Addy Ritzenhein Wins Third Consecutive Individual Title At Desert Twilight; Oliver Horton Wins Duel With Yohanes Van Meerten

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Ethan Buck Photos

RESULTS

Addy Ritzenhein won her third straight Desert Twilight sweepstakes race title on Friday night at Toka Sticks Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz. 

The senior ran a time of 17:00.7 to stave off a challenge from El Dorado NM sophomore Gianna Rahmer, second in 17:05.1.

The No. 3-ranked Niwot girls put all seven of its runners in the top 25 and scored 51 points against a strong field that included Lewisville Flower Mound TX (104) and Bozeman MT (232). 

Adeline Bennett and Liana Cluley-Garza from Flower Mound finished third and fourth, respectively. Niwot's second runner, Anna Prok, was fifth. 

Scarlett Parks (15th), Emily Bolda (19th) and Avalon Beltran (21st) competed Niwot's scoring.

Niwot's next best girls also won the championship division title and put five in the top seven, all of them between 18:32.1 and 18:41.6.

In the boys sweepstakes race, Niwot made it a team sweep with four in the top 11 and a score of 48 points. 

In an elite race between two of the country's top juniors, Oliver Horton of Coronado CO held off Flagstaff's Yohanes Van Meerten as they both ran exceptional times. Horton, who was third in 2024, ran 14:23.9 for the third-fastest time in meet history. 

Van Meerten, who placed 11th at the Foot Locker Cross Country Finals last year, ran 14:25.7 for the fourth-fastest time.

Niwot ran without Rocco Culpepper, who was second at the Desert Twilight last year, but Quinn Sullivan and Hunter Robbie finished third and fourth to lead the Cougars. 

Jude Ritzenhein, Addy's freshman brother, finished 11th for Niwot and was the team's fourth man. Ryder Keeton was two spots ahead of him, in ninth.

Coronado CO finished second in the team standings with 188 points and Bozeman MT won a sixth-man tiebreaker with Mountain View UT for third after the both scored 212 points. 

Thompson Valley UT was fifth with 217. 

Carter Prater of Somerset Sky Pointe NV was fifth in the boys race in 14:50.6. Hamilton AZ's Zarian Rodriguez was sixth in 14:52.1.