JACKSONVILLE - Fleming Island High's boys' cross country team executed a well-coordinated team plan in a sport often regarded as an individual sport, characterized by numerous hills, to finish fourth in a stellar field of state-contender teams at the Cecil Field Summer Classic Cross Country Invitational on August 22.

"We're going to be really good this year," said Golden Eagles coach Dave Allen, who saw newly transferred J.P. Strombeck and Luke Janke, both of whom ran at Oakleaf last year, contribute to a five-man, sub-17-minute front that had Strombeck as the top Eagle finisher and Janke in fifth. All Fleming Island runners finished in the top 68. "We will get two or three guys into the 15 minutes plus range as the season progresses."

Fleming Island scored an impressive fourth-place finish with 221 team points to finish behind Belen Jesuit at 102, second-place Oviedo at 15 and third-place Bolles at 201. Fleming Island was fifth, while Nease was sixth (260).

For Strombeck, who was Oakleaf's top runner last year before a late ailment ended his season, finished in 36th place in 16 minutes, 26 seconds. Fleming Island teammate Marcos Serrano was right next to him, just one second behind.
"He's been cleared and adds another strong frontrunner to our team," said Allen. "I believe in October, when we run this course again, we'll be even faster because this race was built on more long-distance summer runs and a few speed sessions. We'll bring in more speed work as the postseason gets closer."
The 1-2 finish was a strong push for the Eagles' team points, but the strength and depth of the Eagles' team were also evident, as senior Jacob Sanders, whom Allen noted as one of his 15-minute guys, finished at 49th in 16:42.
From there, Allen's second runner, potentially in the 15-minute range, senior Andrew Boyer, was 58th in 16:48. Boyer was Fleming Island's top finisher in the state championship race last year with a 16:05 split in Class 3A  for 18th overall.
"We could potentially have two or three guys under 16; Strombeck, Boyer and Sanders, plus a few more guys under 17," said Allen. "Ryder Muyres, a sophomore, ran a fast 17 time for a personal best on the course. We add him to the sub-17 mix, and that's a good team score. For us, though, Class 3A has Belen Jesuit in at state."
With Janke just five seconds behind Boyer at 16:52 in 68th, the Eagles' point count was ready to be finalized as other teams awaited their three-four-five runners to finish.
Up front, Tampa's Belen Jesuit grabbed the top two spots with juniors Marcelo Mantecon and Armando Cruz out-surging the field to win 14:50 and 15:15 times, respectively. Holy Trinity senior Evan Spreitzer was third at 15:28. Spreitzer was second in 1A last year, Mantecon was the state champion in Class 3A, and Cruz was seventh in 3A.
There were 15 finishers in less than 16 minutes, and 79 finished in 17 minutes or faster.
In the mix from the area were Buchholz in sixth place, Chiles in ninth, Ponte Vedra in 10th and Matanzas in 13th. Oakleaf was 39th in the 42-team field with 1,062 team points.
In the girls' race, junior Brooke Reynolds had a strong 28th-place finish in 19:58, behind a stellar field that had a record set at the top from Bishop Moore freshman Annabella Tomasic (17:37). Tomasic was ahead of Bartram Trail freshman Avery Hartley's 18:16 and third-place finisher Celina Coryell, a senior out of Satellite High, in 18:27.
Ponte Vedra won the elite girls title with a low score of 145, with Our Lady of Lourdes Academy of Miami in second in a tight 156 finish. Chiles was third at 178. Fleming Island was 20th with 495.
St. Johns Country Day School's girls finished 31st in the 34-team field, led by a freshman one-two punch of Kate Staten and Ella Rose Hanna in at 125th and 130th.
In the girls' open race, Ridgeview High senior Emily Turner finished second with a time of 21:48, behind Nease freshman Katherine Healey's 21:00.
Other top area finishers included Payton Carpenter, a sixth grader at St. Johns Classical Academy in Fleming Island, at 23:42 for 36th; Oakleaf freshman Kellyn Dusanic at 26:22 in 98th and Clay sophomore Olivia Phoenix-Dean at 28:19 for 142nd.
At Flagler Palm Coast's East Coast Classic on the same Saturday, Middleburg High's boys finished 16th behind top 50 finishes from seniors Adam Ruoss and Daniel Johnson at 18:53.30 and 19:06.50, respectively.
For the Middleburg girls, freshman Lauren Rosset was a top finisher, coming in 62nd with a time of 24:44.40.

At the UNF Invite on Friday, August 29, North Florida won the men's race against Florida, while the Florida girls won their race against rival Florida State. Mei Chiang (FIHS at FSCJ) was 34th in 19:06, with Sydney Fallin (FIHS at FSCJ) 61st in 21:09 on the 5K course. Winning time was 17:00 by Florida freshman Desma Chepkoech.
Area runners Graham Myers (FIHS at UF) finished 16th in the men's 8K race at 25:19; Kameron Wallizada (FIHS at UNF) finished 27th at 25:43; and Cole Fleming (FIHS at FSCJ) was 87th at 28:40. Also, FSCJ had Benjamin Hale, of SJCDS, in 89th at 28:42. The winning time was 24:40 by Andrew Kiplagat of Bethune-Cookman.

Middleburg will host the Bronco Classic on Saturday, Sept. 6. Area runners will also go to the Florida Horse Park Invitational in Ocala and the Run Matanzas XC on Sept. 6, and the consistently fast Katie Caples Invitational at Bishop Kenny is scheduled for September 21.