Armando Cruz

He won the Cecil Field Summer Classic Elite race in 15:06.0, ten seconds clear of Quentin Thompson of Lake Minneola, in the deepest field assembled in Florida this month. Converted, that is the fastest time run by any Florida boy in any class on opening weekend, and no one else in the state converted faster than 15:16.

Cruz was second in 3A at state in 15:12.7, so he opened seven seconds faster than he closed, which almost nobody does. That is the best evidence anybody in this class produced and it is worth exactly what it is worth: he is the fastest 3A boy in Florida right now and he is still second, because the man in front of him has beaten him where it counts and has not been asked to do it again yet.

Belen Jesuit is the No. 1 team in Florida at 108 points on the virtual scale, and its preseason projection of 20 points in 3A was and remains the lowest any boys team in any class carries.

Cruz ran the opener his teammate skipped and handled it: 15:06 at Cecil Field, through the mile in roughly 4:42, gone just past 10:27. That is six seconds faster than his 15:12.7 at state, and doing it in that air is worth more than the six seconds suggest. Two of the top two live in the same locker room, which is the single most important fact in 3A.