Bozeman most complete at NXN; Clinger repeats

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The boys from Bozeman, Montana were ecstatic to be standing on the awards podium after Saturday's Nike Cross Nationals boys championship race. 

After all, top-three was a goal all season long for the slightly off the radar Hawks, champions of Montana and NXR Northwest without a long national pedigree.

But then Brentwood TN was named as the third-place team. 

And then American Fork UT, ranked US#1 all season long, was announced second for the third time in five years. 

Stunned. Numb. Excited. Unbelievable. Those were the words that the runners later used to describe the feeling of learning they were national champions.

Bozeman proved it was the most complete team in the United States and Glendoveer Golf Course, packing five guys within 28 seconds and crushing the field at NXN.

"I am incredibly proud," said senior leader Chase Equall, a University of Washington recruit. "We defintely wanted to podium. But to get first is a testament to the hard work these guys put in and how hard they raced."

American Fork beat Bozeman 12-49 with runners 1-2-3. Bozeman clobbered American Fork 56-129 with runners 4 and 5, a difference of 73 points.

Equall (26th overall, 8th for team scoring), junior Duncan Hamilton (52nd/19th), senior Riley Collins (56th/22nd), senior Orrin Clark (58th/24th) and junior Leonard McComas (68th/32nd) scored a total of 105 points. 

American Fork, led by back-to-back individual champion Casey Clinger, was second with 141 points. Brentwood TN, led by third-place finisher Brodey Hasty, was the best team through four (52) but swelled with a big fifth number (111) and took third with 163.

"Bozeman had a fantastic race today. Hats off to them," Clinger said. "They killed it."

It was Clark and McComas who swung the title to Bozeman. Clark was injured and did not run at the Montana state meet and then came back to place 46th at NXR Northwest. McComas was sixth at the Montana Class AA state meet and proved to be the most lethal fifth man in the competition. 

"A little ways in, maybe half a kilometer, I glanced around and saw Leonard, Orrin and Riley all together and that was just reassuring," Hamilton said. "It's nice to have your teammates around you."

After placing eighth in 2015, Bozeman endured a brief period of unease when coach Clint May left to take a small college job in Virginia. After a search for a replacement, running shoe store owner Casey Jermyn stepped up to take the job and kept the program moving forward by holding onto the assistant coaches. 

The Bozeman girls also won the NXR regional title and finished eighth on Saturday at nationals.

"Amongst ourselves, we thought on the right day with the right circumstances, if everyone ran well. we had a shot," Jermyn said. 

But even the coach didn't know as he watched his team on the podium that they had won the title. 

"National champions. It really hasn't settled in for me yet," Jermyn said. 

American Fork got the result it needed from its talented trio of seniors. Clinger scored one point with his first-place finish. McKay Johns was ninth overall and scored four points. Patrick Parker was 20th and scored seven. 

But this wasn't a nail-biter. Bozeman's depth proved too much. 

Clinger class of the field

Another year of maturity helped American Fork's champion retain his title.

Although the race was dry, heavy rains within the past week had made the fairways and terrain around the west end of Glendoveer Golf Course mushy. Times were at least 20 seconds slower than 2015 as a result. 

For Clinger, he was content to make a move in the second half of the race and pull away for the win. But the most important thing on his mind was trying to win a team championship. 

Even as Nike meet officials tried to corrall him for a post-race interview, he tried to evade them so he could watch for his teammates.

Clinger ran 15:28.4 and became the first boy to repeat as an NXN winner.

"Hearing that second place, I've always wanted that team title. It's been a four-year goal for me," Clinger said. "Winning individually, that's one thing. Hearing that second place stung a bit because I knew we had the potential to get it. I'm so proud of the guys, we all worked so hard."

James Mwaura of Lincoln WA and Seth Hirsch from Millard West NE both had turns in the lead, and Clinger bided his time.

"It went out a little slower last year," Clinger said. "Last year I definitely noticed the mud in certain places, but this year it seemed to be pretty soft throughout the whole course. And especially on the back stretch, once you hit it you were going nowhere."

At two miles, Clinger covered Hirsch's surge and moved past and began to separate.

"I was trying to keep my legs moving through the mud," Clinger said.

Clinger had family flying in from Boston, Florida and California in order to see him run. 

Now that nationals is over, he will decide between his final two college choices -- Oregon and Brigham Young.

Texan Sam Worley, winner of the UIL 6A meet, NXR South and Foot Locker South, finished strong to take second in 15:35.1 -- seven seconds behind Clinger. 

Worley will travel to San Diego next week to challenge Noah Affolder for the Foot Locker national crown.

Hasty of Brentwood, a junior, was third. Hirsch was fourth, improving from ninth a year ago. 

Alex Maier, a sophomore from Flower Mound TX, was fifth.