Jack Michalak

Nineteenth in the Race of Champions in 15:15.5, the third Belen runner in. Third at the Showcase in 15:01.7. Fifth statewide.

Nineteenth in the Race of Champions in 15:15.5, the third Belen runner in. Third at the Showcase in 15:01.7 behind his two teammates. Six boys beat him at the Horse Park on September 5, and that race no longer orders anybody; he has beaten Ishee, Sides, Veloso and Cunningham since.

Did not race. Third at the Southern Showcase in 15:01.7, ahead of every Florida boy there but his two teammates. Seventeenth at the Horse Park in 16:13.8, where Kevin Aguilar, Luke Ross and Skylar Manatt beat him. Third is a standing call from last week, not the rule, and it holds until he meets any of them again.

Did not race. Third at the Southern Showcase in 15:01.7 behind his two teammates, ahead of Cunningham, Seth, Rodbro and Olson. Thompson beat him at Cecil Field and the Horse Park, which is why he sits behind Thompson. Last week he was ranked above Howdeshell on a call; with Howdeshell out, that call has nothing left to decide. Watkins and Williams were ahead of him at the Horse Park, but he has since beaten Seth, who beat both of them that day, and the newer result counts.

Third at the Southern Showcase in 15:01.7, 45 seconds faster than his Cecil Field time, ahead of Sean Cunningham, Douglas Seth and Bryant Olson. Seventh at Cecil Field in 15:47.0, seventeenth at the Horse Park in 16:13.8. Third is a call. Howdeshell beat him at Cecil Field, Ross and Aguilar beat him at the Horse Park, and the rule would leave him behind all three; a 15:01.7 in a championship field, ahead of every Florida boy there but his own two teammates, is the reason we are not waiting. The day he meets any of them, the grass decides.

Third at the Southern Showcase in 15:01.7, 45 seconds faster than his Cecil Field time, ahead of Cunningham, Seth, Rodbro and Olson. Seventh at Cecil Field in 15:47.0, seventeenth at the Horse Park in 16:13.8, which is why the season figure is 15:47 and not 15:27. Fifth on a call: Thompson beat him at the Horse Park and Howdeshell at Cecil Field, and the rule would put him eighth. He has since run 15:01.7 in a championship field, the best race by anyone in the state this month outside his own top two, on a team that gets better every week of every season, and Howdeshell has not raced since September 12. He sits behind Thompson, who beat him most recently, and ahead of Howdeshell until they meet.

His 15:47.0 at Cecil, seventh across the line, has not moved and neither has he. Michalak keeps the head-to-head edge over Jonathan Kiros, same time, two places apart in the same race, but both of them watched two boys run past their spot this week from a start line neither of them was on. Belen's junior races Saturday with the rest of the squad.

Seventh in the Cecil Elite race in 15:47.0, 19 seconds better than his 16:05.5 state mark, as a junior. Belen's third scorer in November is its second now, and the gap from Cruz to Michalak is 41 seconds — which is what a No. 1 team looks like from the inside.

He is ranked ahead of Jonathan Kiros on identical converted times because he beat him by two places in the race they both ran.