The boys can breathe a sigh of relief as word on the street has it that Miami Elite Standout, Marcelo Mantecon, will be sitting out on Saturday as he prepares to help the older Belen boys go after another team title. This leaves the individual race wide open as the team race appears to be pretty set in stone. The question is can Skylar Manatt capture an individual title, or will Luke Ross of No Excuses go home a double winner? Maybe we’ll be surprised by Jonathan Robinson or Collin Moore?

What about the team competition?

The Favorites: No Excuses

The boys from North Florida are the defending Club state champions, and there is a good chance they will go home on top again this year. They are lead by one of the fastest kids in the state, Luke Ross, and have four other guys who have gone sub 11 already this year. The team is undefeated, with wins at Eagle on the River, Bale N Trail, Katie Caples, and the Berry 3k.

Top Contenders: Miami Vice Project and The Ocala Distance Project

If you go strictly off time, the team from Miami gets the nod. The MVP boys beat ODP by 19 points when they raced at the Florida Horse Park Invitational. ODP came back and beat them at Katie Caples by 16 points. ODP’s strength lies in their top 3 runners. Collin Moore, Alex Lammens, and Jacob Rogers , on paper, are each expected to finish in the top 10, but there is a huge gap to runners four and five. MVPs strength lies in their split time between their number one runner Xander Muchallah (PR- 10:41) and their number 5 Jacob Castanedo (PR- 11:08)

The Dark horse: Red Hills Running Club

The Red Hills Running Club boys team is easy to overlook if doing research on the Florida runners database. Most boys are showing up as only having run one race this season. Upon a little bit deeper research, it appears they might have the strongest one through five in the state  as their number one has run 9:55 for 3K this year and their number five has run 10:38.

Do You know where your athlete is running?

With the recent events in the news about runners being harassed and even abducted, it is important that families have a piece of mind when their athlete is out on the road. Garmin has created a watch that will allow you to track your runner, without the need for them to carry a cell phone. The Garmin Fenix 945 LTE is one of our favorite products, and we consider it a must-have for runners everywhere. 

Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE Premium GPS Running/Triathlon Multisport Smartwatch with LTE Connectivity


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