Panthers Track & Field and Cross Country

The Cross Country teams finished their season competing at the FHSAA State Finals in Tallahassee on Saturday, Nov. 22nd. It was a great way to end our season and be able to compete against the best teams in Florida. Overall, there were over 140 teams and over 1500 runners that started the season in 2A but only 32 teams and 240 that qualified to compete at State. The girls finished 29th overall and the boys unfortunately did not have five scoring runners due to two not finishing the race.

Ryan Frawley led the boys team finishing 23rd overall with a time of 16:48. It was the highest at State by a PC boy since 2018 when Gaby Ortega placed 22nd in 16:40! It was also Ryan's best finish at State, improving by 1:20, as his previous best was 108th place in 18:08 his sophomore year.

Eddie Wang was next also with his best state meet performance, improving by 18 seconds and finishing in 91st place with a time of 17:47. His previous best was 2024 when he was 115th in 18:05. Connor Albanese put up his best performance at State, improving by 19 seconds and finishing with a time of 18:07 for 114th place. His previous best was 18:26 for 142nd place in 2024. Conover Harrington was our final finisher as he battled through knee and IT band pain to finish in 19:52 for 252nd place. Emilio Tobon & Cooper Baylis-Gaba also competed, but stepped off the course due to illness/injury. They will be alright but they gave all they had and tried to complete the race. They will both be back for 2026!

Sarah Montague led the way for the girls finishing 88th out of 243 runners with a time of 21:04. It was an improvement from Pre-State by 1:06 when she ran 22:10 and an improvement from the State Meet in 2024 by one second. Michaela Lang was next finishing with a time of 21:46 for 119th place.

Matia Gutt was our #3 runner on the day running her best time ever at APR and only once second off her PR. She finished in 22:06 which is only one second off her PR she set the previous week at Regionals. She moved up 25 places over the course of the race going from 162nd at the one mile to 144th at the 2 mile to 137th place at the finish. Her time was also an improvement from Pre-State by 1:12 when she ran 23:18.

Gabriella Roppolo competed for the first time at ARP and did great, finishing in 22:33. She ran a great race with Matia through the 2 mile and held strong to finish in 156th place, improving by six places during the course of the race and finished only 20 seconds off her PR from Regionals. Rachel Lewin closed out the race for us competing in her first State Meet and finishing in 26:52 for 238th place. It was an improvement for her by 1:04 from the Pre-State Meet when she ran 27:56.

Congrats to all our runners and especially to our two seniors for finishing their final time at ARP with their best performances ever at State.

Saturday, November 22nd. State Finals.
Girls at 7:20am. Boys at 8:10am.
Go Panthers!

https://fl.milesplit.com/meets/698030-fhsaa-cross-country-state-finals-2025/coverage

Congratulations to both the girls and boys Cross Country teams for advancing to the State Finals! The boys finished 3rd, their highest finish since 2022 and the girls were 8th out of the 16 teams, taking the final spot for a trip to Tallahassee. It was the girls 17th time in the last 18 years advancing while the boys advanced for the 15th time in the last 17 years.

It was the girls best team performance of the season as they ran a team average of 21:45 and the boys ran an average of 17:30. The girls qualifying was a little more tricky as there was an update in the results which took our girls from 10th place, 7 points out of 8th and 1 points behind 9th place, to a tie for 8th place. Ultimately the tie break goes to the 6th runner and we won that as Rachel Lewin, our #6 runner was two places ahead of the runner from St. John Paul II to give us 8th place outright and a trip to State! Overall, we had six PRs, one SB time and had one athlete make the podium by finishing in the top 15. Ryan Frawley finished 13th overall with a time of 17:02.

Michaela Lang led the way for the girls finishing 20th out of 115 runners with a SB time of 20:25. It was an improvement on the season by 35 seconds and improvement from District by 1:01. It was also 9 places ahead of her finish in 2024 when she was 29th with a time of 21:26. Sarah Montague finished next in 29th place with a time of 20:47. It was 48 seconds faster than her time at District and her third best time of the season.

Matia Gutt ran a PR for the third consecutive meet, improving by 12 seconds to finish in 22:05 and 52nd place. It was an improvement from 2024 when she was 76th with a time of 23:40, 1:35 faster! Gabriella Roppolo ran a PR by 5 seconds to finish in 22:13 and 56th place. It was an improvement from 2024 by 40 seconds when she was 60th in 22:53. Running in her third 5k of the season, Bella Staffen, had a huge PR by 44 seconds to finish 77th with a time of 23:10. Overall she has improved by 1:49 since the end of October and came through big time to help our team! Rachel Lewin was the deciding factor running a PR by 19 seconds as our #6 runner. Coming down to the tie-breaker, Rachel was 4.5 seconds and two places ahead of the SJP runner, 90-92, to send the team to State. Rachel's performance was also her first time in the varsity race as she was 26:38 last year in the JV race, placing 16th. She improved 48 seconds from last year's regionals. Kaitlyn Weatherall also contributed in her first regional placing 109th with a time of 27:27.

Ryan Frawley led the boys team earning a spot on the podium with a 13th place finish in 17:02 out of 115 runners. It was a 36 second improvement from District and improvement by 1:09 from 2024 regionals when he was 34th in 18:11. Still getting back to full strength it was a solid improvement as he looks to get back to full strength at State! Emilio Tobon competed in his first regional meet coming within 7 seconds of his PR with a 22nd place finish in 17:19. It was a big improvement from district when he had to step off the course and not finish the race. Eddie Wang was next, finishing 25th with a time of 17:28. It was his best regional finish and an improvement from 2024 when he was 45th in 18:22. Connor Albanese continues to float right around his PR, this time within 11 seconds as he placed 26th with a time of 17:31. It was an improvement from 2024 when he ran 17:41. Cooper Baylis-Gaba secured the trip to State as our #5 runner with a time of 18:06 in 44th place. His finish was a huge improvement from 2024 when he placed 82nd with a time of 20:10! Eyad Koleilat was next in 46th place with a time of 18:10, improving from 2024 when he was 78th in 19:51. Conover Harrington also ran, but had to step off with knee pain. We're hopeful he will be back and ready at State!

In the JV race, Zach Orvieto led the way for the boys setting a PR by 46 seconds to finish in 29th place out of 52 with a time of 22:12, a great time for a 6th grader! Andrew Hughes was one second back, also with a PR by 20 seconds to finish in 22:13 for 31st place. Milano Karnaby was next in 43rd place, 25:38 and Akal Gadh was 45th in 26:16. In the girls race, Penelope Levitt finished 27th with a time of 34:22 while Isabella Roshi-Rubinshtyen was 28th in 34:23.

Congrats on the great performances and advancing to the State Finals!

Next up is the FHSAA State Finals on Saturday, November 22nd at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. The girls 2A race is at 7:20 AM and the boys 2A race is at 8:10 AM.

Congratulations to our Boys Cross Country team for winning the District Championship, defeating 20 teams to claim their first title since 2018! The girls also qualified for regionals placing 6th overall. The boys ran their fastest team average at district since 2016, running 17:24, while the girls had their best meet of the year running their fastest team average, 22:19, improving by 1:06 from the Palm League Meet.

Individually we had three runners make the podium (top 15) with Conover Harrington, 8th, Eddie Wang, 11th, and Connor Albanese, 13th. We also set 12 PRs, seven for the girls and five for the boys and two SBs, one each for the girls and boys.

Going into the meet the girls team was projected to finish 9th and the boys were projected to win. The girls team stepped up big time with our 3-4-5 dropping a combined total of 3:48 between Matia Gutt, Gabriella Roppolo & Bella Staffen to put us 6th and qualify for Regionals. The boys saw our top two runners struggle with illness and injury, but this group stepped up to produce two PRs for Conover Harrington & Eddie Wang and a SB for Connor Albanese while Cooper Baylis-Gaba surged at the end and Ryan Frawley gave all his body would allow to help secure the victory!

Conover Harrington led the way for the boys team finishing 8th overall, out of 188 runners, with a PR 17:09, dropping 30 seconds. It was a huge improvement from 2024 when he finished 30th with a time of 18:18. Eddie Wang finished 11th to earn his first podium finish with a PR by 5 seconds to finish in 17:15, improving from 2024 when he was 53rd in 19:15.

Connor Albanese earned his second consecutive podium finish at District improving from 14th in 2024 to 13th with a SB, 17:20, one second off his PR that was set last year at District. Cooper Baylis-Gaba was next, finishing in 17th place with a time of 17:35, only 6 seconds off his PR, but improving from 48th place and 19:01 in 2024. Ryan Frawley did just enough to help secure the team win, running 17:38 for 19th place, despite being sick and Eyan Koleilat was 36th setting a PR by one second to finish in 36th place, improving from 49th and 19:05 in 2024. Emilio Tobon, fresh off his MS State title, had to stop mid race with a calf injury, but will be back for Regionals.

Michaela Lang led the way for the girls finishing 24th overall out of 126 runners, with a time of 21:27, just 27 seconds off her SB, but four seconds faster than 2024, while Sarah Montague put forth a great effort to finish in 25th with a time of 21:35. Matia Gutt, fresh off her PR at FSU, dropped another 1:01 for a new PR of 22:17 and 32nd place finish, improving from her 59th place finish and 23:42 at District in 2024. Gabriella Roppolo set a PR by 35 seconds and SB by 1:42 to finish in 33rd place as they ran the entire race together pushing each other. It was a huge improvement from 2024 when she was 50th with a time of 23:23. Bella Staffen, in only her second 5k, helped secure the trip to Regionals, running a PR by 1:05 to finish in 59th place with a time of 23:54! Amanda Faren was next with a great race setting a SB by 39 seconds to finish in 78th place, improving from last year's 82nd place finish. Rachel Lewin set a PR by 29 seconds and SB by 1:13 to finish in 85th place and a time of 26:09, improving from 2024 when she was 108th in 27:32. Kaitlyn Weatherall set a PR by 53 seconds to finish in 90th place with a time of 26:34 and Alexandra Wexler set a PR by 59 seconds to finish in 93rd place with a time of 26:48.

In the JV race, Isabella Roshi-Rubinshtyen set a PR by 1:22 to finish 10th with a time of 31:35. The boys were led by 7th grader Andrew Hughes, setting a PR by 1:21 to finish in 13th place, out of 47 runners, with a time of 22:33. Zach Orvieto, 6th grade, finished 19th in 22:58, Akal Gadh, 8th grader, was 23rd in 23:22, Aaron Tischler was 35th in 25:05, Milano Karnaby set a huge PR by 51 seconds to finish in 37th place with 25:32.

Congrats on the great performances and advancing to Regionals!

Next up we host the Region 4-2A Championships on Friday, November 14th at South County Regional Park in Boca. The girls race at 8:00 AM and the boys race at 9:00 AM with the JV race to follow.

On October 30th, we hosted the PC Last Chance XC Meet to give some of our athletes one more race before District. Bella Staffen led the way for our girls in her first 5k with a time of 24:59 for 21st place out of 61 runners. Kaitlyn Weatherall was 38th setting a PR by 34 seconds to run 27:27, Alexandra Wexler was 44th in 28:03, Penelope Levitt was 57th in 32:57 and Izzie Roshi-Rubinshtyen was 58th with a PR by 1:47 to finish in 32:57. Aaron Tischler was our only boy running but set a PR by 42 seconds to finish in 82nd place with a time of 24:00!

Emilio’s post State Championship interview.

Emilio Tobon after Winning Private/Charter Race | FLYRA MS State Cross Country Championship FLYRA MS State Cross Country Championship

The Middle School Cross Country season culminated with the FLYRA Middle School State Championships at Holloway Park in Lakeland on November 1st. In a dominating fashion, Emilio Tobon won the Middle School STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! He ran a School Record 9:57.2 for 3k to win the boys first individual State title in school history! Overall there were 203 runners in the Private School division, but an additional 171 in the charter division for a total of 374 in the race as both divisions ran together, but were split for scoring. He's our first MS State XC Champion since Tsion Yared won the girls race in 2014 and first boys podium finish since 2020!

Emilio got out fast and broke from the pack just before the 1 mile mark coming through in a blazing 5:00 to head back into the woods. It wasn't until 500m to go until we got another look at the runners and Emilio came out of the woods with a sizable lead, but continued to press all the way up to the finish line for an 11 second margin of victory.

The boys team finished 13th overall in scoring out of 22 teams, an improvement from last year's 24th place finish. Also, everyone ran a PR or their fastest 3k time on the hilly course! Henry Rashbum set a PR by 35 seconds to finish in 12:07 for 94th place as our #2 runner. Andrew Hughes finished in 114th place with a time of 12:31, improving from last year's time of 14:38 and improving by :09 on the season. Zach Orvieto was next in 128th with a time of 12:45, setting a PR gy 27 seconds. Akaldeep Gadh also had a great day running his first 3k and finishing in 134th place with a time of 12:52.

Our only girl entry was Gabriella Roppolo. She had a great day and finished in 70th place out of 150 runners with a time of 13:27. It was a PR by 29 seconds!

Congrats to all of our runners on a great State Meet!