Boca Raton’s Julia D’Emic wins state middle school cross country title
Boca Raton’s Julia D’Emic is still relatively young in her running career, but she is quickly rising up the charts of runners to watch out for.
The Don Estridge eighth grader recently captured the state championship in the Florida Youth Runners cross country championships at Holloway Park in Lakeland.
D’Emic, 13, who turns 14 on Dec. 31, set a personal best mark of 11:07.30 for the 3,000-meter run (3K), which was exactly nine seconds faster than runner-up Peyton Cerasi, an eighth grader at Indian Trails Middle School in Palm Coast. She bested 209 other athletes from across the state.
“It was really cool to win,” said D’Emic, who plans on running at Spanish River High School next year. “I didn’t expect to be up there. I thought there was a slim chance I could win because I had only been running for two years.”
In her first cross country meet ever, she qualified for the state championships. One year after running cross country, she started doing track and field as well.
D’Emic finished ninth last year (11:44.40) in the same meet after finishing 14th in 2021 (12:18.06) when she first began running competitively. She also took first place in the 41st annual Spanish River Invitational this year with a course record of 11:10.88. It eclipsed the mark set by Boca Warriors Track Club’s seventh grader Alex Palekar, who clocked 11:25.50 in 2021.
“I had a little bit of hope, but I didn’t expect to win either of those,” said D’Emic about winning both the state meet as well as the Spanish River Invitational. “I was really hoping for top 5. I was so happy that I got first and broke the record (Spanish River Invitational).
“Going into states, I was really nervous,” she said. “I was really excited. I try and go out fast, but not too fast so I burn myself out. I tried to stay with this one girl Nicole (Wilson), but she dropped back, so I was staying really steady, and I pushed through.”
A fifth-place showing at the Adidas Outdoor Nationals (5:33.74) this past June is her personal best mark in the mile run for track. At last year’s Palm Beach County Middle School track and field championships, she was second in the 1,600-meter run (5:54.61) and second in the Palm Beach County Middle School South Regional with a personal best time of 5:47.66 in the 1,600-meter run.
She runs at least two miles a week and her training will consist of various routines, from track workouts to running the hills at South County Regional Park, with coach Bruce Rich.
“I have been running since the sixth grade because I wanted to do running to condition for soccer,” D’Emic said. “I actually liked it even more than soccer, so I stuck with it. I just play SABR (Soccer Association of Boca Raton) in the recreational program and I will also play for my school. (Running) has helped me build endurance.”
Her long-term plans are simple: She would like to run well enough in high school to earn a college scholarship.
“It’s going to take a lot of hard work and I still have to love the sport,” D’Emic said. “I have to make sure that I want to do it.”
D’Emic said track season is the next priority although she is going to do local 5Ks until the season starts. She’ll also play for the Dragons’ school team, SABR soccer, in addition to keeping up a training regimen.
“Running is really hard, and it is mental as well,” she said. “It isn’t just physical; you have to really want it. You have to really want it and you want to win.
“(When I am running), I don’t really think about much,” she said. “I am just thinking about winning and getting Kona Ice snow cones after. Those are my favorites. I always get that.”