Colin Sahlman, Leo Young, Lex Young Run To 1-2-3 Finish In Alabama With Spectacular 5,000m Times

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Newbury Park's flair for the incomparable went to a new level Saturday in a festive atmosphere at the Garmin RunningLane Championships at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala. 

Running on a fast course that produced hundreds – if not thousands – of PR performances across a slate of events, the US#1 Newbury Park guys lived up to every bit of the hype and delivered a race for the ages. 

1. Colin Sahlman, 14:03.39

2. Leo Young, 14:05.07

3. Lex Young, 14:05.49

The three teammates all ran faster than Dathan Ritzenhein's celebrated boys high school cross country 5,000-meter best of 14:10.4 set at the 2000 Michigan state championships. 

Fourth man Aaron Sahlman finished sixth in 14:14.38 and fifth runner Daniel Appleford was 42nd overall (18th in the team scoring) at 14:44.92. 

The super-quick times at John Hunt Park were expected, but still, the numbers on the board were impressive. The leaders went through the first mile in 4:29-4:30, slowed a bit in the tougher second mile, and then Sahlman closed in 4:21.9 for a final mile with the Young twins just a second behind him. 

"I've never seen a group of guys that was so willing to hurt together," Leo Young said. "We were all in agony together but it was so much fun. The results came from that. That's what we've been working for all season."

Newbury Park XC won the team championship with an unthinkable score of 29 points. REAL Training COS (Cheyenne Mountain CO) was second with 121 points and Stumptown XC (Jesuit OR) was third with 187. That order went to form. 

"I think we're all feeling pretty good right now," Colin Sahlman said. "We all gave it 100 percent out here on the course like we wanted to. It was the last race of the season so we just gave it our all today."

The only two runners to break up Newbury Park's top four were NIWOT's Zane Bergen (14:09.91) and Michigan and Eastbay Midwest champion Riley Hough (14:10.56). 

In the girls gold race, Natalie Cook of Flower Mound TX, the Eastbay South region winner last week, showed dominance as she approached Jenna Hutchins' course record and national best from 2020 with a winning time of 16:03.93. Hutchins won the inaugural RunningLane meet last year in 15:58.42 and became the first girl to run under 16 minutes in  5,000-meter cross country race in the U.S. 

NIWOT of Colorado won the girls championship with 112 points, led by Eva Klingbeil's seventh-place finish overall (16:44.69). The team was helped by the addition of Sierra Parks, who had been forced to sit out all fall and finished fifth for the group Saturday. 

"The whole time I was thinking about my teammates," Klingbeil said. "I knew everyone was running so hard for each other and knowing that we all wanted it so much."

Buchanan XC followed its victory at the California Division 1 state meet last week with a second-place finish with 139 points. Arap Distance (Arapahoe CO) was third with 209 points and Kroy (York IL) was fourth with 212. 

Cook moved to an eight-second lead between the first and second mile, ahead of Indiana state champion Lily Cridge, California Division 2 state champion Dalia Frias (of Beach Cities) and Colorado 5A state champion Riley Stewart (Colorado Bruins). 

Cridge finished 19 seconds behind Cook, in second, in 16:22.81. Stewart was third in 16:28.38, Jenna Mulhern (unattached/Pennsylvania) was fourth in 16:29.51 and Frias took fifth (16:37.20).