Belen Jesuit holds the top four in Class 3A after Marcelo Mantecon won the Great American Race of Champions, Luke Ross won Speziale, and Brody Johnson and Liam Ilea come into the ten.
Florida Class 3A boys cross country through seven weeks: August 21-October 3, 2026
Belen Jesuit went to North Carolina, and Marcelo Mantecon won the COROS Race of Champions at the Great American XC Festival in 14:35.9, the fastest time by a Florida boy this year. Armando Cruz was sixth and Jack Michalak 19th. Nicholas Veloso was 55th and comes in fourth: he is ninth on the statewide list after beating Sean Cunningham in Cary.
Luke Ross of Ponte Vedra won the Craig Speziale Invitational on his home course in 15:59.1 by 40 seconds. Brody Johnson of Rockledge beat Luis Rivera of 4A at Harmony, and Liam Ilea of Tavares was second in the flrunners.com Race of Champions. Both come in. Isaiah Howdeshell of Largo stays out until he is racing again after his injury.
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 7 boys top 10 and week 7 girls top 10. Last week's version of this list is here. The other class lists this week: 3A girls, 1A boys, 2A boys, 4A boys.
1. Marcelo Mantecon, Belen Jesuit, Sr.
Won the COROS Race of Champions at the Great American XC Festival in Cary, North Carolina, in 14:35.9, beating 340 runners from all over the country. Three races, three wins. First statewide.
2. Armando Cruz, Belen Jesuit, Sr.
Sixth in the Race of Champions in 14:50.6, eight seconds under his own best. Second to Mantecon every time they have raced.
3. Jack Michalak, Belen Jesuit, Jr.
Nineteenth in the Race of Champions in 15:15.5, the third Belen runner in. Third at the Showcase in 15:01.7. Fifth statewide.
4. Nicholas Veloso, Belen Jesuit, Jr.
Fifty-fifth in the Race of Champions in 15:47.3, ahead of Cunningham, the No. 1 runner in 1A. Jonathan Kiros beat him at the Showcase on September 19, and Cunningham beat Kiros there. When results go round in a circle, the newest one decides, and Saturday is the newest. Ninth statewide.
5. Gabriel Harris, Lake Wales, Sr.
Did not race. Won the Lake Wales Invitational on September 26 in 16:11.0, and was third at Katie Caples on September 19 in 16:04.0, ahead of Ross. That result keeps him above Ross.
Gear
The spike a lot of the front of the Race of Champions wears.
The New Balance FuelCell XC7 v5 is built for exactly what Florida courses are, grass and packed dirt with a few roots: a light FuelCell midsole so the last mile does not beat up your calves, and a spike plate that bites in the turns. Comes with removable pins.
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6. Luke Ross, Ponte Vedra, Sr.
Won the Craig Speziale Invitational at Ponte Vedra on Saturday in 15:59.1, 40 seconds ahead of Christopher Taylor of Vanguard, and Ponte Vedra beat Vanguard by three points. Fifth at Katie Caples, behind Harris.
7. Jacob Sackenheim, Robinson, Sr.
Did not race. Won the Todd Howsare Memorial on September 26 in 16:20.5 out of 191, and was third in the North Port Invite elite race on September 19 in 15:37.1, ahead of Macias-Buenrostro and Bremerman.
8. Dylan Macias-Buenrostro, Mariner, Jr.
Won the Riverdale Invite in Fort Myers on Saturday in 16:08.1 by 71 seconds. Fourth at North Port in 15:38.5, behind Sackenheim. Reed Hagen beat both of them that day, then finished behind Ilea, Houk and Bremerman at flrunners.com on Saturday; the newer result wins, and Hagen is out of the ten.
9. Brody Johnson, Rockledge, Sr.
Won the Harmony Longhorn Invitational on Saturday in 16:08.8, half a second ahead of Luis Rivera of St. Cloud, a 4A runner who had won the North Port Invite. Won his own Rockledge meet on September 18. New to the ten.
10. Liam Ilea, Tavares, Jr.
Second in the flrunners.com Race of Champions on Saturday in 16:14.2, ahead of Truman Houk, Jeb Bremerman, Jonathan Kiros and Reed Hagen. Won the Weeki Wachee Invitational on September 26 and the Coach Joe McKinney Classic on September 19. New to the ten.
Just missed
Kevin Aguilar (Mater Lakes, Sr.) was third in the Spanish River Race of Champions on September 18 in 15:48.0. Truman Houk (East Lake, Sr.) was third at flrunners.com in 16:14.8, 0.6 behind Ilea. Jeb Bremerman (Naples, So.) was fourth there. Isaiah Renn (Leon, Fr.) won the St. John Paul II Panther Invite on September 26 in 16:20.1. Jonathan Kiros (Chiles, Sr.) was fifth at flrunners.com and has lost to Ilea, Houk and Bremerman.
Honorable mention
Isaiah Howdeshell (Largo, Sr.) has the second-best figure in the class and is out on our call: he was injured after his win at Seffner Christian on September 12 and did not finish on September 26. He goes back in when he is racing.
Reader supported
Free to read, no paywall. Every Class 3A 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 seven times, last week six, 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.
- New this week: head-to-heads from September 12 and earlier no longer order runners. Those races are three weeks and more old, and kids have changed since. The times still count in the season figure.
- A missed week is never held against anyone.
- Grades and classes are 2026-27, resolved against the FHSAA classification documents.
- Veloso fourth is the statewide order: the loop through Cunningham is decided by the newest meeting, which Veloso won.
- Howdeshell out until he races again after an injury is a call, not a rule outcome.
Every result behind this list is in the rankings section, and the full weekend is in the weekend recap.
Logo: Belen Jesuit Preparatory School (Miami). Card art: Run Florida Run.