Utah Standout Breaks Course Record And Wins By 41 Seconds; Stellar Denver Lineup Makes It Two In A Row For Colorado

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor 

John Nepolitan PHOTOS

GIRLS RACE REPLAY | INTERVIEWS | RESULTS

PORTLAND - Jane Hedengren and the team from Denver, who performed spectacularly at the Southwest regional, crushed the competition on a national stage Saturday at Nike Cross Nationals. 

Hedengren, a senior from Timpview, Utah, broke Katelyn Tuohy's course record on a wet, slick tour of Glendoveer Golf Course and won by 41 seconds in 16:32.7. 

The BYU recruit was making her first appearance at NXN after not qualifying in 2022 and cutting her season short due to injury last year. 

"Racing is a celebration. It should be joyful. It should be a fun time. So I had good time out there today," Hedengren said. "I was running out there inspired, and happy to be out there, healthy."

Hedengren's time would have put her in the top half of the boys championship race. 

And Denver, with athletes from Mountain Vista of Highland Ranch, completed its journey to the pinnacle of high school cross country by scoring 75 points. 

For the second year in a row, teams from the high-altitude training environment of Colorado won the national title. Denver, third last year, followed Academy's 2023 victory. 

A sensational lineup of runners spent the season enjoying the daily grind, and one another, and paid no attention to the rankings.

"I don't think they take it too seriously is what stands out about them the most," coach Jonathan Dalby said. "They have fun every day. They kept running in its place and they've made a game out of it more than anything."

Keeghan Edwards, who was unable to compete with her teammates last fall due to Colorado transfer rules, led the team with a fourth place overall finish and secured one team point. Juliet Frum, who had an off day and was 52nd at the Colorado state meet, was 27th at NXN and scored four team points. Claire Guiberson was less than four second behind Frum, 32nd overall. Peyton Adams (48th overall, 16 team points) and Brenna Jorde (89th, 46 points) were the team's fourth and fifth. 

Utah's Lone Peak put a huge performance together to take second with 107. Maya Bybee was 34th to lead the team and Brielle Nilsson was 46th. 

Lone Peak had finished fourth and needed an at-large selection to join the field, much like the boys runners-up from American Fork. 

Clovis (Buchanan), the second-place team in California's Division 1 state meet last week, put together a strong performance to take third with 123 points, six points better than fourth-place Academy. 

Clovis clumped four athletes together between 52nd and 56th place (overall), separated by three and a half seconds. Freshmen Gaby Guttierez and Brooklyn Buckley finished next to one another and senior Sierra Cornett and sophomore Molly Sundren were a few steps behind them. 

A third Colorado team, South Fort Collins, finished eighth and beat six regional champions. 

New York powerhouse Delmar finished fifth with 149 points. Bruce Township, the second team to make it to NXN out of Michigan, made the most of its opportunity and took sixth. 

Victoria Garces, the NXR Midwest champion, and Elizabeth Leachman, the reigning Foot Locker national champion, found themselves locked in a race for second place well behind Hedengren. Garces finished in 17:13.4 and Leachman, who ran out to a big lead in 2023 before fading, ran to a strong third in 17:13.7. 

Addy Ritzenhein, the defending champion from Niwot, ran within five seconds of her winning time in 2023 and finished fifth in 17:15.3. 

Illinois state meet record-breaker Mia Sirois finished sixth in 17:16.0, one spot ahead of NXR Heartland champion Marissa Ferebee, who was seventh in 17:16.4. 

Sisters Sophia and Victoria Rodriguez from Mercer Island WA finished eighth and 12th, respectively. That was the best result by a pair of sisters since Megan and Bethany Hasz, twins from Minnesota, finished fifth and and ninth in 2014.

California standouts and state champions last week, Sadie Engelhardt and Rylee Blade, were 11th and 28th.