Brianna Motycka beat Alice Ilea by 11 seconds at Nights of Thunder and moves to second, Luke Lomoriello ran 9:42.6 at the Gulf Coast Stampede, the fastest raw 3K by a Florida middle schooler this fall, and Liam Jopling finally opened with a win on the state course.
FLYRA middle school cross country, week four: September 6-12, 2026
The middle school races at the HOKA Nights of Thunder Cross Country Fest got in before the storms did, and they settled something. Brianna Motycka of Liberty Pines Academy won the girls' 3K in 10:44.8, eleven seconds ahead of Alice Ilea, on the state course at Apalachee Regional Park. Ilea beat Motycka by 1.3 seconds at Jim Ryun three weeks ago. The most recent meeting is the one that counts, and Motycka moves to second. Colette Heffernan, who has beaten Ilea and has not raced Motycka, did not race and is still first.
On the boys' side Luke Lomoriello of Hobbs Middle School won the Gulf Coast Stampede middle school race in 9:42.6, 36 seconds clear of a 171-boy field, the fastest raw 3K by a Florida middle schooler this season. He is still second behind RJ Destremps, who did not race and whose Jim Ryun run still projects a little better. Liam Jopling of Ruckel, the fastest returner in the state, opened at last and won Nights of Thunder in 10:25.0; a race replaces a seed, and this race was slower than the seed, so he is fourteenth for now. Joao Cardoso of Neptune Middle School won the JT Memorial two-mile on Friday night and moves to seventh. Sophia Underwood won the Stampede girls' race by 43 seconds, and Aliana Alvarez, Red Sea's elementary state champion last fall, ran her first middle school race at Nights of Thunder and finished third, ahead of Camila Boucher. Both go in.
How to read the numbers: every runner is listed with the time they actually ran, and the number in parentheses is our projection of what that run is worth at the FLYRA state meet in November. The projections set the order, but the raced time is always the official number. When the run that ranks a kid is not the most recent one, the meet is named. Runners who have not opened yet are seeded on last November's state time and marked that way. We use data and judgment both, and we will miss one or two along the way.
Girls Top 10
1. Colette Heffernan, No Excuses RC, 7th grade - 10:44.2 at Cecil Field (projects 9:59.0)
Did not race. Won Cecil Field in 8:51 for 2.5K and the Horse Park out of 169 in 10:17.8, seventeen seconds ahead of Ilea. Nobody has beaten her, and she has not raced Motycka. First either way.
2. Brianna Motycka, Liberty Pines Academy, 8th grade - 11:07.2 at Jim Ryun (projects 10:29.6)
Won the Nights of Thunder girls' 3K on the state course in 10:44.8, eleven seconds ahead of Ilea, in her first race since Jim Ryun. The course reads a few seconds slow at night, so the run projects 10:37 and her Jim Ryun mark still ranks her. That was the second meeting between her and Ilea: Ilea by 1.3 at Jim Ryun, Motycka by 11 on Saturday. The most recent one counts, and she moves from third to second. The defending state champion, in a No Excuses jersey last October, and which jersey she wears in November still decides the team race.
3. Alice Ilea, Red Sea Running Club, 8th grade - 11:05.9 at Jim Ryun (projects 10:28.3)
Five races in three weeks. Won Jim Ryun and Indian River, second to Heffernan at the Horse Park, won the Windy Hill invitational on Tuesday in 11:27.3, second to Motycka at Nights of Thunder on Saturday in 10:56.0. She is the only girl here who has raced both of the two above her, and she has lost to both of them once. Third is exactly where that puts her.
4. Amelia Flood, No Excuses RC, 8th grade - 11:23.0 at Cecil Field (projects 10:37.8)
Second to Heffernan at Cecil Field on opening night in 9:23 for 2.5K and has not raced since. Sixth in the club race at state last fall in 11:20.0.
5. Emily Del Mazo, WIND Runners, 7th grade - 11:27.3 at Jim Ryun (projects 10:49.7)
Third at Jim Ryun, and racing high school varsity since for Community School of Naples. Second at the Fort Myers XC Invite on Saturday in 20:37.2 for 5K behind Joanie Webb, a run that puts a seventh grader eighth on the 1A girls' list. Her ranking here still comes from Jim Ryun.
6. Aliana Alvarez, Red Sea Running Club - 11:01.8 (projects 10:54.2)
Third at Nights of Thunder in 11:01.8 in her first middle school race, seventeen seconds behind Motycka, six behind Ilea and ten ahead of Boucher, running for Red Sea's middle school team, which her coach confirmed. The timer listed her as A. Alvarez. She won the 3rd-5th grade race at the FLYRA state meet last October and the elementary races at Jim Ryun and the Horse Park this fall by more than a minute each. One middle school race, and it puts her sixth. The kids ranked above her have all raced at least twice.
7. Sophia Underwood, Liza Jackson Preparatory School, 7th grade - 10:58.6 (projects 11:01.7)
Won the Gulf Coast Stampede middle school race in 10:58.6, 43 seconds clear of a 114-girl field, a week after winning the Dolphin Dash by more than a minute and a half. The Stampede course reads about even, so this is the run that ranks her, within a second of the 11:01.2 that won her the private school title at state last fall. Seventh, where she was, with a new name above her.
8. Camila Boucher, Boca Warriors Track Club, 8th grade - 11:11.3 (projects 11:03.8)
Fourth at Nights of Thunder in 11:11.3, behind Motycka, Ilea and Aliana Alvarez, and 26 seconds faster on the clock than her second at Indian River. Eighteenth a week ago on the Indian River run alone. She ran 12:08.6 at state last fall for Palm Beach Elite, and she is a minute better than that already.
9. Valentina Sarcos, Palmer Trinity (Miami), 8th grade - 12:27.4 (projects 11:06.6)
Won the Palmer Trinity middle school invitational on Wednesday in 12:27.4 by 48 seconds, on a course that reads about 80 seconds slow, and was third at the Horse Park in 11:12.5 the Saturday before. Two races, and the second projects a little better than the first. She goes ahead of Acadia Hassell's seed by 1.7 seconds because a real result within a few seconds of a projection outranks it.
10. Acadia Hassell, Montford Middle School, 8th grade - 11:04.9 at 2025 state, hasn't raced yet
Four weekends, no start, and the seed has not moved. Sarcos raced within two seconds of it and a race beats a seed. Fourth in the public race at state last fall. When she opens, the middle of this list rearranges.
Next five: Zoie Hart (Emerald Coast Middle School, 8th) 11:48.7 (11:14.2), on a thin course reading; Mia Kopcikova (Imagine Town Center, 8th) 11:40.6 at Indian River (11:24.3), ahead of Eggleston on the Horse Park finish; Bailey Eggleston (Hillsborough Harriers, 8th) 11:53.8 at Jim Ryun (11:16.2); Madelen Finch (No Excuses RC, 7th) 12:07.9 at Cecil Field (11:22.7); Mia Emhoff (Emerald Coast Middle School, 7th) 11:59.0 (11:24.5).
Also worth knowing from week four: Zoie Hart (Emerald Coast Middle School, 8th) drops from tenth to eleventh without racing as Alvarez goes in above her. Red Sea won the Nights of Thunder team race with 22 on Ilea, Alvarez and Kayla Santos. Paula Webb (Donahue Academy) won the SAC middle school race in 12:01.1 by 45 seconds, the same morning her sister Joanie won the Fort Myers XC Invite varsity race; their parents are Alan and Julia Webb. Addison Lessard (Harmony Middle School) led her sisters Lacey and Brooklynn to a 1-2-3 in the JT Memorial two-mile. Victoria Kuffer (Pineview) won the Davidson two-mile, Aubrey Sunseri (Lecanto Middle School) won at Inverness in 13:00.7, Georgia Goodman (Swift Creek) won the Mustang Run in 12:46.8, and Andie Allison (Pinecrest Lakes Academy) led a 1-2-3 in the GFAC two-mile.
Boys Top 10
1. RJ Destremps, Hillsborough Harriers, 8th grade - 10:08.4 at Jim Ryun (projects 9:30.8)
Did not race. Two starts, two wins, nobody within eleven seconds of him in either: Jim Ryun on opening weekend and the Horse Park in 9:53.8 out of 246. Lomoriello ran faster on the clock on Saturday, on a course that reads about even; Destremps' Jim Ryun run, on a course that reads slow, still projects nine seconds better. They have not raced each other since Jim Ryun, where Destremps won by nine.
2. Luke Lomoriello, Hobbs Middle School, 8th grade - 10:17.3 at Jim Ryun (projects 9:39.7)
Won the Gulf Coast Stampede middle school race in 9:42.6, 36 seconds clear of a 171-boy field from four states, the fastest raw time by a Florida middle schooler this fall. The Stampede course reads about even against the state meet, so that run projects 9:45.7 and his Jim Ryun run still ranks him. Three starts: second at Jim Ryun, then wins at Pace and the Stampede by 73 and 36 seconds.
3. Colton Jobe, VCMS (Middleton), 8th grade - 10:05.2 (projects 10:11.1)
Did not race. Second at the Horse Park in 10:05.2 in his first race of the season, 37 seconds faster than his state time, ahead of Moylan by a tenth and Matyka by eleven seconds. He holds third over Matyka, whose season figure is better, because he beat him and neither has raced since.
4. Aidan Moylan, Imagine Town Center, 8th grade - 10:05.3 (projects 10:11.2)
Did not race. Three courses, three answers, each faster: Spikes and Spurs in 11:04.9, Indian River in 10:38.7, the Horse Park in 10:05.3 for third. Fourth for the same reason Jobe is third: he beat Matyka in Ocala and nobody has raced since.
5. Drake Matyka, Unattached, 8th grade - 10:19.3 at Jim Ryun (projects 9:41.7)
Did not race. Third at Jim Ryun, sixth at the Horse Park in 10:16.6. The two boys directly above him beat him in Ocala and have not run since, so they stay above him. LaHayne and Cardoso beat him there too, but both raced again on Friday, and once a runner races again the season figures decide; on those, Matyka is ahead of both.
6. Tommy Schulte, Naples Elite, 8th grade - 10:19.3 at Jim Ryun (projects 9:41.7)
Has not raced since Jim Ryun, where he ran the same time as Matyka. Three weekends off are not held against him. He ran 10:31.4 at state last fall for Gulfview.
7. Joao Cardoso, Neptune Middle School, 8th grade - 10:44.0 for two miles at the JT Memorial (projects 9:54.9)
Won the JT Memorial middle school two-mile on Friday night in 10:44.0, nineteen seconds ahead of LaHayne, a run worth about 9:58 for 3K on the clock and 9:54.9 in November terms. Fifth at the Horse Park in 10:14.7 a week earlier. Sixth to seventh on the arithmetic, but the run itself is the second-best of the season by anybody on this list.
8. Maxwell Claypool, WIND Runners, 8th grade - 10:36.5 at Jim Ryun (projects 9:58.9)
Did not race. Fifth at Jim Ryun, seventh at the Horse Park in 10:22.2. Jobe and Moylan beat him in Ocala and sit above him for it; the two boys who beat him there and raced again are now ordered by the figures, which puts Cardoso ahead and LaHayne behind.
9. Elliot Lasota, No Excuses RC, 7th grade - 10:49.1 at Cecil Field (projects 10:03.9)
Won the Cecil Field boys' race on opening night in 8:55 for 2.5K and has not raced since. A seventh grader who ran 11:03.8 in the open race at state. No Excuses has not raced since August 21.
10. Andrew LaHayne, Harmony Middle School, 8th grade - 10:42.8 at Jim Ryun (projects 10:05.2)
Second to Cardoso at the JT Memorial two-mile in 11:03.0, fourth at the Horse Park in 10:13.0, sixth at Jim Ryun. Three races that all say about the same thing. He has been unattached, NEXT and now Harmony Middle School on three different result sheets, and he ran 10:52.2 at state last fall for the Soldier City Striders.
Next five: Elliot Macki (Calvary Christian Academy, Fort Lauderdale, 8th) 10:49.2 at Jim Ryun (10:11.6), racing high school varsity since; Daniel Hage (Calvary Christian Academy, 7th) 10:49.6 (10:12.0); Parker Whittamore (WIND Runners) 10:54.4 (10:16.8); Liam Jopling (Ruckel Middle School, 8th) won Nights of Thunder in 10:25.0 (10:17.5) in his first race of the season, sixteen seconds slower than the 10:01.3 seed he had been sitting on, and a race replaces a seed; Marco Garcia (Miami Elite) 11:03.6 at Cecil Field (10:18.4).
Also worth knowing from week four: Gabriel Garback (Tavares Middle School) won Windy Hill on Tuesday in 11:12.3 and Jack Ilea, a sixth grader, was second. Nicolas Adler (Ransom Everglades) won the Palmer Trinity meet in 11:59.4 on a course that reads more than a minute slow, three tenths ahead of Ruslan Lefrak. Alexander Grimes (Deerlake) won the Mustang Run in Tallahassee in 11:12.7. Michael Giddens (Lecanto Middle School) won at Inverness in 11:59.6. William Casto (Naples Christian Academy) won the SAC meet in 11:17.5. Tyson Brogan (Pinecrest Lakes Academy) won the GFAC two-mile in 13:14.5 and Dylan Chavez (Pineview) won the Davidson two-mile in Crestview in 12:08.7. Ruckel scored 24 at Nights of Thunder to Red Sea Running Club's 35.
How these rankings were built
- Every 2026 middle school 3K is turned into a November projection using the kids who have run both this season and the 2025 FLYRA state meet. The projection sets the order. The time printed first is what the athlete actually ran, and when the run that ranks a kid is not the most recent one, the meet is named.
- A head-to-head result orders two runners until one of them races again. That is why Motycka is above Ilea, why Jobe and Moylan are above Matyka, and why LaHayne, who beat Matyka in Ocala and then raced again on Friday, is not.
- A real result outranks a seed that is a few seconds better. A missed week is not a result and is never held against anyone.
- Returners from the 2025 state meet who have not opened are entered at their state time and labeled that way. Those seeds are floors.
- Every 2025 eighth grader is out. The Class of 2030 races high school now.
- Cecil Field's race was 2.5K and the JT Memorial, Trinity Prep, GFAC and Davidson ran two miles; those times are shown as 3K equivalents. Nights of Thunder and the Gulf Coast Stampede were rated on 44 and 7 kids with a state time; the Stampede reading leans on the pooled small-meet figure.
- Kids who appear under both a club and a school jersey are merged and listed under the jersey they raced for most recently. Aliana Alvarez was listed by the Nights of Thunder timer as A. Alvarez; Red Sea's coach confirmed the name and that she ran for the middle school team.
- We use data and judgment, and we will miss one or two along the way. Tell us who.
Last week's lists are here. Catch up on Saturday in the weekend recap, and see every result in the Florida XC results database.
The youngest runners have a list of their own too: the elementary top tens, girls and boys, grades K-5.