Week 8 Girls Team Top 10: Florida Cross Country Rankings

Florida girls cross country team rankings through eight weeks: August 21-October 10, 2026

The biggest meet of the fall in Florida did not happen. The FSU Pre-State Invitational in Tallahassee, October 9 and 10, was canceled for the storm that became Hurricane Isaias, a Category 3 hurricane forecast to come ashore in the western Panhandle on Friday night, and it was not rescheduled. No team on this page is penalized for a race it could not run: a missed week is not a result, and a team that sat out holds the place its season earned.

The top six holds from last week: Niceville (4A) first, Bishop Kenny (3A) second, Bishop Moore (3A) third, Chiles (3A) fourth, Carrollton (2A) fifth and Episcopal (2A) sixth.

Episcopal won the JAC Invitational in Jacksonville with 43, 10 points ahead of Bishop Kenny and 22 ahead of Nease. Kate Brice was second in 19:42.3, Whitney Morgan third, Holland McKinney fourth and Stella Krueger sixth. It is the result of the weekend, and it is noted here. It is also one race, and Bishop Kenny ran it without Camila Giles, its No. 1 on the season, so the 10-point gap is not a fair measure of the two teams. Moving a team from sixth to third on one result is more than we are willing to do, and Moore, Chiles and Carrollton did not lose a place by sitting the weekend out. Episcopal is the team to watch: if it keeps winning against full lineups, it moves up.

Bolles (2A) went to the Manhattan University Invitational in New York and was fifth of 17 teams in the Eastern States Championship with 154, Sofie Stam 11th of 136. The course is 2.5 miles, so we convert the times to a 5K before we price the course, and Bolles comes in at seventh. Creekside (4A) won HMT in Gainesville with 42 and Spanish River (4A) won Snake Bite with 45; they are eighth and ninth. Vanguard (3A) did not race and holds tenth by our call: a team that sat out is not moved down. That leaves St. Thomas Aquinas (4A), which won the BCAA/MSAA Championship with 47 without Elise Brown, its No. 1, first out at 11th, and Ponte Vedra (3A) 12th, although it beat Vanguard 30 to 46 at Speziale on October 3. Vanguard ran that race without its No. 2, Cierra Mills, and Ponte Vedra sent only a partial group to JAC on Saturday, without Piper Ross.

How this works, briefly. Every runner is scored on her whole season, with the most recent race counting most. A school's five best runners on that basis go into one virtual race with every other school's, scored the way cross country is scored. Times are leveled to Cecil Field through the runners who ran both the 2025 state meet and the course in question. A meet a team won is never allowed to lower its figure. Where two teams have raced each other and neither has raced its top runners since, the result on the grass orders them. A team that has not raced at all is projected from its returning five.

Points climb as more teams enter and are not comparable to last week's; compare the order and the averages. The averages below are converted season figures; the times next to each runner are her season figures in Cecil Field terms. Out-of-state entries are excluded, and IMG Academy competes as an FHSAA Independent outside the state series. The individual list is here, the boys' team list is here.

1. Niceville, 4A: 308 points

Season average 19:44.2 · 1-5 spread 0:20.5

Harmony Holland 19:33.5; Lola Jackson 19:36.8; Sophie Clapp 19:47.7; Anais Almonte 19:49.2; Riley Marise 19:54.0.

Did not race. Won the Wildcat Invitational at the University of West Florida on October 3 with 18. Anais Almonte and Lola Jackson, both freshmen, crossed together in 20:34.0, and Sophie Clapp was third. The tightest top five in the ten on the season: 20.5 seconds from first to fifth.

2. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), 3A: 333 points

Season average 19:38.6 · 1-5 spread 1:35.7

Camila Giles 18:52.9; Jillian Jakab 19:00.5; Taylor Lawhon 19:47.2; Rebecca McEnany 20:03.7; Alexandra Lumpkin 20:28.6.

Second at the JAC Invitational on Saturday with 53, 10 points behind Episcopal, without Camila Giles, its No. 1, and without Ava McEnany, its No. 7. Jillian Jakab won in 19:22.2. Second here: Kenny ran short-handed and Episcopal's 10 points are not a fair measure with Giles out. Ran the Nike XC Town Twilight Race of Champions on October 3: 16th of 44 teams with 407.

3. Bishop Moore (Orlando), 3A: 416 points

Season average 19:34.8 · 1-5 spread 3:10.3

Annabella Tomasic 17:43.6; Ella Valentina Valenzuela 19:20.0; Lauren Susnis 19:42.3; Caroline Byrnes 20:14.3; Carolyn Susnis 20:53.9.

Did not race. Won the Hagerty Invitational on September 26 with 24, Annabella Tomasic first by 96 seconds in 17:24.8 and Ella Valentina Valenzuela second. Beat Bishop Kenny 62 to 63 at Katie Caples on September 19. Third, behind Kenny on depth: Moore's fifth runner is a minute behind Kenny's on the season.

4. Chiles (Tallahassee), 3A: 409 points

Season average 19:47.0 · 1-5 spread 1:41.0

Kaia Ables 18:59.0; Emma-Claire Tanenbaum 19:00.3; Chloe Molen 20:03.3; Charlotte Sikes 20:12.1; Madeline Brockmeier 20:40.0.

Did not race. Won the Race of Champions at the flrunners.com Invitational on October 3 with 48, 56 points ahead of Lourdes, with Emma-Claire Tanenbaum third in 19:04.5. A win never lowers a team's figure, so it is listed and not counted. Fourth here, and it has not met Niceville or the varsities of Bishop Moore and Bishop Kenny since early September.

5. Carrollton (Miami), 2A: 467 points

Season average 19:59.7 · 1-5 spread 1:13.9

Daniela Hernandez 19:12.9; Gabriella Socarras 19:49.2; Eva Martinez-Lejarza 20:08.4; Paola De La Iglesia 20:21.3; Antonia Beltran 20:26.8.

Sent a small group to the Riviera Prep Fall Classic on Friday: fifth with 104, with only Daniela Hernandez of its season top seven running (20:37.2), so it does not count as a meeting. Fifth here: it did not lose a place by not racing a full lineup.

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6. Episcopal (Jacksonville), 2A: 401 points

Season average 19:51.0 · 1-5 spread 1:24.0

Stella Krueger 19:27.9; Holland McKinney 19:29.4; Whitney Morgan 19:38.6; Kate Brice 19:47.0; Graziana Gowdy 20:51.9.

Won the JAC Invitational with 43, ahead of Bishop Kenny (53) and Nease (65) in a field of nine scoring teams: Brice second in 19:42.3, Morgan third in 19:42.5, McKinney fourth in 19:46.3, Krueger sixth in 19:54.5, Emily Monti fifth for the team in 22:09.1. Gowdy and Audrey Brice did not run. Seventeenth of 41 in the Great American Race of Champions with 553 on October 3. Holds sixth: one race, with Bishop Kenny short-handed, is not enough to pass Moore, Chiles and Carrollton, none of whom raced.

7. Bolles (Jacksonville), 2A: 492 points

Season average 19:56.2 · 1-5 spread 1:49.2

Sofie Stam 18:44.5; Palmer Edwards 19:42.9; Kavya Patel 20:12.8; Peyton Hoover 20:27.0; Valentina Bouras 20:33.8.

Ran its varsity at the Manhattan University Invitational in the Bronx on Saturday, fifth of 17 teams in the Eastern States Championship with 154: Sofie Stam 11th of 136 in 15:07.2, Palmer Edwards 32nd, Kavya Patel 45th, Peyton Hoover 54th, Valentina Bouras 57th. The course is 2.5 miles; we convert the times to a 5K and price the course like any other. Second of 28 at the adidas championship in North Carolina on September 19. Seventh.

8. Creekside (St. Johns), 4A: 527 points

Season average 19:58.7 · 1-5 spread 2:15.5

Eva Delaney 19:05.5; Emma Godfrey 19:27.7; Ivey Edgell 19:51.0; Hadleigh Roberts 20:08.2; Elena Schultz 21:21.0.

Won HMT in Gainesville with 42, ahead of Oak Hall (55), Bartram Trail (81) and Buchholz (91): Eva Delaney second in 19:15.6 behind Avery Hartley, Emma Godfrey fourth in 20:33.3. Ivey Edgell, its No. 3 on the season, did not run. Eighth.

9. Spanish River (Boca Raton), 4A: 531 points

Season average 19:55.9 · 1-5 spread 2:15.9

Alba Antunez-Perez 18:17.0; Makaela Morilla 19:56.8; Adriana Perrette 20:22.2; Brooke Thunberg 20:30.9; Julia D'Emic 20:32.9.

Won the Snake Bite Invite in Boca Raton with 45, 11 points ahead of Doral, in a 16-team race: Alba Antunez-Perez first in 18:29.9, Makaela Morilla second for the team. Eighteenth of 41 in the Great American Race of Champions with 561 on October 3. Ninth.

10. Vanguard (Ocala), 3A: 641 points

Season average 19:50.4 · 1-5 spread 3:34.4

Lyla Hallick 18:06.8; Cierra Mills 19:17.5; Reese Cartwright 19:19.2; Annalise Hallick 20:47.5; Natalie Lammens 21:41.2.

Did not race. Second at Speziale with 46 on October 3, without Cierra Mills, its No. 2; Lyla Hallick won by 43 seconds and Reese Cartwright was third. Tenth here, holding its place by our call; it is 11th in the virtual race.

Just missed

St. Thomas Aquinas (4A) won the BCAA/MSAA Championship with 47 without Elise Brown and is 11th, first out behind Vanguard. Ponte Vedra (3A) is 12th: it won Speziale on October 3 with 30, 16 points ahead of Vanguard, and every one of its seven runners finished ahead of Vanguard's fifth, but Vanguard did not race this weekend and holds. Nease (4A) was third at JAC with 65, led by Lucia Misasi in 19:48.0, and is 13th. Sunlake (4A) won the South Marion Invitational with 33; 14th. Lourdes (3A) won the 305 Classic with 19. IMG Academy was 13th of 41 in the Great American Race of Champions with 468; it is an FHSAA Independent and is not part of this list.

Where the virtual race disagrees with this list

Vanguard over Ponte Vedra: Vanguard holds tenth by our call: it did not race this weekend, and a team that sat out is not moved down by a team that passed it. Ponte Vedra beat Vanguard 30 to 46 at Speziale on Oct. 3, but Vanguard ran that race without its No. 2, Cierra Mills, and Ponte Vedra's own top runner Piper Ross was not in its JAC group this weekend.
Bishop Moore over Episcopal: Our call: Episcopal won JAC, but that is one race and runner-up Bishop Kenny ran it without Camila Giles; Moore's Hagerty win (24 points, Tomasic by 96 seconds) and its point over Kenny at Katie Caples keep it ahead on body of work.
Chiles over Episcopal: Our call: Chiles won the Race of Champions at the flrunners.com Invitational on October 3 and did not race this weekend, so it holds its place; one JAC win does not move Episcopal past it.
Carrollton over Episcopal: Our call: Episcopal's JAC win is noted and counts in its figures, but one race, with Bishop Kenny short-handed, does not move it past Carrollton, which did not race its full lineup this weekend and is not scored for that.
Vanguard over St. Thomas Aquinas: Vanguard holds tenth by our call: it did not race this weekend, and a team that sat out is not moved down. Bolles came into the ten on its Manhattan run, so one team had to leave, and St. Thomas Aquinas, which won the BCAA/MSAA Championship without Elise Brown, its No. 1, is first out.

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Method notes

Episcopal at sixth is our call: it won JAC, 43 to 53 over Bishop Kenny, but one race, with Kenny short-handed, does not move it past Bishop Moore, Chiles or Carrollton, none of which raced a full lineup this weekend. Its figures are in the virtual race, where it ranks higher than sixth, and it moves up if the results keep coming.
Bishop Kenny over Episcopal is our call: Episcopal won the JAC Invitational 43 to 53, but Kenny ran without Camila Giles, its No. 1, and without Ava McEnany, its No. 7. We did not count the Bale-N-Trail meeting of Bishop Kenny's boys on September 26 either, when they ran without Dayne Kimball.
A team only counts as having raced when at least three of its season top seven ran. Carrollton's and Ponte Vedra's partial groups this weekend do not count as meetings.
Vanguard at tenth is our call: Vanguard did not race this weekend, and Bolles came into the ten on its Manhattan run, so one team had to leave it; St. Thomas Aquinas, which won BCAA without Elise Brown, is first out. Ponte Vedra beat Vanguard 30 to 46 at Speziale on October 3 and all seven of its runners finished ahead of Vanguard's fifth; Vanguard ran that race without Cierra Mills, its No. 2, and Ponte Vedra's JAC group on Saturday was partial. The two have not met at full strength.
Head-to-head results from September 12 and earlier no longer order teams. The times still count in the figures.
HMT Invitational: the girls' own reading is 71 seconds slow and the boys' 42, a ratio of 1.7 where our house rule is 1.21, so the course is priced at the boys' median times 1.21 (+50.5).
Out-of-state teams at the Great American XC Festival, the Alexander Invitational and the Manhattan University Invitational are left out of the course readings and the virtual race.
The Manhattan University Invitational is a 2.5-mile course: its times are converted to a 5K, and the course is priced from the Florida runners who also ran last year's state meet (updated October 11). Buchholz's runs at HMT on October 10 are treated as a workout, not a race.
Points are a virtual-race sum and move every time a new file enters the pool; compare order and averages, not points, week to week.

The individual list is here; last week's team list is here.

Featured image: the school's own logo, credited to Niceville High School.