Tallahassee, Fla. – The Villages High School boys cross country team narrowly missed a Top 10 finish at the FHSAA State Championships on Saturday in Tallahassee.

The Buffalo ran valiantly in their final meet of the 2025 season, ultimately finishing 11th overall out of 31 teams competing in the Class 2A finale at Apalachee Regional Park.

A quintet of five seniors led the way for VHS, spearheaded by the season's No. 1 runner and the school's record holder, David Probola. Despite battling illness in the week leading up to the event, Probola finished 36th individually with a time of 16:56.3.

Roberto Carmona-Rivero was 90th overall at 17:44.9, while Nate Burton cracked the Top 100 with a 98th-place finish at 17:49.8. Joran (Gunner) Horneij took 104th (17:57.8) and Allister Clarke was 127th (18:18.2) to round out the placement for VHS in a field of 236 individual runners.

The performance at the state meet caps off a memorable season for the Buffalo boys cross country program, which won its fourth straight district title earlier this month. VHS went on to finish sixth at the regional meet to qualify as a team for states.

Along the way, The Villages won two regular-season meets – the season opener Aug. 23 at Wildwood and the Buffalo Invitational on Sept. 20 – with Probola also setting the school record (16:31.5) on Sept. 6 at Florida Horse Park in Ocala.


Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.