Niceville’s girls won the Class 4A, District 1 championship on a tiebreaker, leading a strong round of district results for area cross country programs that also included an individual title for Rocky Bayou’s Dominic Ferguson and a runner-up finish for the Fort Walton Beach girls.
Area teams competed Nov. 2-7 at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee and LEAD Academy in Pace. Results from all four districts are below.
Class 4A, District 1 (Santa Fe College, Gainesville)
Girls
The Lady Eagles won the district championship Saturday, edging Creekside on a sixth-runner tiebreaker after both teams finished with 85 points. Nease was two points back in third. Niceville’s best finisher was Sophie Clapp, who placed eighth in 19:08. Lola Jackson was 11th in 19:21, Riley Marise finished 15th in 19:31, Carolina Ramos was 17th in 19:41, Courtney Gehringer was 39th in 20:50, Avery Selvage was 41st in 20:54 and Audrey Sayre was 62nd in 21:50.
The top eight teams advance to the Class 4A, Region 1 meet Nov. 14 at West End Park, with the state meet set for Nov. 20.
Crestview finished 13th, with its best finisher being Caitlyn Beaty, who placed 59th in 21:47. Eleanor Holloway finished 67th in 22:01, Lorelei Waller was 74th in 22:28 and Lauren O’Dell was 86th in 23:18. Makenzi Ward, Keely Lynn and Devynn Elmore finished 93rd, 94th and 95th, respectively, each within a few seconds of one another.
Boys
Niceville finished fifth in a district won by Nease. Leading the way was Bryant Olson, who finished as the district runner-up in 15:13, two seconds behind individual champion Andrew Sides of Buchholz.
Brody Mathis finished 22nd in 16:32, and Jayce Anderson and Reid Sadowski finished back-to-back in 31st and 32nd. Brayden Riemer was 36th in 16:59, Sebastian Riemer was 48th in 17:17, Luke Sadowski was 53rd in 17:20 and Aiden Collins-Hutchinson was 63rd in 17:29.
Crestview tied Tocoi Creek for seventh with 196 points. Its top finisher was Tucker Sheldon, who placed ninth in 16:01. Alexander Sunyak finished 37th in 17:00, Zaivier Dillard was 65th in 17:37, Jakob Raymond was 71st in 17:53, Westin Waller was 84th in 18:17 and Will Brooks was 91st in 18:45.
Class 3A, District 1 (Apalachee Regional Park, Tallahassee)
Girls
The Lady Vikings finished as district runners-up with 49 points behind champion Chiles, headlined by Mia Jucha‘s second-place finish. Jucha crossed about 1 minute, 7 seconds behind individual district champion Emma-Claire Tanenbaum of Chiles.
Lyla Scott also finished in the top 10, placing eighth in 21:19. Lelani Lycher finished 11th in 21:30, Delilah Jucha was 14th in 21:46, Charlotte Isben was 17th in 22:01, Brooklynne Sansom was 19th in 22:16 and Joslyn Jucha was 32nd in 23:55.
Choctaw did not post a team score. For the Indians, Adalyn Fischer finished 62nd in 27:48, Anayiah Menifee was 68th in 28:58 and Delilah Winthurst was 70th in 30:05.
Boys
The Vikings finished third in a district won by Leon, highlighted by Landon Fagan‘s top-10 finish. Fagan placed ninth in 17:13.
Fort Walton Beach also filled the 20s, with Ryan Linder finishing 20th, Landon Whalen 21st, Nic Smith 22nd, Brycen Fager 23rd, Jordan Silva 25th and Nolan Ibsen 26th, all within seconds of one another.
Choctaw’s Martin Novak also finished in that group, placing 24th in 18:03. Other contributors to the Indians’ seventh-place finish included Braden McAlister, 34th in 18:22; Ammiel Silva, 35th in 18:29; Colin Axt, 41st in 18:57; Aidan Warnecke, 47th in 19:22; Luc Dugas, 49th in 19:28; and Drake Elpedes, 54th in 19:54.
Class 2A, District 1 (Apalachee Regional Park, Tallahassee)
Girls
The Lady Bulldogs finished third in a district won by Florida High. Leading the way for Freeport was Ella Ringstad, who placed third in 21:46, two seconds behind runner-up Vera Vanlandingham of Florida High. Rutherford’s Lorelai Williams won the individual district title.
Emma Jackson finished 17th in 25:45 and Aria Schmidt was 18th in 25:50. Keely Thomas placed 21st in 26:16, while Sophie Aretz was 28th in 27:35 and Cayla Grove was 40th in 29:34.
The Lady Braves finished seventh. Walton was led by Katie Bray, who placed 30th in 27:54. Paisley Biernacki finished 35th in 28:48, Jill Ealum was 38th in 28:55, Chayanne Gregor was 45th in 31:29, Lydia Lowe was 47th in 32:26 and Ravyn Taylor was 59th in 36:46.
Destin and South Walton did not post team scores. For Destin, Rebekah Otto finished 22nd in 26:21 and Natalya Irizarry was 25th in 26:37. South Walton’s Charlie Moss finished 31st in 27:57.
Boys
Destin finished fourth in a district won by Pensacola Catholic, led by a top-10 finish from Brooks Mawn, who placed sixth in 18:44. Ethan Hui finished 12th in 19:30, Charles Estes was 29th in 20:33, Chris Otto was 32nd in 20:59, Chase Shenkel was 35th in 21:23, Mason Lipker was 48th in 22:35 and Houston Jackson was 52nd in 23:03.
Freeport finished seventh. Jayden Jones placed 30th in 20:36, with Parker Harris finishing 31st, just three seconds behind Jones. Hunter Alan and Tristen Noguera finished 40th and 41st, fractions of a second apart. Thor Ringstad was 56th in 24:06, Aaron Aubrey was 62nd in 24:57 and Coen Dykes was 66th in 26:21.
Walton did not post a team score. Eli Shaffer finished 11th in 19:27, Gage Fleetwood was 58th in 24:15 and Rem Sullivan was 64th in 25:17.
Class 1A, District 1 (LEAD Academy, Pace)
Girls
Seacoast won the district title, powered by its top two finishers. Norah Trejo won the individual district championship in 20:59, with McKenna Wilson finishing as the runner-up in 21:03. Emry Ribben finished fifth in 21:40, Brinkley Cooley was eighth in 21:57, Kenadi Luskey was 16th in 23:16, Karina Borzac was 19th in 24:06 and Sydney Jones was 29th in 25:04.
Rocky Bayou finished third, with its best finisher being Natalie Ferguson, who placed fourth in 21:14. Charlee Chapman finished 17th in 23:18, Emmalyn Keener was 23rd in 24:37, Piper Schipper was 25th in 24:42, Hazel Bell was 27th in 24:58, Emily Busenitz was 30th in 25:05 and Carine Campbell was 33rd in 25:25.
Baker finished fourth. Leading the way for the Lady Gators was Danielle Davis, who placed ninth in 21:59. Elizabeth Merritt finished 15th in 23:03, Twila Murray was 18th in 23:54, Aubri Erickson was 20th in 24:18, Holly Merritt was 37th in 26:05, Jolie Trahan was 40th in 26:30 and Anna Hatzdakis was 62nd in 28:53.
Paxton finished sixth, with its best finisher being Madison Carraway, who placed 24th in 24:40. Alyssa Falk finished 38th in 26:18, Annabeth Williamson was 39th in 26:23, Bristol Leddon was 44th in 26:35, Marley McClelland was 51st in 27:39, Ramsi Sansom was 53rd in 27:54 and Ella Kate Norman was 63rd in 29:03.
Laurel Hill did not post a team score. Its best finisher was McKinley Riley, who placed 69th in 29:41. Jasmine Brooks finished 84th in 34:11, Skylin Baggett was 85th in 34:13 and Kira Pedigo was 86th in 34:17.
Boys
Rocky Bayou finished second behind Pensacola Christian Academy. Ferguson won the individual district championship in 15:47. Daniel Boswell finished sixth in 17:14 and Coda Barnes was seventh in 17:16. Jack Carlin finished 19th in 18:09, David Stueckle was 36th in 19:40, Alexander Ferguson was 58th in 21:32 and Zeke Ferguson was 81st in 22:27.
Seacoast finished third. Josiah Berry placed 12th in 17:27, Oliver Curtin was 16th in 17:30, Josiah Hicks was 17th in 17:41, Carter Jackson was 22nd in 18:37, Hudson Osborn was 30th in 18:59, Preston Zsenyuk was 39th in 20:04 and Parker Howard was 48th in 20:47.
Baker finished seventh. Silas Jernigan placed 20th in 18:14, Zeke Rogers was 29th in 18:58, Cannon Holley was 40th in 20:07, Liam DeSpain was 42nd in 20:11, Jaedyn Doney was 72nd in 22:12, Dalton Jacobs was 96th in 23:55 and Lee Gunderson was 98th in 23:59.
For Laurel Hill, Connor Kelly finished 123rd in 29:59.
