Hallick and Taylor Lead Marion County at New World Fall Spectacular; Inman Runs 16:00

A year ago, Lyla Hallick and Christopher Taylor ran at the state meet as freshmen. On Saturday, October 17, 2026, the two Vanguard sophomores led Marion County at the New World Fall Spectacular, a meet with more than 2,000 finishers.

Hallick placed seventh of 398 in the girls' elite 5K in 17:55. Taylor ran 15:56 in the boys' elite 5K, his first time under 16 minutes in cross country, where grass and hills make times considerably slower than on the road.

They were part of a big day for the county. Belleview sophomore Asher Inman placed third in the boys' B race in 16:00, North Marion junior Brooklyn Smith ran 16:13, and at least 12 Marion County runners set cross country career bests.

A deep sophomore class

Saturday showed how deep Marion County's sophomore class is. Four of the county's five fastest boys were sophomores: Taylor (15:56), Inman (16:00), Vanguard's Lachlan Bryniarski (16:16) and Trevor Berquist (16:21). The county's fastest girl, Hallick, is a sophomore too.

Of the 45 Marion County runners in Saturday's high school races, 21 were sophomores, and they have two more cross country seasons ahead of them.

Hallick runs with the county's best

Hallick ran 19:14 and placed 20th at the 4A state meet last fall as a Forest freshman. This season, running for Vanguard, she won the Rockledge Raider Classic in September and the Craig Speziale Invitational on October 3, and she went into Saturday ranked second among 3A girls in the state by Run Florida Run.

Against a field from across Florida and Georgia, she held off Glynn Academy's Cassidy King by one second for seventh. Her 17:55 was 1 minute, 19 seconds faster than her state meet time a year ago.

That time puts her among the fastest high school girls Marion County has produced. Two of the county's best-known runners ran faster in high school: Vanguard's Kelly Parrish ran 17:13.69 in 2005, and Belleview's Anne-Marie Blaney ran 17:39.10 in 2011 before running at UCF and for Team USA. Hallick is already faster than the high school best of North Marion's Leigha Torino, the county's runner of the year in 2015 and 2016, who ran 18:03.06 as a senior. Courses vary, so times from different races are not a perfect comparison.

Vanguard's girls placed 14th of 45 teams. Seniors Cierra Mills (19:11) and Reese Cartwright (19:25) were next, and freshman Annalise Hallick, Lyla's cousin, ran a career-best 19:51.

Taylor breaks 16

Taylor ran 17:07 and placed 77th at the 3A state meet as a freshman last fall. Saturday's 15:56 was 71 seconds faster, and more than half a minute faster than his previous cross country best of 16:30.86 from Rockledge in September. Two weeks earlier he placed second at the Craig Speziale Invitational.

The 15-year-old from Morriston, who won the August Retro Run 5K in downtown Ocala, placed 56th of 420 in the elite race. Vanguard sophomores Lachlan Bryniarski (16:16, a career best) and Trevor Berquist (16:21) were close behind, and Vanguard's boys placed 15th of 46 teams.

North Marion's Brooklyn Smith ran with them. The junior, coming off a third-place finish three weeks earlier at a race held on a racetrack in Lakeland, finished 88th in a career-best 16:13.

Inman runs 16:00 as Belleview places fourth

Belleview's Asher Inman placed 55th at the 3A state meet last fall in 16:50. This season he won the Wildwood meet, placed fifth of 203 at the Buchholz Bobcats Classic and second at South Marion's first invitational. On Saturday he finished third of 326 in the boys' B race in 16:00, a career best.

Senior Kaden Fernandez (16:41) and junior Chapman Stewart (16:58) also ran career bests, and Belleview placed fourth of 37 teams.

West Port and North Marion

West Port placed ninth of 37 in the boys' B race, led by sophomore Jordan Rios (17:02) and junior Gavin Smith (17:06), both career bests.

In the girls' B race, North Marion senior Kayla Blakey placed 44th of 222 in a career-best 21:33 and West Port sophomore Rylee Vilela was 73rd in 22:23. In the girls' C race, Belleview sophomore Maggie Lorick placed 15th of 140 in a career-best 22:20.

Full Marion County results

Girls Elite 5K (398 finishers)

Boys Elite 5K (420 finishers)

HS Boys B 5K (326 finishers)

HS Girls B 5K (222 finishers)

HS Girls C 5K (140 finishers)

Earlier this season Vanguard swept both team titles at the Whispering Pines Invitational, and last fall it swept the boys' and girls' titles, as covered in our 2025 Marion conference recap. For more local running, see our Ocala running guide.

Only In Ocala founder Darrin DeTorres coached 15 of Saturday's runners as elementary and middle schoolers: Lyla Hallick, Annalise Hallick, Natalie Lammens, Anya Bryniarski, Christopher Taylor, Lachlan Bryniarski, Trevor Berquist, Jacob Rogers, Alexander Lammens, Asher Inman, Chapman Stewart, Jacob McGovern, Kenneth Price, Rylee Vilela and Maggie Lorick, all in his Ocala Distance Project youth program.

Results: New World Fall Spectacular 2026 on RunFloridaRun.com. Grades are based on each athlete's graduation year (class of 2027 seniors, 2028 juniors, 2029 sophomores, 2030 freshmen). Career bests, earlier race results and rankings come from each athlete's cross country history on RunFloridaRun.com; road race times are not included. Past high school times for Parrish, Blaney and Torino are from their MileSplit records. Photos: RunFloridaRun.com.