Axel Sallault won West Orange and stays first in Class 4A; Quentin Thompson was the first Floridian at PR'ville, and Landon Watkins and Jonas Williams move up as Jaxon Kiper sits out as an honorable mention.
Florida Class 4A boys cross country through six weeks: August 21-September 26, 2026
Axel Sallault of East Ridge, a senior, won the West Orange Invitational on Saturday in 15:23.9, 26.6 seconds clear of the field, and stays first. Quentin Thompson of Lake Minneola, a senior, went to Huntsville and was thirteenth in the 334-runner Championship race at PR'ville in 15:32.7. He was the first Floridian across the line, and Lake Minneola was third of 37 teams. PR'ville has no Florida course reading we trust yet, so that run is printed and not converted.
The top five match the statewide list: Sallault, Thompson, Douglas Seth, Luis Rivera and Bryant Olson. Jaxon Kiper of Strawberry Crest comes out to an honorable mention, the same call as statewide. He has not raced since he won Jim Ryun on August 22. Landon Watkins of Sickles and Jonas Williams of Newsome move up to sixth and seventh. Antario Berek of Vero Beach and Daniel Georgiev of Lake Brantley come in at ninth and tenth.
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 6 boys top 10 and week 6 girls top 10. Last week's version of this list is here. The other class lists this week: 4A girls, 1A boys, 2A boys, 3A boys.
1. Axel Sallault, East Ridge, Sr.
Won the West Orange Invitational on Saturday in 15:23.9 out of 176. Won Hawks on the Hill on September 19 in 15:05.9, 23 seconds ahead of Thompson. Four wins in five starts, and the wins are not held against him. First.
2. Quentin Thompson, Lake Minneola, Sr.
Thirteenth in the Championship race at PR'ville in Huntsville on Saturday in 15:32.7, the first Floridian in a field of 334. Second at Hawks on the Hill behind Sallault; third at the Horse Park in 15:46.8, ahead of Seth, Watkins, Williams and Martin Fernandez. The only 4A boy who has beaten him since August is Sallault. Second.
3. Douglas Seth, Flagler Palm Coast, So.
Did not race. Thirteenth at the Southern Showcase on September 19 in 15:20.7, three places ahead of Olson; fourth at the Horse Park in 15:52.7, behind Thompson and ahead of Watkins and Williams. Won Spikes and Spurs in August. Third, as statewide.
4. Luis Rivera, St. Cloud, Sr.
Did not race. Won the North Port Invite on September 19 in 15:20.2 out of 184, and St. Cloud in 15:43.5, where he beat Berek. Three wins in four starts. Kiper beat him at Jim Ryun in August; that result no longer orders the list. Fourth, as statewide.
5. Bryant Olson, Niceville, So.
Did not race. Sixteenth at the Southern Showcase in 15:27.6, behind Seth. Fifth at Cecil Field in 15:44.0, and wins at Pine Forest and Pace Patriot. Fifth.
6. Landon Watkins, Sickles, Jr.
Did not race. Second at Seffner Christian on September 12 in 16:22.5, three seconds ahead of Williams; sixth at the Horse Park in 15:57.9, ahead of Williams and Fernandez. Thompson and Seth beat him in Ocala. Ninth to sixth.
7. Jonas Williams, Newsome, Sr.
Did not race. Won the Raider Open on September 19 in 15:27.0, on a course that reads about 44 seconds fast; the win is not held against him. Watkins beat him at the Horse Park and again at Seffner Christian. Seventh.
8. Matthew Ishee, Nease, Jr.
Fifteenth at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota on September 19 in 15:13.2 out of 383, nine places ahead of his teammate Rishi Chopra. Twelfth at Cecil Field in 15:54.0. On Saturday he ran with Nease's pack in the Bale-N-Trail grade race, 18:57, and we do not count that kind of run. Eighth.
9. Antario Berek, Vero Beach, Jr.
Did not race. Won the Spanish River 3A-4A race on September 18 in 16:10.9 out of 418. Won the Indian River Fairgrounds meet, third at St. Cloud behind Rivera, fifth at Astronaut behind Sallault. New to the ten.
10. Daniel Georgiev, Lake Brantley, Jr.
Did not race. Three races, three wins: Ocoee, Freedom and Spruce Creek, the last on September 12 in 16:47.1, worth about 16:10 at Cecil Field. He has not met anyone on this list. New to the ten.
Just missed
Rishi Chopra (Nease, Sr.) was 24th at Roy Griak in 15:22.8, behind Ishee. Casey Sangely (Spanish River, Sr.) won the Spanish River Race of Champions on September 18 in 15:46.4, his only race, a second and a half ahead of Martin Fernandez (Doral Academy, Sr.). Levi Mollica (Oviedo, Sr.) has won Trinity Prep and DeLand. Bryce Motycka (Bartram Trail, Sr.) was second in the Bale-N-Trail Elite race on Saturday in 15:50.8. Malcolm Spence IV (Flanagan) stays held out, as on the statewide list; Sangely, Fernandez and Nicholas Garcia of Columbus beat him in the Race of Champions.
Honorable mention
Jaxon Kiper (Strawberry Crest, Sr.) won Jim Ryun on August 22 in 15:54.3, worth about 15:16 at Cecil Field, the best figure in the class. He has not run a rated course since, and a month on one race is too long to hold a spot in the ten. It is the same call as on the statewide list. He goes straight back in when he races.
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 six times, last week five, 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: results from opening weekend, Cecil Field on August 21 and Jim Ryun on August 22, no longer order runners. Six weeks in, kids have improved, and a finish from the first weekend of the season should not pin anybody below a runner who beat them in August. Those 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.
- Kiper out of the ten and Spence held out are the statewide calls, carried over here. The top five are in the statewide order.
- PR'ville in Huntsville has no Florida course reading we trust yet, so Thompson's 15:32.7 is printed as run and not converted. Roy Griak is priced from Nease's own runners, which is a thin sample; we say so and use it.
Every result behind this list is in the rankings section, and the full weekend is in the weekend recap.