Simonsen elevates from fifth in 2020 in San Diego to become first Oklahoma State male athlete since Nowak in 2013 to capture title, Macchia follows Rauber to give New York another female champion; Metivier and Reyes make impressive statements in first national finals since turning 40

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

A pair of dominant Masters debuts by Renee Metivier and Sergio Reyes, combined with two outstanding encore performances from Under-20 athletes Gabe Simonsen and Zariel Macchia in San Diego, highlighted Saturday’s return of the USATF Cross Country Championships following a one-year hiatus to Mission Bay Park.

Metivier, representing Team Red Lizard in Oregon, and Reyes of the California-based HOKA Aggies, both 40, made impressive statements competing at the Masters level for the first time at the event to secure runaway victories.

RESULTS | RACE VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS | PHOTOS by Chuck Utash

Metivier, a five-time World Cross Country Championships qualifier for the United States from 2005-10, covered the 6-kilometer layout in 21 minutes, 50 seconds. The 11-time All-American at Colorado and Georgia Tech prevailed by more than 90 seconds less than a month after placing 16th in 20:42.9 in the women’s open 6-kilometer race Dec. 11 at the USATF Club Cross Country Championships at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.

Hilary Corno, 46, of Prado Racing Team held off 44-year-old Maggie Shearer of Cal Coast Track Club by a 23:36 to 23:40 margin to secure second overall. Corno was the top competitor in the 45-49 age group.

Metivier and fourth-place finisher Renee Gordon, who ran 24:31 at age 41, led Team Red Lizard to the title by a 12-22 margin over Cal Coast Track Club. 

Reyes, an elite marathoner who captured the 2010 national title, ran 26:37 on the 8-kilometer course to secure a Masters crown 20 years after winning the National Christian College Athletic Association national championship for Cedarville University in Ohio.

Cal Coast Track Club athletes Roosevelt Cook, Jr., (27:31) and Jacques Sallberg (27:37) placed second and third. Sallberg, 47, had won the past two Masters individual titles, prevailing in 2020 at Mission Bay Park and in 2019 in Tallahassee, with Cook, 42, making his debut in the 40-44 age group.

Despite the strength up front produced by Cook and Sallberg, Cal Coast Track Club was runner-up to Bowerman Track Club by a 31-44 margin. Gregory Mitchell, who clocked 28:27 at age 48, led Bowerman with a fourth-place performance.

Macchia, representing William Floyd High in New York, returned to San Diego after competing Dec. 11 at the Eastbay Cross Country Championships at Balboa Park – less than 10 miles south of Mission Bay Park – and the freshman shined in her 6-kilometer debut by clocking 22:50 to pull away from a field loaded with college freshmen and capture the women’s under-20 title.

Macchia, 15, became the youngest athlete to win the under-20 championship since Jordan Hasay in 2007.

She also produced another under-20 winner for New York, with Brooke Rauber of Tully High prevailing in 2020. It marked the first time since Shelby Greany and Aisling Cuffe won in 2010 and 2011 that New York achieved consecutive women’s under-20 championships.

Macchia, who was the top freshman and 12th overall at the Eastbay final, was interviewed following the race by Shannon Rowbury on behalf of USATF, in addition to cooling down following the race with women’s 10-kilometer open champion Alicia Monson and runner-up Weini Kelati.

Colleen Stegmann, a freshman at Oklahoma State, and Utah State freshman Kaybree Christensen, both 18, were second and third overall. Stegmann (23:39) achieved the first top-three finish for Oklahoma State since Rilee Rigdon in 2019, and Christensen (23:51) followed a fourth-place effort by Aggies teammate Bailey Brinkerhoff in 2020.

Aisha Ramone, a senior at Kirtland Central High in New Mexico, was the top Native American competitor for Wings of America, placing sixth in 24:54.

Simonsen, a freshman at Oklahoma State, improved on his fifth-place performance in the men’s under-20 race in 2020 to become the first champion in the division for the Cowboys since Craig Nowak in 2013.

Simonsen, 19, clocked 25:42 in the 8-kilometer race, surging late to create a gap against Utah State 18-year-old freshman Chase Leach (25:50), who followed a third-place finish by teammate Bridger Altice in the under-20 competition in 2020.

Cael Grotenhuis, a freshman at Northern Arizona, kept pace with Simonsen and Leach for the first half of the race, before taking third in 26:22. Grotenhuis, 18, followed teammate Corey Gorgas, who won the under-20 title for the Lumberjacks in 2020.

Bahozhoni Church, a senior at Miyamura High in New Mexico, represented Wings of America by securing seventh in 27:30. Ku Stevens, a senior at Yerington High in Nevada, was eighth in 27:47.