2025 Prospective Athlete Guide
2025 St. Joseph Cross Country
Table of Contents
SJA XC Top-15 Lists……………………………….15
Top Post-Season Finishers…………………….16-21
Athletes Competing in College………………22
Quick Facts
School……………………………… St. Joseph Academy Founded…………………………………………………. 1866
Location………………………………… St. Augustine, FL
Enrollment ……………………………… 310 Nickname…………………………………………….. Flashes School Colors…………Hunter Green & Vegas Gold Classification ……………………………. 1A District ………………………. 1A District 3 Region ……………………….. 1A Region 2 Principal …………… Todd DeClemente Athletic Director. TBD School Phone………………………….. (904) 824-0421 Website……………………………………….. SJAweb.org
Introduction:
What is Cross Country?
• A 5km (3.1 mile) race over a variety of terrain (grass, trails, dirt, golf courses).
• Cross Country (also known as CC or XC) is primarily a team sport. The top 7 run Varsity with the first 5 runners making up the team score, sum of finishing place – lowest score wins. In the event of a tie, the 6th, and sometimes 7th place finisher may be used.
• Throughout the regular season we will compete in some smaller meets (3-5 teams), but mostly race at larger invitational with anywhere from 10-50 other schools.
• Post-season begins at districts and proceeds through regionals and state for those who qualify.
• It is possible to qualify to the regional and state meets both as a team (placing top-8 at districts and regionals) or individually by placing being top-4 individually amongst non-qualifying teams.
• Cross country is a great way to stay in shape for other sports and learn valuable life skills.
Straight-away at the FHSAA State Championship
Courses can be muddy at times like Golf courses like Cecil field / New World at the Katie Caples invitational have good footing and fast times
Every point can count in the team scoring. You can qualify both as a team and Work hard, play hard! Team travels individually to regionals and state (Universal’s Islands of Adventure last year)
Daily Practice:
Introduction Continued:
Practices are mandatory and daily (with on-your-own runs on Wednesday and possibly some Friday’s off) We may start with a dynamic warm-up and form drills before going into our run or workout. We sometimes follow the run up with additional work including core strength, hurdle walk-overs, weights, hill sprints, strideouts, or stadiums. Following this, we may stretch and ice/foam roll as injury prevention and improve recovery.
Schedule:
This upcoming year we have a very competitive schedule. We generally compete at some of the invitationals offered in Northeast Florida and the state as a whole. This allows us to race against some of the top schools in Florida, as well as our direct competitors within our district, region, and state classification.
Practice:
Our unofficial conditioning begins over the summer in early-June. During that time, we will meet 4-5 days a week and each athlete will be provided with a summer training plan to prepare them for the upcoming season. Official team practices date will be end of July or early August as permitted by the FHSAA and takes place on Monday through Saturday. Most Saturday’s are meet days, but on non-meet Saturdays we will be having our long run and are mandatory practice days
“A runner's success is often in direct proportion with the consistency of the weekly long run.Enduranceisthefoundation for fast training & racing.”
Starting straight away at the FHSAA XC State Championship. The result of months of consistent miles, workouts, and long runs.
- Greg Mcmillan (elite running coach)
Meet The Coaches
Justin Taylor (7th Season) – justin.taylor@sjaweb.org
St. Joseph Academy ‘05
University of Florida ‘10
Graduate of St. Joseph Academy in 2005 and the University of Florida in 2010. 6-time Florida high school state champion (5 track & field, 1 cross country). First Florida HS athlete in 30 years to complete the distance triple at state winning the 800, 1600, and 3200 on the same night. Scholarship athlete for the University of Florida and competed in both cross country and track & field. Member of Florida’s 2010 SEC Championship and National Championship teams – the first in school history. UF’s most valuable distance runner in 2010 and ranks top-10 all-time in UF history in the 1500 meters, one mile, 5k, and 5 mile.
Boys head Cross Country & Track at St. Joseph Academy (2014-17) and returned to coach XC in 23, volunteer assistant at Flagler college (2018), private coach, and founder of FreeRunningPlans.com that was started during Covid and active for 3 years with over 15,000 free running plans downloaded.
Ashlyn Taylor (7th Season) – ashlyn.taylor@sjaweb.org
Naples High School ‘07
University of Florida ’11
Graduate of Naples High School in 2007 and University of Florida in 2011. Former school record holder at Naples High School in the 5k (18:38) and member of their school record 4x800m relay team (9:28). Finished 3rd place at state in the 2 mile in 2006. Was a 4-time cross country and 8-time track & field all-state athlete in high school. Ashlyn signed and competed on scholarship for the University of Florida. She is currently working to complete all the marathon majors, has run the Chicago marathon, and qualified for the Boston Marathon.
Girls head Cross Country & Track at St. Joseph Academy (2014-17), leading the girls to their first state appearance since 1976 with back-to-back top-10 finishes in 2016 and 2017. Returned to coach XC in 2023. Girls assistant coach at St. Augustine High School (2019) and private coach
Oct 11th
2025 Cross Country Meet Schedule (estimate) Summer Conditioning Schedule (begins June
(AM) N/A
Oct 18th New World Fall Spectacular Jacksonville, FL - TBD(AM) N/A
2nd)
School Practice Schedule (begins August
11th)
Summer Conditioning
The summer is when an athlete puts in the work to set them up for a strong cross-country season. It is the base phase that generally consists of easier runs along with stride-outs and hill sprints to maintain turnover. It is an opportunity for current athletes to set themselves up for a big season or newer athletes to build their mileage up slowly. Think of a training cycle like building a house: the base training in the summer can be compared to building the houses foundation. It sets the groundwork, upon which you can later add further, more specific layers (strength, speedwork, tapering). Summer base training is the most important part of the training cycle and from which will generate the biggest improvement year to year. The bigger the base, the higher the peak.
Mileage Club:
Athletes will log their mileage on our private Strava page (https://www.strava.com/clubs/sjaxc_2025). You will need to register a free account and then input your mileage each day or at the end of each week. If you have a GPS watch, you can automatically sync it to your Strava account. This will then create a mileage leaderboard and track everyone’s summer mileage.
Our official summer mileage will track for 10 weeks: June 2nd – August 11th . At the end of the summer, athletes will be awarded t-shirts based on their total mileage completed during the summer. The tiers for this year are 100, 200, 300, and 500 miles. Fun note: The distance from St. Joseph Academy to the State meet course in Tallahassee is 200 miles.
Summer Schedule Example – 30 schedule
We will be handing out training plans for athletes this summer. These will be in the form of beginner schedule (low mileage varies by athlete/experience), intermediate (20-30 miles per week), advanced (35-50mpw), and elite (55-60mpw+). This way we can safely build up an athletes’ mileage, regardless of level, and reduce the risk of injury.
Hill sprints after run.
Strides following run. Begin with 4, build up to 8
Workout Days: Begin each with drills then 10-15 min WU. Follow with 10-15 min CD.
TRAIN LIKE A VARSITY ATHLETE
Combine the mileage above with good nutrition, hydration, and rest and you will be set up for a strong season. Easy runs should be at a comfortable pace in which you can hold a conversation.
Improving as a runner requires PATIENCE and DETERMINATION. To be a great runner you need to put in the time and miles.
Do The Right Things
Soft Surface - Attempt to run some of your mileage on dirt roads, trails, beach, etc.
Hill Sprints - 15-20 seconds at mile pace. Walk/stand recovery. Start with 3-5 uphill, 1 down.
Strides - Start with 4 10-15 second strides following your easier runs. Build up to 6-8.
Injury Prevention - Maintain a stretching routine post-run, as well as foam rolling and icing.
Water - Drink plenty of water before, during, and after runs to remain hydrated.
General Strength - Complete the GS training routine 2-3 times per week.
Cross-Training - If experiencing aches of pains, you can replace an occasional run with cross-training
SJA XC Summer Camp
July 18-21, 2025 (Tentative)
This summer SJA XC will have a team camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia. This will be a 5-day, 4-night trip and we will be staying in boys and girls team cabins, running twice daily (depending on age/ability), and experiencing fun outdoor adventures in-between. This will include hiking, white-water rafting, and team activities.
We are able to keep the cost down by doing this ourselves rather than paying $700+ to send everyone off to a camp and potentially miss out on the SJA team building experience. This allows us to set up the schedule the way we want it, build stronger team unity, and allows us to focus on the ability of our athletes and their training plans. Our goal is to have the cost be manageable and all-inclusive of activities, and food. We will be able to have more definitive cost once we know how many athletes are interested.
Our prospective dates are for the second to last week of July week (18th-21st) That way our athletes are in shape from a summer of running, ready to attack the hills, and can get the most out of the training. Full eligibility requirements will be announced.
Equipment Needed
St. Joseph Academy will provide the uniform for athletes to compete in. There are also some items that you are required to purchase for competition/practice as well as some optional items. We will have some additional mandatory items listed on our Baker Store.
Required Items:
Running Shoes:
A Daily trainer for running. These can be purchased online at retailers RoadRunnerSports.com, RunningWarehouse.com, etc, or check out running stores like 1st Place Sports in Jacksonville. Running shoes should be replaced every 300-500 miles.
Cross Country Spikes:
Footwear for competing in races Like shoes, can be purchased online or in-store.
Note: If you plan on also competing in Track, I would recommend getting distance track spikes so they can be used for both seasons. A current favorite is the Nike Dragonfly.
Running Watch:
Not everyone needs to go out and spend $250+ on a GPS watch. However, it is required that you have a RUNNING watch for practice. You can purchase a Timex Ironman for $40. Personally, mine lasted 5 years and only died because the battery died.
Running Shorts/Spandex:
Rather than give you running shorts worn by others or potentially the wrong size, we figured a better option is to have you purchase your own from the Baker Stores. Boys will wear Adidas running shorts and girls will have the option of their Adidas running shorts, or Adidas spandex shorts. Only the ones listed on the Baker website will be acceptable.
Baker Stores
There may be some additional required items that will be posted in our teams Baker Store. Link will be provided and must be purchased prior to the deadline.
Forms Needed
In order to practice and compete as an athlete at St. Joseph Academy you will be required to complete and turn in the following forms to the front office. Once you have this done, you are good for the entire school year.
- Student-athlete participation application
- EL2: Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation
- EL3: Consent and Release of Liability
Please have these completed and turned in AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Do not drag your feet on this. You will not be able to attend summer conditioning, practice, or meets until they are turned in. These forms can be found in full at the following link: https://www.sjaweb.org/athletics/forms
Boys 2024 Year-in-Review
Highlights:
- 8th straight season qualifying for the FHSAA XC State Championship.
- Boys team Win Districts – First district championship by any SJA XC team since the 1970s.
- Boys team qualifies for State, finishing 24th
- Boys win the small schools division at Embry Riddle XC Invitational
- Jordan moves up to #7 on the SJA XC boys all-time top-15 5k list (17:08)
- Angel moves up to #15 on the SJA XC boys all-time top-15 5k list (18:10)
- Cooper earns the #9 spot on the freshman top-10 list (19:33)
- Andrew earns the #10 spot on the freshman top-10 list (19:34)
- Every athlete PR’d during the season (average improvement of 11.07%)
Girls 2024 Year-in-Review
Highlights:
- Paige breaks her own school record, improving it by over 30 seconds down to 19:36.
- Paige earns all-district honors (2nd) and all-region honors (4th)
- Paige qualifies for State and finishes 19th. This is the top girls finish by an SJA athlete in school history.
- Paige is invited to the All-Star Race
- Natalie cut over 3 minutes off her Personal record.
- Both girls PR’d by an average of 6.65%.
Team Travels:
In the past, we have had summer camps, overnight trips, or day trips. Last year we stayed on site at Universal (Cabana Bay), woke up at 6am to go run Sugarloaf Mountain (largest peak in Florida outside of the panhandle), then spent the day at Universal’s Island of Adventure. This year we are considering a camp, which will be determined on numbers and interest. Additional team travels may be a long run out at Micanopy followed by trip to a theme park, day trip for a long run followed by floating down the Springs or kayaking
2025 5k Top-15 List
Boys All-Time: Girls All-Time
Freshman Boys
Freshman Girls
Team Post-Season Finishes
*3 mile race distance
Team Champions:
Girls Top Individual Post-Season Finishes
District Championship (Girls)
2024 Paige Brammer (2) 20:37 Father Lopez HS
2023 Paige Brammer (7) 20:34 Apalachee Regional Park
2022 Paige Brammer (4) 20:21 Apalachee Regional Park
2021 Paige Brammer (6) 20:59 Apalachee Regional Park
2020 Ana Whitehouse (7) 23:25 Alligator Park
2019 Ana Whitehouse (7) 21:08 Suwannee Country Club
2018 Emily Jackson (4) 21:01 New World Golf
2017 Helena Willsau (3) 20:08 New World Golf
2016 Emily Jackson (8) 22:26 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2015 Emily Jackson (6) 21:48 Ed Austin Regional park
2014 Mariah Patuel (9) 23:10 Ed Austin Regional Park
2013 Julia Fernandez (24) 27:09 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2012 Lauren Cancio (35) 28:56 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2011 Loren Humphrey (28) 25:35 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2010 Loren Humphrey (57) 26:37 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2009 Loren Humphrey (57) 26:46 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2008 Wren Humphrey (42) 24:49 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2007 Julia Smith (42) 25:38 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2006 Laura Zambetti (36) 25:02 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2005 Jennifer Cueves (23) 22:29 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2004 Jennifer Cueves (22) 23:18 Lofton High School
2003 Kathi Ackerman (29) 24:38 Oak Hall School
2002 Kristen Delacruz (25) 23:25 Oak Hall School
2001 Emily Messink (21) 22:30* Bronson High School
Regional Championship (Girls)
2024 Paige Brammer (4) 20:51 Holloway Park
2023 Paige Brammer (8) 20:13 New World Golf
2022 Paige Brammer (9) 20:07 New World Golf
2021 Paige Brammer (10) 20:24 New World Golf
2020 Ana Whitehouse (19) 21:41 New World Golf
2019 Ana Whitehouse (7) 21:05 The Oaks Equestrian Center
2018 Katie Whitehouse (11) 20:34 New World Golf
2017 Emily Jackson (5) 20:45 The Oaks Equestrian Center
2016 Isabella Goodwin (13) 21:26 Escambia Equestrian Park
2015 Emily Jackson (11) 20:39 Alligator Lake Park
2014 Mariah Patuel (17) 21:28 Sunnyhill Farms
2004 Jennifer Cueves (59) 26:36 Summit East Office Park
State Championship (Girls)
2024 Paige Brammer (19) 20:03 Apalachee Regional Park
2023 Paige Brammer (42) 20:27 Apalachee Regional Park
2022 Paige Brammer (45) 20:10 Apalachee Regional Park
2021 Paige Brammer (51) 21:08 Apalachee Regional Park
2019 Ana Whitehouse (40) 20:34 Apalachee Regional Park
2018 Emily Jackson (71) 21:28 Apalachee Regional Park
2017 Emily Jackson (37) 20:33 Apalachee Regional Park
2016 Emily Jackson (50) 21:09 Apalachee Regional Park
2015 Emily Jackson (40) 21:05 Apalachee Regional Park
Individual Champions:
District Champion: Regional Champion: State Champion:
Boys Top Individual Post-Season Finishes
District Championship (Boys)
2024 Jordan Guthrie (4) 18:24 Apalachee Regional Park
2023 Ashton Akam (5) 17:18 Apalachee Regional Park
2022 Ashton Akam (5) 17:32 Apalachee Regional Park
2021 Victor Farfan (4) 17:08 Apalachee Regional Park
2020 Victor Farfan (3) 17:54 Alligator Park
2019 Andrew Fox (6) 17:30 Suwannee Country Club
2018 David Gonzalez (5) 17:21 New World Golf
2017 Sean Snyder (1) 16:30 New World Golf
2016 Sean Snyder (1) 17:38 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2015 Sean Snyder (3) 17:48 Ed Austin Regional Park
2014 Frederick Springer (27) 21:22 Ed Austin Regional Park
2013 Dan Foley (35) 21:48 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2012 Marlon Akbar (12) 18:46 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2011 Brian Huffman (32) 20:40 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2010 Marlon Akbar (10) 18:40 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2009 Michael Curet (39) 20:11 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2008 Marc Akbar (1) 17:08 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2007 Marc Akbar (3) 17:41 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2006 Marc Akbar (13) 18:48 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2005 John Jertson (21) 18:17 Ronnie VanZant Memorial Park
2004 Justin Taylor (1) 16:24 Lofton High School
2003 Justin Taylor (6) 17:29 Oak Hall School
2002 Davis Dobbs (41) 19:51 Oak Hall School
2001 Jerome Sachs (8) 17:51* Bronson High School
Regional Championship (Boys)
2024 Angel Castro (16) 18:43 New World Golf
2023 Ashton Akam (7) 16:56 New World Golf
2022 Ashton Akam (7) 17:10 New World Golf
2021 Victor Farfan (6) 16:37 New World Golf
2020 Victor Farfan (6) 17:07 New World Golf
2019 Andrew Fox (7) 17:27 The Oaks Equestrian Center
2018 David Gonzalez (9) 17:05 New World Golf
2017 Sean Snyder (1) 16:22 The Oaks Equestrian Center
2016 Sean Snyder (3) 17:03 Escambia Equestrian Park
2015 Sean Snyder (13) 17:35 Alligator Lake Park
2012 Marlon Akbar (29) 18:36 Alligator Lake Park
2010 Marlon Akbar (25) 18:45 Oak Hall High School
2008 Marc Akbar (3) 16:46 Miccosukee Greenway
2007 Marc Akbar (4) 16:53 Miccosukee Greenway
2006 Marc Akbar (31) 18:20 Miccosukee Greenway
2004 Justin Taylor (2) 16:51 Summit East Office Park
2003 Justin Taylor (7) 17:07 Florida Community College North Campus
2001 Jerome Sachs (23) 17:54* Maclay School
State Championship (Boys)
2024 Jordan Guthrie (44) 17:08 Apalachee Regional Park
2023 Ashton Akam (46) 17:12 Apalachee Regional Park
2022 Ashton Akam (41) 17:14 Apalachee Regional Park
2021 Victor Farfan (12) 16:39 Apalachee Regional Park
2020 Victor Farfan (29) 17:13 Apalachee Regional Park
2019 Andrew Fox (34) 17:24 Apalachee Regional Park
2018 David Gonzalez (26) 17:07 Apalachee Regional Park
2017 Sean Snyder (3) 16:02 Apalachee Regional Park
2016 Sean Snyder (5) 16:47 Apalachee Regional Park
2015 Sean Snyder (101) 19:08 Apalachee Regional Park
2008 Marc Akbar (11) 16:18 Little Everglades Ranch
2004 Justin Taylor (1) 15:36 Ed Radice Park
2003 Justin Taylor (31) 17:15 Ed Radice Park
1975 Brookes Burkhard (11) 16:01* Winter Park HS
*Prior to the 2002 season, 3 mile was the standard distance for cross country
Individual Champions:
District Champions: Regional Champion: State Champion:
Justin Taylor 2004
Marc Akbar 2008
Sean Snyder 2016, 2017
Sean Snyder 2017 Justin Taylor 2004
Athletes who competed in college
Athlete: SJA Class of College
Justin Taylor 2005
Marc Akbar 2009
University of Florida
Florida State University
Sean Snyder 2017 University of North Florida
Morgan Sharp 2017
Montana Arnold 2018
Victor Farfan 2021
Ashton Akam 2024
Joshua Nelson 2024
Kira Casane 2024
Florida Atlantic University
Catawba College
Jacksonville University
Flagler College
Flagler College
Florida Southern College
