Angelina Perez of New Jersey and Charlie Robertson of Oregon hold on to top individual spots, but team races go down to the wire, with Desert Vista of Arizona holding off Run Brave XC Club of Idaho and Wickham Distance Project of Florida surging past Stumptown Running XC Club of Oregon by narrow margins

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

For the Wickham Distance Project XC Club boys and Desert Vista XC Club girls, information proved a key component in their Nike Cross Virtual championship runs.

Not only did knowledge equal power, but it also created the ideal motivation for the both groups, who benefited from seeing the 5-kilometer times posted from their primary challengers in earlier races and used the data to their full advantage, especially in the final mile, to prevail in the tightly contested team competitions.

After confirmation Tuesday afternoon from Nike, final results were made official (Watch all Nike Cross Virtual videos here).

Wickham Distance Project from Satellite Beach in Florida saved the strongest performance for the final day, relying on a timely tailwind in the final mile Tuesday and the veteran presence up front from senior Gabe Montague (14:53.6) and junior Justin Wilson (15:02.7), leading five athletes placing in the top 30 overall – including top 20 in the team scoring – to surge past an impressive effort Saturday from Stumptown Running XC Club of Oregon and capture the boys team title by a 52 to 56.5 margin.

Desert Vista from Arizona and Run Brave XC Club of Idaho, both having already completed their races earlier in the championship schedule, could only sit and watch the live results produced Tuesday by the Springville XC Club girls from Utah on Athletic Timing.

Desert Vista, which competed Saturday, entered the day holding a 1.5-point advantage over Run Brave, which completed its race Thursday.

Despite an inspired performance by Springville freshman Sarah Galbraith (18:24.1) to move into the top 25 overall, it wasn’t enough to shift the balance of power, as Desert Vista benefited from sophomore Lauren Ping (17:02.2) and junior Katie Sigerud (17:04.1) both placing in the top five to hold on for a 53.5 to 55 triumph over the Boise-based Run Brave, led by freshmen Samantha Smith (17:27.9) and Allie Bruce (17:43.9) each finishing in the top 15.

Stumptown Running was third in the girls competition with 99.5 points, Davidson HDGXC Club from Ohio placed fourth with 146 points and Springville moved into the top five with its effort Tuesday to finish with 149 points.

Similar to Wickham Distance Project in the boys competition overcoming a projected 58-point deficit against Stumptown Running at the 2-mile split, Desert Vista also rallied in the final kilometer to erase a projected 12.5-point lead by Run Brave at the 2-mile mark in their respective races.

Although there wasn’t any movement on the final day near the top of the girls standings, or with individual winners Angelina Perez (16:39) of Lakeland Regional in New Jersey and Charlie Robertson (14:42.2) of Mount Tabor XC Club in Oregon, there was plenty of shifting in the quest for boys team supremacy.

Stumptown Running held a 42-point advantage over Mount Tabor entering Tuesday’s competition, with the Oregon clubs looking to take the top two spots overall.

But Wickham Distance Project supported Montague and Wilson with Joe Wester running 15:14.1, Josh Stern clocking 15:32.7 and Aidan Mason achieving a personal-best 15:39.1 to take a temporary eight-point lead over Stumptown Running with only Orem XC Club left to compete in Utah.

There were some anxious moments for Wickham Distance Project when Orem athletes Tyson Echohawk (15:29.4), Jayden Holdsworth (15:34.1) and Cameron Jacobs (15:36.9) all moved into the top 30 overall, but it wasn’t enough to reverse the fortune in Stumptown Running’s favor.

Although Stumptown Running had five athletes place in the top 21 overall, the difference was Wickham Distance project having Montague, Wilson and Wester all finishing in the top 10.

Mount Tabor, led by Robertson and teammate Charlie North (14:48.6) posting the top two overall times ahead of Montague’s third-place finish, took third with 116 points. Orem moved up to fourth with 123.5 points and La Salle Academy XC Club of Rhode Island finished fifth with 148 points.

There were five athletes who achieved sub-15 performances, with Dayton Carlson of Casteel XC Club from Arizona – the early leader Nov. 17 with a personal-best 14:54.9 – placing fourth and Jeffery Rogers of Sherwood, another Oregon competitor and Northwest individual qualifier, clocking 14:55.6 to take fifth.

Perez led three female athletes under the 17-minute barrier, with Ella Borsheim of Bellarmine Prep in Washington – a Northwest individual qualifier – securing second in a personal-best 16:55.8 and fellow junior Ava Parekh of seventh-place Chicago Latin XC Club running 16:59.4 to take third, but produce the top performance among team competitors.