FLRunners.com Invitational Preview: Elite Top Fives and a Dark Horse

The 27th FLRunners.com Invitational is Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, at Holloway Park in Lakeland.

Friday is the middle school, elementary and high school races. Saturday is the Elite races, and that is where the fastest runners in the state will be. Here are the five runners in each Elite 5K with the fastest race this fall, printed as run, from a course that counts in our rankings.

Elite boys

1. Quentin Thompson, Lake Minneola: 15:16.0
2. Reed Hagen, Fort Myers: 15:30.3
3. Jonathan Kiros, Chiles: 15:36.5
4. Jacob Sackenheim, Robinson: 15:37.1
5. Jeb Bremerman, Naples: 15:39.0

Quentin Thompson is a senior and fourth on our week 6 list. He was second in the Cecil Field Elite race in 15:16.0, third at the Florida Horse Park Invitational in 15:46.8, and second at Hawks on the Hill in 15:29.0. Last Saturday he was 13th of 334 in the Championship race at PR'ville in Huntsville in 15:32.7, the first Floridian across. Last November he was 32nd at state in 16:29.6.

Reed Hagen is a sophomore who ran 16:12.9 at state as a freshman. He ran 16:19.0 at Cecil Field, won the Fort Myers Invite in 16:26.6, and was second in the North Port Elite race in 15:30.3, ten seconds behind Luis Rivera of St. Cloud.

Jonathan Kiros is a senior who was fourth at state last year in 15:46.3. He opened with a 15:47.0 for ninth at Cecil Field, was tenth at the Horse Park in 16:01.4, and ran 15:36.5 for 19th in the Championship division at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville.

Jacob Sackenheim is a senior and the biggest mover on the list. He was 73rd at last year's state meet in 17:30.7. This fall he won the Grayling Memorial in 16:25.5 and the Todd Howsare Memorial in 16:20.5, and was third in the North Port Elite race in 15:37.1.

Jeb Bremerman is a sophomore who was 43rd at state last year in 16:40.7. He won the Lehigh Invite in 16:26.6, was third at the Fort Myers Invite, and ran 15:39.0 for fifth at North Port. He won the Lakewood Ranch Invite last Saturday in 16:02.2. He did not finish at the 3D Sommers Invitational on Sept. 5.

Dark horse: Will Moss. The Montverde Academy senior is the defending state champion, and he won last November's title in 15:35.3. He has raced only twice this fall, so he sits outside the five on the clock: eighth at the Florida Horse Park Invitational in 16:00.2 and second in the Elite race at the Katie Caples Invitational in 15:57. Two races is not enough to read a title-winner's fall, and Holloway Park is a chance to see where he is.

Elite girls

1. Katelin Wilcox, East Lake: 18:35.0
2. Emma-Claire Tanenbaum, Chiles: 18:48.0
3. Eva McMenemy-Hoang, Viera: 18:52.5
4. Kaia Ables, Chiles: 18:59.0
5. Lily Ghavami, Berkeley Prep: 19:03.4

Katelin Wilcox is a senior and first out of our week 6 top ten. She was third in the Cecil Field Elite race in 18:35.0, second at the Parker Valby Invitational in 19:37.7, and has won the Seffner Christian Invitational (19:15.9) and the Todd Howsare Memorial (18:51.1).

Emma-Claire Tanenbaum is a sophomore who was fifth at state last year in 18:33.7 as a freshman. She was sixth at Cecil Field in 18:48.0 and seventh at the Horse Park in 19:00.2.

Eva McMenemy-Hoang is a senior. She was second at the Astronaut Invitational in 19:09.9 and fourth at the Rockledge Raider Classic in 18:52.5.

Kaia Ables is a senior and Tanenbaum's teammate at Chiles. Her one race of the fall was the Cecil Field Elite race, where she was 11th in 18:59.0. She was 21st at state last year in 19:23.8.

Lily Ghavami is a junior who was 41st at state last year in 19:53.6. She was seventh at the Whispering Pines Invitational in 19:34.0 and fifth in the North Port Elite race in 19:03.4.

Times come from different courses, and some of these runners have raced only once or twice, so the order here is a starting point and nothing more. Holloway Park will decide the real order, and the results will be in the rankings section and the weekend recap on Monday.