The Red Sea Running Club, featuring athletes from Tavares Middle School, delivered another strong national showing at the MileSplit Middle School National Championship, earning a girls’ national runner-up finish, a boys’ third-place team finish and eight All-American honors across the middle school and elementary divisions.

Racing at EP “Tom” Sawyer State Park, the girls’ team finished second nationally, led by Alice Ilea’s fourth-place All-American run in 14:42. The boys’ team placed third, paced by All-Americans Navid and Emiliano Lozano.

Head coach Kevin Von Maxey said the team’s performance capped an exceptional two-week stretch.

“Last week our Tavares kids won the boys and girls FLYRA public school cross-country championship with Tavares Middle School, so to follow it up as national runners-up as Red Sea Running Club is quite an accomplishment for our kids,” Von Maxey says. “We are proud to show year after year how amazing our kids are, how hard they work and how talented they are at not only a state, but national level.”

Girls’ Team — National Runners-Up (4K)

• 4th — Alice Ilea, 14:42 (All-American)

• 32nd — Isabella Neal, 15:35

• 64th — Lindsey Mishler, 16:00

• 117th — Arieyahna Neal, 16:46

• 127th — Meadow Sadlemire, 16:52

• 142nd — Kayla Santos, 17:01

• 204th — Anaisa Salinas, 18:06

• 244th — Argellia Ascencio, 19:09

Boys’ Team — Third Place National Finish (4K)

• 12th — Navid Lozano, 13:26 (All-American)

• 20th — Emiliano Lozano, 13:40 (All-American)

• 95th — Gabriel Garback, 14:49

• 135th — Dylan Leavitt, 15:16

• 152nd — Alejandro Hernandez, 15:26

• 182nd — Benjamin Rios, 16:05

• 188th — Emmitt Maldonado, 16:10

• 238th — Elijah Rivera, 17:10

• 251st — Joel Cordero, 17:36

• 270th — Kenneth Perez, 18:26

Red Sea’s three middle school All-Americans—Alice Ilea, Navid Lozano and Emiliano Lozano—extend the club’s history of producing national-caliber runners. The program has now earned top-three team finishes at nationals eight times, including two boys’ national titles and the 2022 girls’ national championship.

Elementary Division — 2K All-Americans

• 1st — Aliana Alvarez, 7:17

• 2nd — Jack Ilea, 7:08

• 7th — Amelia Hernandez, 7:58

• 12th — Avery Maldonado, 8:03

• 13th — Emma Williams, 8:05

Von Maxey said the younger athletes helped continue the club’s strong national reputation.

“Our younger brothers and sisters definitely impressed in their own right showing they are some of the best elementary runners in the country,” he says.

Red Sea Running Club now transitions into winter training as athletes prepare for the upcoming track and field season.