What a season opener for our Cross Country Team! Here's the rundown from Friday's Pine Crest Invite at South County Regional Park, pulled from our official results and season tracker.
THE HEADLINE: LAYLA DROPS TIME, BRYAN MAKES HIS DEBUT
Two of the best stories of the day. Layla Tuttle ran 27:19.8 in the girls' race — a 1:48 improvement over her 2025 5K best of 29:08.3, moving her right up behind Maya at the front of our girls' pack. And Bryan Souza turned in 20:36.4 in his first-ever cross country 5K, good for our #3 spot in the boys race right out of the gate. Fantastic debut.
FIVE MORE FIRST-EVER 5Ks
Bryan wasn't the only one racing for the first time on Friday — five more Blazers toed the line for their first-ever cross country race, which means six more automatic PRs on the books:
- Alexia Warris (FR) — 24:45.0
- Elise Geissinger (FR) — 25:58.5
- Sophia Alvarado (6th) — 27:41.4
- Pedro Silva (6th) — 26:33.2
- Jackson Alvarado (8th) — 28:37.9
Great way to start a cross country career. Warris and Geissinger, in particular, look like they'll be factors in our girls' lineup all season.
LEADING THE WAY
Maya Tuttle (24:18.3) and Jeremy Lopez (18:46.4) were our top finishers on the day and continue to anchor both squads. Strong, confident runs from both to kick off the year.
GREAT EFFORT ACROSS THE BOARD
This was the first race of the season for the whole team, and every single Blazer who toed the line on Friday should be proud of it. Everyone got their first race (or first mile) of the year under their belt against a big, competitive field of runners from all over South Florida. That's exactly the kind of experience that pays off as the season goes on.
TEAM SCORES
Girls finished 15th out of 18 teams (386 pts); Boys finished 20th out of 23 (520 pts). We're a young team building depth — expect these numbers to move as the season progresses.
Run with Endurance!
