Lake-Sumter State College’s men’s cross country team finished fourth at the 2026 Florida College System Activities Association Cross Country Championship on Monday morning at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. Noah Kaegi led the Lakehawks with an 11th-place finish in the 8K, and four of the team’s five scoring runners recorded personal records. Kaegi completed the race in 27:21.0, setting a personal record by 1:06.7.
Kaegi made his biggest move with just over a kilometer remaining. He was in 34th place at that point, then passed 23 runners before reaching the finish in 11th. Head coach Cristy Snellgroves said, “I am so proud. He has worked so hard for this, and today he raced like finally believed he belonged up front with the best runners in the region.”
Freshman Gezavier Datilma also moved up during the championship race. He advanced from 40th at the first checkpoint to 30th at the finish, crossing in 29:30.0 and lowering his collegiate personal record by 28.5 seconds. Snellgroves said, “I am just as proud of our freshman. Championship racing is a whole different world when you are new to it, and they handled in like they’d be there before.”
Lake-Sumter’s scoring five
Joshua Renaeu finished 42nd in 31:26.1, while Gilbert Mackey placed 45th in 31:50.1. Both runners posted personal records, and they ran within one second of each other throughout the race. Freshman Jaden Barclay completed the scoring five in his first collegiate 8K, finishing 51st in 34:01.9.
Snellgroves also praised the team’s response throughout the championship. “The exciting part is he still had a lot left in the tank; you could see it in how he finished. How he has the confidence to use it and that is the moment you wait for as a coach, when an athlete sees what you have been seeing in them all along,” she said. She added, “They stayed patient, they kept fighting, and every one of them crossed that line better than they have ever been. These young men are hungry, they believe in each other, and they are only going to get better from here.”
FSB Take
Lake-Sumter’s fourth-place finish reflected improvement across four of its five scoring runners. Kaegi’s late climb supplied the team’s top individual result, while Datilma, Renaeu and Mackey each posted personal records as the Lakehawks completed the championship with a strong scoring group. Barclay’s first collegiate 8K also gave the freshman experience in the event that produced Lake-Sumter’s fourth-place team finish.
Source: Original report