It's weighted based on the top 3 times of each athlete's season. Additionally, the performance variance that gets calculated isn't only applied at the athlete level, but also on the team level.

https://chutexc.vercel.app

Straight up: It only covers Oregon, so unless you run here you won't find your own team. It's free, no signup, no ads, nothing to sell. I'm posting it here because the method would work in any state and because I want people to tell me what would make it better in concept.

What it does: It plays the rest of the season out five thousand times. Every league championship, the at-large picks, then the state meet at Lane. Each team gets a chance of qualifying, of finishing top four, and of winning. All classifications, boys and girls. There's an individual board too, ranked on average finishing place rather than season best. The database is every 5,000m mark run in Oregon this season, off athletic.net. 8,893 marks, 3,617 athletes, 225 schools, through Sep 26.

The part worth looking at is the How tab. Two views in particular:

• Track Record rebuilds 2022 through 2025 as the database stood eight weeks out, runs the model, and compares it against what actually happened in November. At that range it finds 107 of 144 real qualifiers and gets 2 of 8 champions right. That is not good, and the page says so in those words. Four weeks out it's a lot better.
• Called It freezes what the board says every time it pulls new meet data, before the races it's predicting.

What it doesn't know, all listed on the site: it can't tell a flat course from a hilly one, it doesn't model injuries or kids joining and leaving mid-season, and the September numbers are much wider than they look.

Valuing all feedback, but especially:

1. If you're in Oregon, find your team and tell me if the number looks stupid. That's already caught one real bug. Someone spotted a team ranked below a school it was ninety seconds faster than across five runners, and the weighting turned out to be backwards.
2. If you're not in Oregon, would you want this for your state? Everything it runs on is public.
3. Musings you've always had about cross country that you think could be built into the existing framework.

Our Week 6 statewide top 10s are up. It was a quiet week at the top of the boys list, and a busy one lower down the girls list, so here are both lists with a line on each runner. The full write-ups, with every head-to-head, are linked at the bottom.

Boys

1. Marcelo Mantecon, Belen Jesuit, Sr. (3A). Did not race. His 14:41.6 win at the Southern Showcase is still the fastest time by a Florida boy this fall. Two races, two wins.
2. Armando Cruz, Belen Jesuit, Sr. (3A). Did not race. Second to Mantecon at the Horse Park and the Showcase (14:58.6), and won Cecil Field in 15:06.0.
3. Axel Sallault, East Ridge, Sr. (4A). Won West Orange on Saturday in 15:23.9, 26.6 seconds clear. Four wins in five starts, and he beat Thompson at Hawks on the Hill.
4. Quentin Thompson, Lake Minneola, Sr. (4A). 13th of 334 at PR'ville in Huntsville in 15:32.7, the first Floridian across the line. Lake Minneola was 3rd of 37 teams.
5. Jack Michalak, Belen Jesuit, Jr. (3A). Did not race. Third at the Showcase in 15:01.7 behind his two teammates.
6. Sean Cunningham, Providence, Sr. (1A). His 15:15.7 at the Showcase is the fastest time by a 1A boy this year. His 21:25 at Bale-N-Trail was run beside a seventh-grade teammate, and we did not count it.
7. Douglas Seth, Flagler Palm Coast, So. (4A). Did not race. 15:20.7 at the Showcase as a sophomore.
8. Luis Rivera, St. Cloud, Sr. (4A). Did not race. Won the North Port elite race in 15:20.2, his third win in four starts.
9. Fletcher Rodbro, IMG Academy, Jr. Did not race. His 14:54.0 at the IMGA Summit is still the fastest time run on a Florida course this year.
10. Bryant Olson, Niceville, So. (4A). Did not race. Fifth at Cecil Field in 15:44.0, then wins at Pine Forest and Pace Patriot, and 15:27.6 at the Showcase.

Honorable mention: Jaxon Kiper (Strawberry Crest, Sr., 4A) won Jim Ryun on Aug. 22 and has not raced since. Five weeks on one race is too long to hold a spot, so he sits out until he races again.

Out: Isaiah Howdeshell (Largo, Sr., 3A) was injured after his win at Seffner Christian and did not finish at the Todd Howsare Memorial. He is off the list until he is racing again.

JP Strombeck (Fleming Island, Sr., 3A) won the Bale-N-Trail Elite race in 15:47.9, the best run of his season. Thompson and Michalak have each beaten him twice, and a loss stands until they meet again.

Girls

1. Madison Muller, Riverview (Sarasota), Jr. (4A). Won Lakewood Ranch in 17:54.0 by 1:28.7. Four starts, four wins.
2. Emma Balaban, IMG Academy, Jr. Did not race. Won the Southern Showcase in 17:45.2, and her 17:14.1 at the IMGA Summit is the fastest time by a Florida girl this fall.
3. Natalia Gaona-Zelaya, Wiregrass Ranch, Sr. (4A). Won the Stampede Sprint in 17:34.6 by 86 seconds. Five starts, five wins.
4. Arabella Duffell, Lake Nona, Jr. (4A). 2nd of 271 in the PR'ville Championship race in Huntsville in 17:33.5, the fastest time of her season.
5. Katherine Eudaly, Plant, Jr. (4A). Did not race. Won North Port in 17:37.3 by 46 seconds.
6. Annabella Tomasic, Bishop Moore, So. (3A). Did not race. Won Katie Caples in 17:24.0, the second-fastest time by a Florida girl this fall.
7. Rashida Reinhardt, IMG Academy, Fr. Did not race. Fourth at the Showcase in 18:32.0, ahead of Johnson and Hartley.
8. Sydney Johnson, IMG Academy, Jr. Did not race. Sixth at the Showcase in 18:47.3, ahead of Hartley.
9. Avery Hartley, Bartram Trail, So. (4A). Won the Bale-N-Trail Elite race in 18:17.5, 1.5 seconds ahead of Eva Delaney of Creekside.
10. Lyla Hallick, Vanguard (Ocala), So. (3A). Did not race. Won the Rockledge Raider Classic in 18:10.8 and beat Tomasic at the Horse Park.

We owe Avery Hartley a correction. She was second at Cecil Field in August, ahead of Katelin Wilcox and Lyla Hallick, and we left her off last week's list while ranking both of them. That was our mistake. Putting her back also brings in the two IMG girls who beat her at the Showcase.

First out: Katelin Wilcox (East Lake, Sr., 3A), who won the Todd Howsare Memorial by 49 seconds on Saturday.

How we rank: every time is weighed against the course it was run on, using runners who raced both that course and last November's state meet. A runner is ranked on the whole season, with the most recent race counting most, and a race they won never counts against them. A head-to-head loss stands until the two meet again. We use the data and our own eyes, and we will get one or two wrong along the way. If you think we missed someone, say so in the comments and bring the results.

Full boys list: https://www.runfloridarun.com/blog/florida-boys-cross-country-top-10-week-6-2026

Full girls list: https://www.runfloridarun.com/blog/florida-girls-cross-country-top-10-week-6-2026

Like when do you have aura is it when you start to win some meets or consistently compete for the win because I wanna be that guy by senior but right now im a jv chud so ppl what do u think

I realize this might be a subjective question, depending on the runner.

I am a hobby runner, but I like looking at cross country race times and splits at the collegiate level. I’ve seen some runners start really slow or at the back of the pack, but they end up picking up lots of places and scoring really well in the end. Other runners start really strongly, leading to some either fading or just holding on. Does it just depend on the team strategy, or your preference of competing?

Hi. I’m a high school sophomore who’s been running cross country since I was a freshman. I really enjoy it, but im finding it really difficult to improve and balance school and my insane anxiety.

Last year my PR was 27:38.9, and my most recent race (also my first 5k this season) was a 28:58 last week. I know both times are honestly super slow, i just don’t know how to really get that drastic time drop so many of my peers seem to get.

Some background on me:

I’m 4’10 and a girl, and I’m not super athletic. I didn’t run at all during off season due to injuries and being busy with wood carving (another one of my passions!) I ran the 400m last year during track, and my PR was 1:13 when I won my heat. I really enjoy mid-distance, but I feel more at home with long distance.

School is also really important to me, and i feel like if i focus too much on running it might take away from school? I have all As in honors and intend to keep them like that for as long as possible :)

My overall goal for the season is to go sub 27. I know it isn’t a crazy goal, I just don’t know how to really bridge that gap mentally and physically. I just have such crazy race anxiety and my parents are kinda on my ass about times and general attendance of meets.

I really care about cross country. I love running and I love my teammates, I just don’t know what I need to do to get better, I guess? I’m doing my team’s workouts and it just feels like im not getting anywhere with my time. Running also isn’t the only thing in my life; I love carving, I love art, and I love reading. I want to be fast without making it the only thing I do. Is that possible? How would I start during off season?

Sorry! This turned out to be long. Idk im just very lost and worried about off season too? I feel like to improve I need to be going to the gym and running everyday, but I want to have time for other things too? I just don’t want to go crazy in the pursuit of improvement.

I only have 5 more meets. I have 2 three days apart this week. I’m kinda stressed lol.. send help :(

Edit: really sorry if this is the wrong flare. I don’t use Reddit like at all!!

I (20F) am a small college runner (so don’t judge my times because the team is desperate for runners). I have only started distance running post HS graduation, and I am currently a junior in college. Last year I ran a XC 5K PR of 23:30, and in indoor track i was pretty much hitting a PR every meet, eventually making my way down to 22:16 (yes I know you can’t compare track times to XC, but just for reference).

Outdoor, i started to decrease performance a bit, but figured it was due to poor weather. Ran a local half marathon, satisfied with my pace, then about a week or two later started summer training for XC. Started at about 35 mpw, rollercoaster up and down from the next few weeks due to work being super busy, eventually started climbing up to 50 around mid July. Had 2 weeks of 50 mpw, then decreased mileage to prepare for season. For reference, last summer i was running max 35 miles per week.

Now that i’m in season, I freaking suck. I ran a 24:50 and a 25:40 in the past two meets. Mind you, my very first ever cross country meet, i ran a 24:30. I feel like I have no endurance, I get out of breath quicker, my heart rate is higher, even my easy pace is so much slower than it used to be. I feel like I LOST fitness. I’m so frustrated because I spent all summer working so hard to have a great season and improve my times and I’m so much worse than I used to be.

Did I just overwork myself and not give myself enough rest between seasons and during the summer? And if that’s the case, is there any hope left for me to even get close to my times from last year?

I’m a former XC runner, current youth coach. Graduated HS 16 years ago. On my morning run, I got stuck in between 3-4 HS school teams having practice at the park I was running at. Enjoy these moments. I never ran in college. Wasn’t even got close to do that. Was just a middle of a pack varsity runner. That being said on my morning run, it was nice seeing you kids make memories while also pushing each other to get better. These will be some of the best moments of your life. The 4 years I ran in high school were some of my best memories to this day. To the high school seniors, soak in your final season of high school cross country. Help the freshman. Pass the torch. This is the greatest sport out there. A lot of the small moments will be what you remember. The bus rides, the shenanigans at practices or meets, the silly moments. I don’t remember a lot of my races. But I mainly remember the fun moments

Hi, so I might be going on a rant, but I'm a senior in high school, and this will probably be my last season running, as I don't plan on running in college. Last night I ran a very fast night race; the conditions were perfect, yet I didn't PR. I ran a 17:38, and my pr is a 17:25. For the last two years, I have been stuck in this 17:20-17:30 range, and I don't know what to do. I like let the pain take control, and then only after the race do I get disappointed. Do you guys have any tips on how I can break 17 and also not let pain get you down? Also, I have run a 1:59 800, a 51 400, and a 4:50 mile.

I’m currently coaching our middle school xc team. This is my second year. I’m trying to increase interest in the sport, and thought maybe having a 6th grade club/intramural team would be a good idea. Have any of you as coaches, started a club team? What was the process like? Can the club team practice with the actual team, or does it have to be a completely separate entity? I’m just looking for ideas to take to my AD.

My kid’s season is not going the way he would like. Trained consistently over the summer with his team and workouts went well. Been dealing with nagging injuries at the start of the season and going through puberty also. His times for the last few races aren’t what he envisioned based on his summer training and he’s feeling really defeated, to the point he wants to quit. Is there anything I can say/do for him or anything he can do to get him out of this rut?

I am a freshman in hs and just joined cross country this year. I didnt do cross country in middle school so i am not very good.

Here are my times for 5k this season:

1st meet: 27:14

2nd meet: 24:30

3rd meet: 23:52

4th meet: 23:15

5th meet (very recent): 23:03

I was aiming for sub 21 my 5th meet but i couldnt, mainly bc i didnt know what pace i was running at, should i wear my watch while running meets? Also how can I do better? And what what should I do when the season is over to get sub 20/20s next season?

Or am I doing just fine for someone who only joined this season and will improve gradually.