Weather-Ready Warriors Build Championship Momentum in Early FL-XC Season
Five meets into the 2026 cross-country season, the Boca Warriors are giving themselves plenty of reasons to feel confident.
From individual victories and team podiums to several new statewide top rankings, the early results show a young mighty team building championship momentum.
The Warriors have already raced across Florida—from Lakeland and Vero Beach to Ocala and Melbourne, from Boca Raton to Tallahassee—while handling the heat, humidity, rain, travel and storms that define the opening weeks of South Florida cross-country.
Liftoff on the Space Coast: Warriors Pre-Open With a Perfect Score
The Warriors traveled to Florida’s Space Coast on August 15 and pre-launched their cross-country campaign like rockets at the MCC Summer Fun Run in Melbourne.
The preseason meet at Melbourne Central Catholic gave the team an early opportunity to put its summer preparation into action. Banks Stroup blazed the boys 2 miles, followed by Gabriel Lehmkuhl, Zander Noal, Roger White and Andrew Conley, Micah Howard, Landon Glasser and Samuel Lehmkuhl followed, giving the Warriors all eight recorded finishes in the boys 2-mile.
Boca Warriors posted a perfect 15-point score as the race’s only scoring boys team—a positive opening benchmark for the season ahead.
Diane Fiederer also represented the Warriors in the girls 2-mile, finishing first.
From the Space Coast starting line to the championship goals ahead, the Warriors’ fall campaign had officially lifted off.
A Fast Start at the Jim Ryun Invitational
The official season began August 22 at the historic Jim Ryun Invitational at Holloway Park.
The Boca Warriors elementary boys immediately made their presence felt, placing second as a team with 49 points.
Gabriel Hirakuri Lehmkuhl won the 2K race in 8:26.8, with teammate Zander Noal directly behind him in second at 8:32.9. Samuel Hirakuri Lehmkuhl and Landon Glasser also contributed top-15 finishes, while 1st grader Tucker Ayer completed the scoring five.
In the middle-school competition, accomplished Arielle Gorlovetzky opened her season with a fifth-place finish in the girls 3K, the 1st 6th grader while Logan Minors led the Warriors boys.
Middle-School Girls Win at Indian River
One week later, the Warriors traveled to the Indian River Fairgrounds—and produced one of the strongest team performances of the young season, qualifying to States.
The Boca Warriors middle-school girls won the team qualifier with 34 points. Camila Boucher led the group with a runner-up finish, followed by Tejasvita Minnamareddy, Olivia Aaronson and Faith Gladstone all inside the top nine.
Norah Kraev, Haysa Ebrahim, Diane Fiederer, Hayden Frey, Adelina Ching and Nishi Tolani added valuable depth to a lineup that is developing and qualified to FLYRA.
The middle-school boys earned second place as a team. Banks Stroup and Brayden Milek finished fourth and fifth, with Logan Minors ninth. Gabriel Lehmkuhl and Roger White completed the Warriors’ scoring five alongside multiple younger warriors.
The result offered an early look at what the team is working out as they race together, FL state ticket punched!
Win at the Florida Horse Park
At the massive Florida Horse Park Invitational on September 5, Gabriel Hirakuri Lehmkuhl earned his second individual victory of the season.
He won the 79-runner elementary boys 2K in 7:36.8. 3rd grader Samuel Hirakuri Lehmkuhl placed 12th in 8:21.9, giving the Warriors two finishers among the first 12 in one of Florida’s largest early-season competitions.
The meet brought together thousands of runners from throughout the state and gave the young Warriors another opportunity to gain experience on a major championship-style stage.
A Perfect Score at Home for the Elementary Boys
On a regular Thursday afternoon, the Warriors raced at home course at the Pine Crest Elementary Meet on September 10th at South County Regional Park in Boca Raton.
The Boca Warriors brought its largest elementary boys team to date, placing 15 athletes on the starting line—and their strength showed immediately.
Brody Milek won the 1.5-mile race in 8:50.76, beginning a remarkable Warriors sweep of the first seven finishing positions: Gabe Lehmkuhl, Andrew Conley, Giancarlo Zafrilla, Roger White, Micah Howard,Toby Barot.
With Warriors occupying the first seven scoring positions, the elementary boys earned a perfect team score of 15 points.
Samuel Hirakuri Lehmkuhl placed ninth, followed by Landon Glasser, Kent Viswanathan, Binny Stein, Daniel Stone, Logan Lopez, Chase Wolfson and Tucker Ayer. Every runner contributed to a home performance that demonstrated both front-running talent and the growing depth of the elementary program.
The Warriors were also represented by three elementary girls—and all three finished consecutively among the first four runners.
Medley Gromosaik placed second in 11:53.67. Sasha Uditsky and Marina Zhao followed in third and fourth, both recording 12:14.68.
Although three runners were not enough to record a team score this time, their 2–3–4 medals gave the Warriors one of the strongest elementary girls groups in the race.
A perfect boys score, the meet’s largest elementary boys roster and three girls inside the top four made it a memorable afternoon on the Warriors’ home course. Thank you, Pine Crest for supporting the development of the South Florida Youth XC scene!
Three Warriors Finish Among the Top Eight at Nights of Thunder
The fourth weekend brought three Boca Warriors to Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee—the home of Florida’s state cross-country course—for the HOKA Nights of Thunder Cross Country Fest.
All three Warriors finished among the top eight in their races.
Camila Boucher placed fourth in the middle-school girls 3K in 11:11.3. Her performance was 26 seconds faster than her Indian River time and moved her to No. 8 in Run Florida Run’s Week 4 FL middle-school rankings.
Run Florida Run also noted that Camila is already approximately one minute ahead of the time she recorded at last year’s state championship.
In the boys 3K, Banks Stroup led the Warriors with an outstanding fourth-place finish in 10:44.71, the 1st 7th grader. Logan Minors followed with another strong performance, placing eighth in 11:01.15 in a field of more than 200 runners.
Three athletes, three top-eight finishes—and another indication that the Warriors can compete with leading middle-school runners from across Florida.
The evening also tested the athletes’ patience and adaptability as storms disrupted the meet schedule. Camila, Banks and Logan successfully completed their races before later portions of the event were affected, gaining valuable experience on the same course where Florida’s championship races are decided.
Built to Handle a South Florida Season
The opening weeks have also tested something that does not always appear in the results: consistency and team-building.
Heat indexes, humidity, rain and fast-moving storms can disrupt nearly every outdoor sport in Florida. Cross-country athletes learn to adapt and warriors choose to show up. When conditions remain safe, rain becomes part of the terrain, mud becomes part of the challenge and weather becomes opportunity to grow.
The Warriors train with weather-appropriate adjustments and always prioritize safety during lightning or excessive heat. But compared with sports that were rained out, cross-country can often keep moving through ordinary rain and imperfect conditions.
The result is a team becoming not only faster, but more adaptable, disciplined and resilient.
The storms have interrupted parts of the season, they have not interrupted the Warriors’ progress.
Five Meets Down—The Biggest Goals Still Ahead
The opening month has already produced:
22 individual podiums
5 Gold medals wins
Both teams qualified to States
Two team runner-up finishes
Multiple top-10 individual performances
5 weekly top statewide rankings
Early recognition as one of Florida’s leading teams
A pipeline of young runners ready to race the competition
There is still a great deal of racing ahead. We are on the road to the Big ones! The season will become deeper, faster and more competitive as teams approach the FLYRA State Championships and the AAU Cross Country National Championships.
Every athlete’s progress matters—and the early progress of the 2026 Boca Warriors is giving the entire team reasons to believe. Honor the system.
Join the Warriors This Fall
Boca Warriors welcomes boys and girls ages 5–15, from beginners discovering cross-country to experienced athletes pursuing state and national competition.
Flexible afternoon and evening practices are available in East and West Boca. Complimentary first practices and competitive evaluations are available while remaining team spots are open.
As the Superbowl winning coach Vince Lombardi said, "Don't give me players who want to win. Everyone wants to win. Give me players who have the will to prepare to win."
Learn more at BocaWarriors.com or text 561-271-3307.
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