Jack Michalak of Belen Jesuit and Madison Muller of Riverview lead Florida's juniors. The top ten eleventh-grade boys and girls in the state, with four juniors in the statewide girls' top five.
Florida eleventh graders, cross country season through September 22, 2026
Four of the top five girls in Florida are juniors. Madison Muller of Riverview is No. 1 on our week 5 statewide girls top 10, Emma Balaban of IMG Academy is second, and Arabella Duffell of Lake Nona and Katherine Eudaly of Plant are fourth and fifth. Muller and Balaban have not raced each other. Balaban won the championship race at the Southern Showcase in Alabama on September 19, first of 160.
The boys are led by Belen Jesuit's Jack Michalak, fifth on our week 5 statewide boys top 10. He ran 15:01.7 for third at the Showcase, behind his senior teammates Marcelo Mantecon and Armando Cruz. The fastest 5k by a Florida junior this fall is Fletcher Rodbro's 14:54.0 at the IMGA XC Summit Challenge, but Michalak beat him in Alabama.
The seniors are in our twelfth-grade top 10s, and the underclassmen are in our ninth-grade and tenth-grade lists. We use data and judgment, and we will miss one or two along the way.
About the times: every runner is listed with a time they actually ran. The number in parentheses is what we think that run is worth on the Cecil Field course in Jacksonville, the same scale as our weekly high school rankings, so a fast course and a slow course can be compared. When two ranked runners have raced each other, the finish decides it, and a loss stands until they meet again.
Eleventh Grade Boys Top 10
1. Jack Michalak, Belen Jesuit (Miami) 3A - 15:01.7 at the Southern Showcase (15:27.2)
Third of 250 in the championship race at the Southern Showcase on September 19, twelve places ahead of Fletcher Rodbro. He was seventh of 354 in the elite race at Cecil Field Summer Classic, ahead of Andrew Sides and Matthew Ishee, and 17th at the Florida Horse Park Invitational, where Landon Watkins, Kayaan Ghaffar and Brantley Rigdon finished ahead of him. None of them has raced him since. He is fifth statewide and third in 3A, and that published order holds here.
2. Fletcher Rodbro, IMG Academy (Bradenton) - 14:54.0 at the IMGA XC Summit Challenge (15:01.2)
He won his own school's IMGA XC Summit Challenge on September 5, first of 74, in the fastest 5k by a Florida junior this fall. Two weeks later he was 15th at the Showcase in 15:21.6, behind Michalak. That is their only meeting, so he is second.
3. Matthew Ishee, Nease (Ponte Vedra) 4A - 15:54.0 at the Cecil Field Summer Classic (15:54.0)
Twelfth at Cecil Field, ahead of Brantley Rigdon, Jacob Kelly and Jack Kline. On September 19 he ran 15:13.2 for 15th of 383 at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota, where Nease was third as a team. He is seventh in 4A.
4. Landon Watkins, Sickles (Tampa) 4A - 15:57.9 at the Florida Horse Park Invitational (16:03.1)
Sixth of 549 at the Horse Park, ahead of Kayaan Ghaffar, Rigdon, Kline, Garcia and Kelly. He won the Ragin' Storm XC Challenge and the West Hillsborough Invite in August and was second at the Seffner Christian Invitational. He has not raced Ishee. He is behind him because our week 5 4A list has Ishee seventh and Watkins ninth.
5. Daniel Georgiev, Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs) 4A - 16:47.1 at the Spruce Creek Invitational (16:10.4)
Three races, three wins: the Ocoee Kickstart Classic out of 119, the Freedom Invitational out of 99 and the Spruce Creek Invitational out of 60 on September 12. Spruce Creek runs slow, so that 16:47.1 is worth more than it looks. He has not raced anyone else on this list.
6. Nicholas Garcia, Columbus (Miami) 4A - 16:43.1 at King of the Hill (16:09.2)
He won King of the Hill Invitational out of 339 on September 10, then ran 15:53.4 for fourth in the Race of Champions at the Spanish River Invitational, two seconds ahead of Kayaan Ghaffar. He was 28th at the Horse Park, behind Watkins, Michalak, Ghaffar, Rigdon and Kline. The Spanish River result over Ghaffar is the newer race, and it puts him ahead of that group.
7. Kayaan Ghaffar, Gulliver Prep (Miami) 2A - 16:10.5 at the Florida Horse Park Invitational (16:15.7)
Fourteenth at the Horse Park, ahead of Rigdon, Kline and Kelly, then sixth in the Spanish River Race of Champions in 15:55.7, just behind Garcia. He is fourth in 2A.
8. Logan Haley, Branford 1A - 16:17.9 at the Buchholz Bobcats Classic (16:29.6)
He won the Buchholz Bobcats Classic on September 12, first of 203, and it is his only race in our results. Andrew Sides was 17th that day. He is fifth in 1A.
9. Andrew Sides, Buchholz (Gainesville) 4A - 15:49.0 at the Cecil Field Summer Classic (15:49.0)
Tenth at Cecil Field, five seconds ahead of Ishee and ahead of Rigdon, Kelly and Kline, and a win in the elite race at the Katie Caples Invitational on September 19 in 15:53.0, first of 101. His home meet was a bad day: 17th in 17:14.2, behind Haley. That loss stands until they meet again. He sits behind Ishee because our week 5 4A list has Ishee seventh and does not list Sides.
10. Brantley Rigdon, Bolles (Jacksonville) 2A - 16:04.0 at the Cecil Field Summer Classic (16:04.0)
Nineteenth at Cecil Field and 16th at the Horse Park, ahead of Kline and Kelly. Ishee and Sides beat him at Cecil Field, and Watkins and Ghaffar beat him at the Horse Park. He is fifth in 2A.
Next up: Jack Kline (Cornerstone Classical, 1A), 16:02.8 for 35th of 321 at the adidas XC Challenge in North Carolina; Jacob Kelly (Lake Minneola, 4A), third at Hawks on the Hill Invitational; Liam Ilea (Tavares, 3A), who won the Coach Joe McKinney Classic; Dylan Macias-Buenrostro (Mariner, 3A), 15:38.5 at North Port; and Antario Berek (Vero Beach, 4A), who won the 3A-4A race at Spanish River out of 418.
Eleventh Grade Girls Top 10
1. Madison Muller, Riverview (Sarasota) 4A - 17:52.6 at the Wellen Park XC Invite (17:39.6)
Three races, three wins: the North Port Preserve Pursuit in 17:33.1 out of 203, the Wellen Park XC Invite out of 131, and the Raider Open on September 19 in 17:35.2, ahead of Emma Wilkinson. She is No. 1 statewide and has not lost this fall.
2. Emma Balaban, IMG Academy (Bradenton) - 17:14.1 at the IMGA XC Summit Challenge (17:22.8)
She won the IMGA XC Summit Challenge out of 64 in the fastest 5k by a Florida girl this fall, then won the championship race at the Southern Showcase in Alabama on September 19 in 17:45.2, first of 160, ahead of teammate Sydney Johnson. Her marks are slightly faster than Muller's. They have not raced, and our published statewide list has Muller first, so this one does too.
3. Arabella Duffell, Lake Nona (Orlando) 4A - 17:38.5 at the St. Cloud Invitational (17:50.5)
She won the elite race at Cecil Field Summer Classic in 17:53.0, first of 343, ahead of Selah Vignier and Peyton Cerasi, and won the St. Cloud Invitational ahead of Wilkinson. She is fourth statewide.
4. Katherine Eudaly, Plant (Tampa) 4A - 18:40.3 at the West Hillsborough Invite (18:03.7)
Four races, four wins: Jim Ryun Invitational, the West Hillsborough Invite, the Parker Valby Invitational and the North Port Invite on September 19 in 17:37.3, first of 144, ahead of Emma Poekert. She is fifth statewide.
5. Lainee Mercer, Springstead (Spring Hill) 3A - 19:11.3 at the Ragin' Storm XC Challenge (18:36.1)
Second at the Ragin' Storm XC Challenge, ahead of Wilkinson, then fourth of 411 at the Florida Horse Park Invitational in 18:40.6, ahead of Nicole Lewis and Poekert. She won the Mitchell Mustang Invite on September 19. She is fourth in 3A.
6. Emma Wilkinson, Lakeland Christian (Lakeland) 1A - 18:28.3 at the St. Cloud Invitational (18:40.3)
Second to Duffell at St. Cloud, a win at the Lake Region Invitational, and second to Muller at the Raider Open in 18:29.7. Mercer beat her in August. She is second in 1A.
7. Selah Vignier, West Shore (Melbourne) 2A - 18:36.3 at the Rockledge Raider Classic (18:43.5)
Eighth at Cecil Field, ahead of Cerasi, a win at the Kowboy XC Invitational, third at the Astronaut Invitational and second at the Rockledge Raider Classic on September 18. She is No. 1 in 2A.
8. Sydney Johnson, IMG Academy (Bradenton) - 18:01.0 at the IMGA XC Summit Challenge (18:09.7)
Second to Balaban at the IMGA Summit and sixth of 160 at the Showcase in 18:47.3, again behind Balaban.
9. Camila Giles, Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) 3A - 18:37.2 at the Buchholz Bobcats Classic (18:38.1)
She won the Buchholz Bobcats Classic out of 163 on September 12, then ran 18:35.0 for second at the Katie Caples Invitational, behind Annabella Tomasic of Bishop Moore. She is fifth in 3A.
10. Nicole Lewis, Doral Academy (Doral) 4A - 18:43.0 at the Florida Horse Park Invitational (18:47.2)
She won the Pine Crest meet out of 325 in August, was fifth at the Horse Park ahead of Poekert, and second in the Race of Champions at Spanish River. She is tenth in 4A.
Next up: Emma Poekert (Cypress Creek, 3A), 18:23.2 for second at North Port; Peyton Cerasi (Matanzas, 4A), who won the DeLand Invitational; Ella Valentina Valenzuela (Bishop Moore, 3A), fifth at Katie Caples; Anne Vanos (Boone, 4A), who won the McKinney Classic; and Claire Chanon (Cardinal Gibbons, 2A), second in the 1A-2A race at Spanish River.
How we ranked them
- Eleventh graders only: Class of 2028, from the result files and last fall's state meet file. We checked every runner's grade against every meet they ran.
- Every 5k is leveled for how that course ran, the same way as our weekly lists, and the order starts from the same board as our week 5 rankings. Where a runner is already placed on a published week 5 list, that order holds here too.
- A head-to-head loss stands until the two runners meet again. When results go in a circle, the most recent race decides it. Where no race settles it, the season figures do. A missed meet is never held against anyone.
- Results through September 22, including the adidas XC Challenge in North Carolina. Meets outside Florida count only for Florida runners.
Rematches will move these lists. Muller and Balaban have not raced. Georgiev has not raced anyone on this list, and Haley has raced only once. The seniors are in our twelfth-grade top 10s, and every result is in the Florida XC results database.
Featured image: the Belen Jesuit Preparatory School shield (Miami) and the Riverview High School ram (Sarasota), each the school's own mark.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the fastest eleventh-grade cross country runner in Florida? expand_more
Through September 22, 2026, Jack Michalak of Belen Jesuit leads the junior boys; he was third at the Southern Showcase in 15:01.7, ahead of Fletcher Rodbro of IMG Academy. Madison Muller of Riverview (Sarasota) leads the junior girls and is No. 1 on the week 5 statewide list.
What is the fastest 5k by a Florida junior in 2026? expand_more
Fletcher Rodbro of IMG Academy ran 14:54.0 to win the IMGA XC Summit Challenge on September 5, 2026. Among junior girls, Emma Balaban of IMG Academy ran 17:14.1 at the same meet.