Noah Carpenter and Will Moss hold the top two in Class 2A, Kayaan Ghaffar moves to third after 15:19 at New World, and Cole Galuski of Berkeley Prep comes into the ten.
Florida Class 2A boys cross country through nine weeks: August 21-October 17, 2026
Most of the state's best runners met at the New World Fall Spectacular in Jacksonville on Saturday, the deepest race of the Florida season so far. Where two runners met there, that result orders them. A runner who did not race is not marked down for it.
Noah Carpenter of Nature Coast did not run New World; he won the GCAC Championship on Thursday in 16:15.4 and holds first. Will Moss of Montverde did not race and holds second.
Kayaan Ghaffar of Gulliver Prep was 13th in the Boys Elite race in 15:19, the first 2A runner, and moves up to third. Aaron Ches was the first Bolles runner, 26th in 15:32, and passes his teammate Aidan Chandler, who was 42nd. Cole Galuski of Berkeley Prep was 38th in 15:40, two seconds ahead of Chandler, and comes in at fifth.
A runner is ranked on his whole season, with the most recent race counting most, and a race he won never counts against him. This is data plus judgment, and we will miss somebody along the way. How we sorted everybody out is at the bottom.
The statewide lists: week 9 boys top 10 and week 9 girls top 10. The 2A boys team rankings are here. Last week's version of this list is here. The other class lists this week: 2A girls, 1A boys, 3A boys, 4A boys.
1. Noah Carpenter, Nature Coast, Sr.
Won the GCAC Championship on Thursday in 16:15.4. Won the Wild Bulldog Invitational on October 3 and the Nature Coast Invitational on September 19. First.
2. Will Moss, Montverde Academy, Sr.
Did not race. Won the Race of Champions at the flrunners.com Invitational on October 3 in 16:02.3, ahead of Liam Ilea and Truman Houk of 3A, and was second at Katie Caples on September 19. Second.
3. Kayaan Ghaffar, Gulliver Prep, Jr.
Thirteenth at New World in 15:19, the first 2A runner. Second at Snake Bite on October 10 in 15:33.8. Up from fourth to third.
4. Aaron Ches, Bolles, Jr.
Twenty-sixth at New World in 15:32, the first Bolles runner. Forty-sixth in the Eastern States Championship at the Manhattan Invitational on October 10. Up from fifth to fourth.
5. Cole Galuski, Berkeley Prep, Jr.
Thirty-eighth at New World in 15:40, two seconds ahead of Chandler. Seventh in the flrunners.com Race of Champions on October 3 and 15th at North Port on September 19. New to the ten at fifth.
Gear
The spike a lot of the front of the Race of Champions wears.
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6. Aidan Chandler, Bolles, Sr.
Forty-second at New World in 15:42. Thirty-sixth in the Eastern States Championship at Manhattan on October 10, the first Bolles runner there, and fourth at Bale-N-Trail on September 26. Down from third to sixth: Ghaffar, Ches and Galuski beat him on Saturday.
7. Frederick Gunther, Pensacola Catholic, So.
Won the HS Boys B race at New World in 15:47 out of 326. Third at the Daphne Invitational in Alabama on September 19 in 15:52.8. Seventh.
8. Michael Gomez, FAU High, Sr.
Forty-third at New World in 15:44. Fifth at Snake Bite on October 10, and won the Spanish River 1A-2A race on September 18. Up from ninth to eighth.
9. Emilio Perez-Garcia, Gulliver Prep, Sr.
Forty-eighth at New World in 15:49, one second ahead of Sharma. Won the STU Bobcat Invitational on September 26. New to the ten at ninth.
10. Armaan Sharma, Bolles, So.
Forty-ninth at New World in 15:50. Seventy-first in the Eastern States Championship at Manhattan on October 10. Down from eighth to tenth.
Just missed
Aidan Alam (McKeel), tenth last week, was 55th at New World in 15:55, and Wyatt Cleek (Bolles), seventh last week, was 67th in 16:03. Emilio Tobon (Pine Crest) was 72nd in 16:07, Luke Engels (Eastside) 79th in 16:10 and Luke LaHaye (Calvary Christian, Clearwater) 91st in 16:15.
Reader supported
Free to read, no paywall. Every Class 2A boys race this season went into this list, and every head-to-head was checked by hand. If it helps your team or your kid, you can buy us a coffee.
How we ranked them
- Courses do not all run the same speed, so we do not compare raw times. Cecil Field is the yardstick; for other meets we use runners who raced both that course and last year's state meet to work out what a time was worth.
- A runner is ranked on his whole season, weighted toward the most recent race: this week counts nine times, last week eight, and so on back to opening weekend, which counts once. A race he won is never allowed to lower that figure.
- A head-to-head loss stands until the two runners meet again, whatever either has run elsewhere since. Where results form a loop, the most recent meeting decides. A runner who beat someone ranked above him moves up to that runner's spot.
- Head-to-heads from September 12 and earlier no longer order runners. Those races are a month old, and kids have changed since. The times still count in the season figure.
- This list follows our statewide top 10: a runner on it is ahead of every runner in this class who is not, and runners on both lists are in the same order.
- A missed week is never held against anyone.
- Grades and classes are 2026-27, resolved against the FHSAA classification documents.
- Gunther ran the B race at New World, not the Elite race, so he did not meet the Elite runners there.
Every result behind this list is in the rankings section, and the full weekend is in the weekend recap.
Logo: Nature Coast Technical High School (Brooksville)