The Pine Crest girls broke a streak of four consecutive 2A runner-up finishes behind Bolles, beating the Bulldogs, and hoisting the championship trophy in 2016. The Panthers ended the state series ranked as the number one team in our Saucony Flo 50 rankings and hope to keep that momentum heading into NXNSE this weekend in Cary, North Carolina. The Panthers have the highest seeding of any FL team, ranked fifth. Youngsters Tsion Yared (29th in 2014), Mahdere Yared, and Amanda Schwartz all ran the race in 2014.
3A Cross Country Finals champion Niceville is ranked 8th while 2A runner-up Bolles is ranked 19th. The Bulldogs were 7th in 2014 and 3rd in 2015 with top runner Caitlin Collier finishing 7th. Collier is seeded 16th in our rankings, but has the foot speed and drive to be in the mix to make a top five spot, and qualify for nationals.
