Avery Hartley won the Bale-N-Trail Elite race and comes back in at ninth, with the two IMG girls who beat her at the Showcase ahead of her, after we left her out last week despite her Cecil Field wins over Katelin Wilcox and Lyla Hallick; Madison Muller and Natalia Gaona-Zelaya won again and Arabella Duffell was second in Huntsville.
Florida girls cross country, through six weeks: August 21-September 26, 2026
Avery Hartley won the Bale-N-Trail Elite race in 18:17.5, 1.5 seconds ahead of Eva Delaney of Creekside, and she comes back into the ten at ninth. She should not have been out of it. Hartley was second at Cecil Field in August, ahead of Katelin Wilcox and Lyla Hallick, and none of the three has met since. A loss stands until they meet again, and last week we left Hartley off while ranking both of them. That was our mistake.
Fixing it moves more than one name. Rashida Reinhardt and Sydney Johnson of IMG Academy beat Hartley at the Southern Showcase on September 19, so they come in ahead of her at seventh and eighth. Hallick is tenth. Wilcox, who won the Todd Howsare Memorial by 49 seconds on Saturday, is first out, on the call from last week that keeps Hallick above her. Alba Antunez-Perez and Mary Summers drop out without having raced.
The top six hold. Madison Muller won Lakewood Ranch in 17:54.0 by almost a minute and a half, four starts and four wins. Natalia Gaona-Zelaya ran 17:34.6 at the Stampede Sprint, the fastest race of her season, and won by 86 seconds. Arabella Duffell went to Huntsville and was second of 271 in the PR'ville Championship race in 17:33.5.
Every time is weighed against where it was run, using runners who raced both that course and last November's state meet, with Cecil Field as the yardstick. A runner is ranked on her whole season, with the most recent race counting most, and a race she won never counts against her. We use the data and our own eyes, and we will get one or two wrong along the way. The boys' list is here.
1. Madison Muller, Riverview (Sarasota), Jr., 4A
Won Lakewood Ranch in 17:54.0 out of 126, 1:28.7 ahead of Kayla Hawk of Parrish. Four starts, four wins. The course ran fast on Saturday, so as a win it does not count against her, and her 17:52.6 at Wellen Park still ranks her. She stays above Balaban on the head-to-head that has ordered them since week 3.
2. Emma Balaban, IMG Academy, Jr.
Did not race. Won the Southern Showcase in 17:45.2 on September 19, and her 17:14.1 at the IMGA Summit is still the fastest time by a Florida girl this fall. She has beaten Reinhardt and Johnson twice each.
3. Natalia Gaona-Zelaya, Wiregrass Ranch, Sr., 4A
Won the Stampede Sprint in 17:34.6 out of 122, 86 seconds ahead of Emma Poekert of Cypress Creek, the fastest time of her season. Five starts, five wins. The course ran fast, so the win does not count against her and her Astronaut run still ranks her. She has beaten Tomasic, Hallick, Summers and Mercer this season and lost to nobody.
4. Arabella Duffell, Lake Nona, Jr., 4A
Second of 271 in the Championship race at On Twilight at PR'ville in Huntsville in 17:33.5, 8.5 seconds behind Addy Cotter of Baylor School, and the fastest time of her season. We did not put a number on the Huntsville course: only five Floridians who ran it also ran last November's state meet, from two schools, and they disagree. The run is on the record, not in her figure. Won Cecil Field and St. Cloud, and has beaten Hartley, Wilcox and Hallick. She and Gaona-Zelaya have not met.
5. Katherine Eudaly, Plant, Jr., 4A
Did not race. Won the North Port Invite in 17:37.3 on September 19 by 46 seconds, four wins in five starts, and she beat Wilcox at Parker Valby.
6. Annabella Tomasic, Bishop Moore, So., 3A
Did not race. Won the Katie Caples Invitational in 17:24.0 on September 19, the second-fastest time by a Florida girl this fall. Sixth on the call we made last week: Hallick beat her at the Horse Park and the rule would put her behind Hallick. We are ranking the 17:24 instead, until they meet again.
7. Rashida Reinhardt, IMG Academy, Fr.
Did not race. Fourth at the Southern Showcase in 18:32.0, ahead of her teammate Johnson and ahead of Hartley; third at the IMGA Summit in 18:16.1 behind Balaban and Johnson. She comes in because Hartley does: she beat Hartley in Huntsville, and Hartley beat Wilcox and Hallick at Cecil Field. On season figure alone she would be fourteenth.
8. Sydney Johnson, IMG Academy, Jr.
Did not race. Sixth at the Showcase in 18:47.3, behind Reinhardt and ahead of Hartley; second to Balaban at the IMGA Summit in 18:01.0, ahead of Reinhardt that day. Reinhardt beat her most recently, so she is eighth.
9. Avery Hartley, Bartram Trail, So., 4A
Won the Bale-N-Trail Elite race on her own team's course in 18:17.5 out of 93, 1.5 seconds ahead of Delaney, with Creekside's Emma Godfrey third. Second at Cecil Field in 18:13.0 behind Duffell, ahead of Wilcox and Hallick; fourteenth at the Showcase in 19:01.6 behind Reinhardt and Johnson. Those two results put her exactly here.
10. Lyla Hallick, Vanguard (Ocala), So., 3A
Did not race. Won the Rockledge Raider Classic in 18:10.8 on September 18 and beat Tomasic at the Horse Park. Hartley beat her at Cecil Field, so she sits behind Hartley and the two IMG girls who beat Hartley. Wilcox beat her at Cecil Field too, and she stays above Wilcox on last week's call.
Just missed
Katelin Wilcox (East Lake, Sr., 3A) is first out. She won the Todd Howsare Memorial in 18:51.1 out of 117, 48.9 seconds ahead of Quynh Tollon of Osceola (Seminole), on a course that ran fast, and as a win it does not count against her. She beat Hallick at Cecil Field and is behind her on a call, and Hartley beat both of them that night. Alba Antunez-Perez (Spanish River, Sr., 4A) did not race; her one race, the Spanish River Race of Champions win, sits just behind Hallick on figure. Mary Summers (Seven Rivers Christian, So., 1A) was listed as a non-starter at Weeki Wachee and has not raced since August 29, and Lydia Vincent beat her the last time they met. Lainee Mercer (Springstead, Jr., 3A) did not race. Eva Delaney (Creekside, So., 4A) ran 18:19.0 for second at Bale-N-Trail, the fastest time of her season.
Method notes
- A head-to-head loss stands until the two runners meet again. Where results form a loop, the most recent meeting decides. Every pair among the top 29 was checked this week, and the check found the mistake at the top of this post: Hartley's Cecil Field wins over Wilcox and Hallick were standing while she was off the list. Reinhardt and Johnson follow from Hartley, because both beat her at the Showcase.
- Two calls that are not rule outcomes, both carried from last week: Tomasic sixth although Hallick beat her at the Horse Park, and Hallick tenth above Wilcox although Wilcox beat her at Cecil Field. Muller stays above Balaban on the head-to-head that has ordered them since week 3.
- Group runs are not races. At Bale-N-Trail, Episcopal's girls crossed six together at 23:18 and Bolles' girls finished in pairs and packs. None of those times is counted, for the runners or for the course reading.
- Course readings this week, in seconds against Cecil Field, from girls who ran both the course and the 2025 state meet: Todd Howsare -56.8 (n=16), West Orange -46.5 (n=26, disputed), Stampede Sprint -39.8 (n=19, disputed), Jensen Beach -39.4 (n=31), Bale-N-Trail -37.5 (n=52, with the group runs left out), Lakewood Ranch -35.9 (n=23), STU Bobcat -24.1 (n=18, disputed), Weeki Wachee +43.3 (n=8), Argonaut +40.4 (boys' reading x1.21), Wildwood +33.0 (n=6).
- Not rated: On Twilight at PR'ville (five girls from two Florida schools; Duffell's run is listed, not priced), the Larry Wooten Invitational (nine girls, two readings 32 seconds apart), Lake Wales, Marathon, the Azalea City Classic, Chief, FSDB Home Meet 3, Graceville, Lightning Invites 4 and both Lake Jackson runs.
- Out-of-state teams at PR'ville and the Azalea City Classic are excluded. The high school times from the Inaugural Run Florida XC Invitational are on the site's performance lists and are not used in these rankings. IMG Academy is an FHSAA Independent; its runners are ranked.
- A race a runner won never lowers her figure. Muller's, Gaona-Zelaya's and Wilcox's wins on Saturday are listed and not counted against them.
Every result behind this list is on the site in the rankings section, and the full weekend is in the weekend recap. Last week: the week 5 girls list.
Featured image: the Riverview Rams logo, the school's own mark, credited to Riverview High School (Sarasota).