Tavares Middle School Boys and Girls Claim 2025 FLYRA Cross-Country State Titles

By Brent Vaughn

The Tavares Patriots dominated the 2025 FLYRA Middle School State Cross-Country Championships on Saturday, November 1, at Holloway Park in Lakeland, capturing both the boys and girls Public School state titles.

The Tavares girls continued their unprecedented run with a fifth consecutive state championship, while the boys earned their third consecutive state title, a feat previously matched only by private-school powerhouse Belen Jesuit. Individually, Alice Ilea, a 7th grader, won the girls’ race in 10:42.2, marking the fifth straight year a Tavares runner has captured the girls’ individual state title. Navid Lozano took the boys’ crown in 9:41.4, setting a new school course record and achieving Tavares Middle School’s first individual boys’ state title.

In a field of 23 teams and 216 runners, the Tavares girls scored 53 points. Four runners placed in the top 20: Alice Ilea(10:42.2), Isabella Neal (11:08.3, 6th), Lindsey Mishler (11:12.5, 7th), and Lilliana Gutfreind (11:39.5, 16th). Meadow Sadlemire (12:10.4) and displacers Arieyahna Neal (12:26.1) and Kayla Santos (12:45.6) rounded out the scoring. Five of the seven girls ran lifetime personal bests, helping the Patriots finish 10 points ahead of second-place Emerald Coast.

The boys delivered a dramatic upset in the deepest field ever, with 273 runners and 27 teams. Tavares scored 68 points, 12 points ahead of Ruckel, Montford, and Landrum, who were all ranked ahead of them. The team was led by Navid Lozano(9:41.4), followed by twin Emiliano Lozano (10:01.1, 5th), and 6th grader Gabriel Garback (10:35.3, 17th). Dylan Leavitt (11:01.1, 34th) and Benjamin Rios (11:07.5, 35th) ran lifetime personal bests, while injured runners Emmitt Maldonado (13:34.6) and Joel Cordero (13:38.5) contributed by executing strategic roles in the team’s race plan, helping the Patriots secure the victory.

“While our boys faced a lot of adversity this season with injuries and things not in our control, we always believed in ourselves and our process,” said Tavares Head Coach Kevin Von Maxey. “We kept emphasizing: to win the title, you just need to be special for one race. It doesn’t matter what is on paper — all you need to do is be special for a moment, and we will be kings for a day and for life.”

Tavares’ Junior Varsity teams also excelled. The JV girls won the Open Division championship, with six medalists including Hope Nesmith (12:38.5, 4th), Anaisa Salinas (12:43.3, 5th), Airiana Graf (12:46.5, 7th), Argellia Ascencio(12:52.5, 10^th), Milan McCullough (12:54.0, 11^th), and Farren White (13:03.8, 15^th).  The JV boys placed third, led by Alexis Hernandez (11:27.2, 17th).

“Every year we adopt a team motto that becomes our focus for the season,” said Associate Head Coach April Von Maxey. “We kept calling back to this year’s motto, ‘I Won’t Let You Down,’ which developed organically over the summer training. On the line, we talked about this and knew we would have each other’s back and run for each other to win the state title.”

Overall, Tavares Middle School boasted two individual champions, 14 state medalists, three team championships, and 44 lifetime personal bests. These titles mark the 8th and 9th state cross-country championships for the Patriots under the Von Maxeys.

Other Lake County Programs

Other Lake County middle schools also made their mark. In the public-school division, Windy Hill Middle School boys finished 13th with 405 points, and East Ridge Middle School boys placed 14th with 417 points. The East Ridge girls earned 8th place with 273 points, while Windy Hill girls finished 22nd with 548 points.

In the charter division, Minneola Charter Middle School boys placed 6th with 195 points, and the girls finished 12th with 327 points. Other individual standout performances included medalists Noah Perez of Minneola Charter (10:57.3, 13th) and Brooke Stoneking of Round Lake Charter (11:51.0, 8th).

Top 20 Medalists — 2025 FLYRA Middle School State Championship Races

Tavares Varsity Girls Individual Results- 2025 Public School State Champions

Tavares Varsity Boys Individual Results- 2025 Public School State Champions

Tavares JV Girls Individual Results- 2025 Open Division State Champions

Tavares JV Boys Individual Results- 2025 Open Division 3^rd Place

Congratulations !