In-depth preview of FHSAA 4A Region 4, Thursday, November 12 at South County Regional Park in Boca Raton: St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Doral Academy, Braddock vs. Columbus, Nicole Lewis, Jacob Castanedo, Martin Fernandez and the state cut.
FHSAA Class 4A Region 4 cross country, Thursday, November 12, South County Regional Park, Boca Raton. Hosted by Spanish River.
Both team races in Region 4 start with a rematch.
The St. Thomas Aquinas girls scored 19 at 4A District 7 and beat Doral Academy at New World on October 17. Doral answered with 25 at 4A District 8. In the boys race, Braddock beat Columbus 36 to 42 at District 8, with Doral Academy eight points further back at 50. Those three were the top three at that meet and are the top three on our list here.
The meet runs Thursday afternoon at South County Regional Park in Boca Raton, girls at 3:30 and boys at 4:30, a half hour ahead of 4A Region 2 on the same course.
- Girls: 3:30 p.m.
- Boys: 4:30 p.m.
- Districts 7 and 8 meet here
- Top eight teams and the top four runners not on those teams go to the FHSAA state meet, Friday, November 20, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee
The field is official. FHSAA posted its regional qualifier list on November 9, and we checked every 4A Region 4 entry against it: every team and every individual qualifier below is on FHSAA's list.
About the times: every time listed is the best that runner actually ran this fall, and where. Courses run fast or slow, so the order comes from putting every race on the same scale, then our rankings and head-to-head results. When a slower time sits above a faster one, the note under that table says why. The order matches our Class 4A region rankings.
Girls: St. Thomas Aquinas and Doral, again
4A Region 4 girls, 3:30 p.m.
St. Thomas Aquinas put five girls in the top seven at 4A District 7: Elise Brown won, Charlotte Lee was second, then Kendall Parrott, Taylor Gold and Remy Coia. Doral answered at District 8 with Nicole Lewis, Madison Chin and Estefania Capriles going one-two-three.
St. Thomas Aquinas starts first because it beat Doral at New World, the one time they have met this fall. St. Thomas Aquinas is No. 4 on our last 4A list and Doral No. 5.
After the top two there is a big gap. Coral Reef (60 at District 8) and Taravella (76 at District 7) are third and fourth. Only 15 full teams are in this race, because District 7 qualified seven, so eight of 15 go to Tallahassee.
Girls team rankings
| Rank | Team | District | Top five (fastest time this fall) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) 4A | 1st in District 7 (19) | Elise Brown 18:38.0, Charlotte Lee 19:20.0, Kendall Parrott 19:11.7, Taylor Gold 19:31.0, Remy Coia 20:55.5 |
| 2 | Doral Academy 4A | 1st in District 8 (25) | Nicole Lewis 18:10.0, Madison Chin 18:43.0, Estefania Capriles 19:18.0, Lauren Avila 20:18.0, Stephanie Noguera 20:41.0 |
| 3 | Coral Reef (Miami) 4A | 2nd in District 8 (60) | Teagan Thompson 19:57.4, Fara Pages 20:31.6, Camila Sosa 22:15.1, Cheyenne Santana 22:30.0, Amanda Li 24:53.6 |
| 4 | Taravella (Coral Springs) 4A | 2nd in District 7 (76) | Camila Castillo 19:09.0, Valentina Castillo 20:06.0, Olivia Noel 20:28.0, Tranya Standley 25:08.8, Rajia Mustafa 25:41.6 |
| 5 | Cooper City 4A | 3rd in District 7 (90) | Emily Lau 21:45.6, Sophie Perez 23:58.9, Sofia Huckabee 24:17.9, Lillian Price 25:20.9, Sabrina Segovia 24:44.4 |
| 6 | Douglas (Parkland) 4A | 4th in District 7 (92) | Emiliana Anzures 20:06.7, Noa Nierman 21:48.9, Antonella Dominguez 22:23.0, Sophia Zengotita 23:48.5, Caroline Schwartz 23:00.7 |
| 7 | Braddock (Miami) 4A | 3rd in District 8 (98) | Martina Buitrago 20:27.7, Isabella Cruz 23:54.9, Mikaela Buitrago 23:56.0, Isabella De La Pava 24:21.6, Stephanie Torres 25:47.0 |
| 8 | Cypress Bay (Weston) 4A | 5th in District 7 (126) | Kathiana Barreto 22:03.7, Chloe Jimenez 22:20.9, Emma Mylott 22:47.6, Carolina Carrera 25:23.0, Mariana Sarria Rivera 27:28.7 |
| 9 | Coral Gables 4A | 4th in District 8 (102) | Alexandra Morfova 21:25.5, Lola Mcdanal 23:26.5, Emma Flowers 23:30.3, Ximena Eraso 24:50.6, Chloe Vega 26:10.2 |
| 10 | South Dade (Homestead) 4A | 5th in District 8 (103) | Taraji Dixion 21:25.0, Julia Chilel 24:51.4, Aaliyah Brown 25:02.4, Aileen Salinas 22:48.7, Damaris Bonilla 26:25.0 |
| 11 | Fort Lauderdale 4A | 6th in District 7 (149) | Keira Fahy 23:35.5, Savannah Ballard 24:09.0, Livana Tazioli Sandoval 24:49.9, Ana Bartlett 26:29.7, Aleksandra Waas 28:01.9 |
| 12 | West Broward (Pembroke Pines) 4A | 6th in District 8 (143) | Hailey Barrios 22:27.0, Lillian Lambert 25:23.4, Julianna Gordon 27:06.8, Reagan Becker 26:37.6, Gianna Castro 30:26.8 |
| 13 | Coral Glades (Coral Springs) 4A | 7th in District 7 (176) | Jasmine Lemos-Alarcon 24:14.6, Emmie Guzman 26:02.8, Maya Frias 27:01.8, Gianna Gonzalez 29:50.3, Mikayla Bernard 28:53.9 |
| 14 | Hialeah Gardens 4A | 7th in District 8 (180) | Jayda Jagessar 22:08.6, Isabella Viamonte 28:58.5, Victoria Martinez 29:52.6, Emely Perdomo 31:56.2, Ashley Masis 33:59.5 |
| 15 | Goleman (Miami) 4A | 8th in District 8 (203) | Isabella Munoz 28:03.5, Melody Santiago 30:37.2, Kasandra Gutierrez 31:19.0, Lorraine Delatoree 32:05.5, Kiarha Rodrigues 34:23.9 |
The orange line marks the last of the eight team spots to state.
Nicole Lewis (Jr.) of Doral ran 18:10.0 at New World, the best in the field, and won District 8 by 13.5 seconds over her teammate Chin. District 8 times ran slow across the board: Lewis won in 20:12.3, two minutes off her best.
Elise Brown (So.) won District 7 for St. Thomas Aquinas in 19:08.9 and ran 18:38.0 at New World. Chin (Sr.) ran 18:43.0 there. Charlotte Lee (Jr.) of St. Thomas Aquinas is fourth and Camila Castillo (Jr.) of Taravella fifth.
Girls individual rankings
| Rank | Runner | School | Best this fall | Where | District |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicole Lewis (Jr.) | Doral Academy | 18:10.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 1st, 20:12.3 |
| 2 | Elise Brown (So.) | St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) | 18:38.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 1st, 19:08.9 |
| 3 | Madison Chin (Sr.) | Doral Academy | 18:43.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 2nd, 20:25.8 |
| 4 | Charlotte Lee (Jr.) | St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) | 19:20.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 2nd, 19:43.7 |
| 5 | Camila Castillo (Jr.) | Taravella (Coral Springs) | 19:09.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 3rd, 19:49.9 |
| 6 | Kendall Parrott (So.) | St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) | 19:11.7 | Spanish River Invitational, 44th Annual | 4th, 20:03.2 |
| 7 | Estefania Capriles (Fr.) | Doral Academy | 19:18.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 3rd, 20:37.0 |
| 8 | Teagan Thompson (So.) | Coral Reef (Miami) | 19:57.4 | GMAC Championship | 4th, 20:51.8 |
| 9 | Taylor Gold (Jr.) | St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) | 19:31.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 5th, 20:44.8 |
| 10 | Fara Pages (Sr.) | Coral Reef (Miami) | 20:31.6 | GMAC Championship | 5th, 20:53.3 |
Why some slower times rank higher:
- Charlotte Lee (19:20.0): beat Camila Castillo and Kendall Parrott at the 4A District 7 meet on November 6; beat Kendall Parrott at the 4A District 7 meet on November 6 and Parrott beat Estefania Capriles at New World on October 17 (Capriles had beaten Lee at New World on October 17).
- Teagan Thompson (19:57.4): beat Taylor Gold at the Spanish River Invitational on September 18, 20:11.0 to 20:19.9.
On the bubble
Cypress Bay against Coral Gables for eighth. Cypress Bay was fifth at 4A District 7 at 126 and Coral Gables fourth at District 8 at 102, and on our scale Cypress Bay holds on. Coral Gables has freshman Alexandra Morfova, ninth at districts.
If Coral Gables misses, Morfova is projected to state as an individual, along with Taraji Dixion (Jr.) of South Dade, Jayda Jagessar (Fr.) of Hialeah Gardens and Olivia Higgins (Sr.) of Coral Springs.
Projected to state: St. Thomas Aquinas, Doral Academy, Coral Reef, Taravella, Cooper City, Douglas, Braddock, Cypress Bay; individuals Taraji Dixion (South Dade), Alexandra Morfova (Coral Gables), Jayda Jagessar (Hialeah Gardens), Olivia Higgins (Coral Springs).
From 4A District 7 (November 6): St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) 4A (1st, 19), Taravella (Coral Springs) 4A (2nd, 76), Cooper City 4A (3rd, 90), Douglas (Parkland) 4A (4th, 92), Cypress Bay (Weston) 4A (5th, 126), Fort Lauderdale 4A (6th, 149), Coral Glades (Coral Springs) 4A (7th, 176). Individuals: Olivia Higgins (Coral Springs, 10th), Shirley Mullins (South Plantation, 12th), Cristiana Souto Luzzi (South Plantation, 14th), Briana Calixte (Coral Springs, 28th).
From 4A District 8 (November 4): Doral Academy 4A (1st, 25), Coral Reef (Miami) 4A (2nd, 60), Braddock (Miami) 4A (3rd, 98), Coral Gables 4A (4th, 102), South Dade (Homestead) 4A (5th, 103), West Broward (Pembroke Pines) 4A (6th, 143), Hialeah Gardens 4A (7th, 180), Goleman (Miami) 4A (8th, 203). Individuals: Miah Alveranga (Miami Southridge, 21st), La'Starria Jones (Miami Palmetto, 26th), Melissa Hernandez (Miami Palmetto, 27th), Janae Dean (Miami Southridge, 29th).
Run the 4A Region 4 girls teams in the simulator and swap in your own lineup.
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Boys: Braddock, Columbus and Doral, then a scramble
4A Region 4 boys, 4:30 p.m.
Braddock won 4A District 8 with 36. Columbus was second at 42 and Doral Academy third at 50. Columbus is No. 9 on our statewide list and Doral No. 10, but Braddock beat both last week and starts first. Braddock's top two, Jacob Castanedo and Yanliet Gomezdelafe, were first and fourth.
District 7 was much closer. Cypress Bay won with 71, Flanagan had 80 and St. Thomas Aquinas 90. Coral Reef and West Broward, fourth and fifth in District 8, sit just ahead of them on our list.
Boys team rankings
The orange line marks the last of the eight team spots to state.
Jacob Castanedo (Sr.) of Braddock won District 8 in 16:25.8, 0.4 seconds ahead of Nicholas Garcia (Jr.) of Columbus. Garcia has the faster best, 15:40.0 at New World, but last week's result stands until they meet again. Lundin Steven (Jr.) of Columbus was third.
Martin Fernandez (Sr.) of Doral Academy ran 15:12.0 at New World, the fastest time in the region by 28 seconds, and was No. 5 on our last 4A list. He was sixth at districts in 16:54.3, so he starts fifth here. Fernandez back to his October form wins this race.
David Lazo (Sr.) of South Plantation won 4A District 7 in 16:11.6 and was 16th at state last fall. South Plantation was eighth in District 7 and is 15th on our list here, so Lazo and teammate Grant Evans (Sr.) are projected to state as individuals.
Boys individual rankings
| Rank | Runner | School | Best this fall | Where | District |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Castanedo (Sr.) | Braddock (Miami) | 15:54.0 | Snake Bite Invite | 1st, 16:25.8 |
| 2 | Nicholas Garcia (Jr.) | Columbus (Miami) | 15:40.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 2nd, 16:26.2 |
| 3 | Lundin Steven (Jr.) | Columbus (Miami) | 15:58.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 3rd, 16:34.4 |
| 4 | Yanliet Gomezdelafe (So.) | Braddock (Miami) | 15:54.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 4th, 16:38.9 |
| 5 | Martin Fernandez (Sr.) | Doral Academy | 15:12.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 6th, 16:54.3 |
| 6 | David Lazo (Sr.) * | South Plantation | 16:00.1 | Spanish River Invitational, 44th Annual | 1st, 16:11.6 |
| 7 | Grant Evans (Sr.) * | South Plantation | 16:34.1 | 4A District 7 | 2nd, 16:34.1 |
| 8 | Malcolm Spence IV (Sr.) | Flanagan (Pembroke Pines) | 16:12.7 | Spanish River Invitational, 44th Annual | 3rd, 16:54.6 |
| 9 | Rafaele D'Agostino (Jr.) | Doral Academy | 16:09.0 | New World Fall Spectacular | 5th, 16:46.5 |
| 10 | Carlo Baylon (So.) | Cypress Bay (Weston) | 16:40.6 | Pine Crest Meet | 4th, 17:02.6 |
* Projected to state as an individual (not on one of the top eight teams).
Why some slower times rank higher:
- Jacob Castanedo (15:54.0): beat Nicholas Garcia and Martin Fernandez at the 4A District 8 meet on November 4.
- Nicholas Garcia (15:40.0): beat Martin Fernandez at the 4A District 8 meet on November 4, 16:26.2 to 16:54.3.
- Lundin Steven (15:58.0): beat Yanliet Gomezdelafe and Martin Fernandez at the 4A District 8 meet on November 4.
- Yanliet Gomezdelafe (15:54.0): beat Martin Fernandez at the 4A District 8 meet on November 4, 16:38.9 to 16:54.3.
- Grant Evans (16:34.1): beat Malcolm Spence IV at the 4A District 7 meet on November 6, 16:34.1 to 16:54.6; beat Malcolm Spence IV at the 4A District 7 meet on November 6 and Spence beat Rafaele D'Agostino at the Spanish River Invitational on September 18.
- Malcolm Spence IV (16:12.7): beat Rafaele D'Agostino at the Spanish River Invitational on September 18, 16:12.7 to 16:19.0.
On the bubble
St. Thomas Aquinas against Douglas for eighth. St. Thomas Aquinas beat Douglas by 12 points at 4A District 7, 90 to 102, and holds the spot.
Behind Lazo and Evans, the last two individual spots project to Marcus Gentilhomme (Jr.) of Coral Springs, fifth at District 7 in 17:24.2, and Jack Miller (So.) of Deerfield Beach, who has run 17:14.3 this fall.
Projected to state: Braddock, Columbus, Doral Academy, Coral Reef, West Broward, Cypress Bay, Flanagan, St. Thomas Aquinas; individuals David Lazo (South Plantation), Grant Evans (South Plantation), Marcus Gentilhomme (Coral Springs), Jack Miller (Deerfield Beach).
From 4A District 7 (November 6): Cypress Bay (Weston) 4A (1st, 71), Flanagan (Pembroke Pines) 4A (2nd, 80), St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) 4A (3rd, 90), Douglas (Parkland) 4A (4th, 102), Cooper City 4A (5th, 138), Coral Glades (Coral Springs) 4A (6th, 139), Taravella (Coral Springs) 4A (7th, 169), South Plantation 4A (8th, 178). Individuals: Marcus Gentilhomme (Coral Springs, 5th), Jack Miller (Deerfield Beach, 15th), Kyle LaFrance (Fort Lauderdale, 20th), Ephraim LaFrance (Fort Lauderdale, 44th).
From 4A District 8 (November 4): Braddock (Miami) 4A (1st, 36), Columbus (Miami) 4A (2nd, 42), Doral Academy 4A (3rd, 50), Coral Reef (Miami) 4A (4th, 141), West Broward (Pembroke Pines) 4A (5th, 156), South Dade (Homestead) 4A (6th, 185), Miami Palmetto 4A (7th, 241), Coral Gables 4A (8th, 250). Individuals: Liam Platt (Miami Beach, 27th), Braden Baute (Hialeah Gardens, 29th), Anderson Ruano (Miami Beach, 37th), Dilan Velasquez (Homestead, 38th).
Run the 4A Region 4 boys teams in the simulator and swap in your own lineup.
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How we did it
- Qualifiers are from the district results in our database and match FHSAA's official regional qualifier list (posted November 9).
- Each region is run as one race with the runners who finished their district for a qualifying team, plus the individual qualifiers. Every runner keeps their best race this fall, put on one scale using the runners who raced on both courses.
- Head-to-head results since September decide pairs, the most recent meeting standing, so last week's district finish holds inside each district.
- Teams count a head-to-head only when both had at least four of their top five there. Roy Griak is left out. Only 2026 races count.
- Team rosters can change at the region meet. A team entry is a fact; a runner's start is not until the gun goes.
Every district result is in the Florida XC results database. All four regions are in our Class 4A region rankings.