The Wesley Chapel/New Tampa Youth Running Team recently participated in the 2022 Florida Youth Running Association Middle School State Championships, with several of the teams bringing home medals.
During the event on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 at Holloway Park in Lakeland, the Mustangs placed third in the Middle School Club Girls 3K division and fifth in the Middle School Club Boys 3K. On the boys side, Skylar Manatt was crowned the state champ, running a 9:44, which was just a second off the state record.
Additional medalists were A’saph Barnes at 13th and John Iwanski in 17th, while for the girls, Natalia Gaona-Zelaya finished fifth, Jasmine France in ninth, Lydia Vincent at 17th.
The club team, coached by Paul Lefebvre, consists of kindergarten through eighth-grade runners that practice in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, and there is no cost to join the team.
