David Serra '24 claimed an individual district championship in the 5,000 meters (16 minutes, 5.77 seconds) at the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A District 8 meet on Oct. 18 while leading Ransom Everglades boys' cross country to its first district title since 2018.
Two other Raiders posted top-five finishes at the championships at Larry and Penny Thompson Park: Ethan Sullivan '25 finished third in the boys' race in 18:01.39 and Sophia Linfield '26 earned second in the girls' race in 20:06.83, helping RE's girls to fourth overall.
For the boys' team, Alexander Azqueta '24 nabbed seventh place as George Wood-Leness '24 finished 13th and Nolan Wu '24, 17th. The boys were guided by longtime faculty member and coach Don Kappelman. Sullivan had the second-best finish among sophomores and Serra, Azqueta, Wood-Leness and Wu finished 1, 2, 4 and 6 among juniors. The team championship was the 26th for the Raiders since 1970.
The girls registered three top-20 finishes; besides Linfield, Julieta Salvat '27 earned eighth place, and Patricia Drulard '24 scored 18th. Linfield was the top-ranked ninth grader, and Salvat the fastest eighth grader. The girls' team was led by math teacher and coach Mike Becker.
Both teams celebrated their graduating seniors, honoring Christian Gardner '23, Benjamin Kaplan '23, Daniel Luca '23, Annabelle Sanders '23 and Mason Signorello '23.
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way™, RE Pathways™ and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.