Niwot teams claim first at Desert Twilight XC Festival

On Sept. 24, Niwot cross country added another data point to the growing body of evidence that its teams are among the best in the country. With a colorful Arizona sunset as a backdrop, both the Niwot boys and girls took first overall in the Sweepstakes races at the Desert Twilight XC Festival, a prestigious regional competition featuring nationally ranked teams from five western states.

As he has for the past two years, Zane Bergen led the way for the Niwot boys, finishing first in the 232-runner field with a time of 14 minutes 50.10 seconds, his first sub-15:00 time of 2021. Fellow senior Joey Hendershot was fifth, with a time of 15:03.10, followed by Carlos Kipkorir Cheruiyot (15:19.90) in 14th, Frederick Ambrose (15:52.00) in 35th, Isaac Robinson (15;56.20) in 40th, and Jeremy Gillett (16:09.70) in 61st. The Cougars ended with 63 points in the team standings, more than 85 points better than second place El Paso Eastood (Tex.).

There were also several Niwot names on the leaderboard of the girls sweepstakes race, starting with sophomore Mia Prok's. She took third overall with a time of 17:06.40, behind Utah's Lauren Ping in first and Air Academy rival Bethany Michalak in second. Junior Madison Shults (17:11.50) and senior Eva Klingbeil (17:19.10) also cracked the top-10 for Niwot, finishing 6th and 8th respectively. They were followed by Stella Vieth (17:36.70) in 13th place, senior Tessa Everett (17:56.40) in 21st, Olivia Allesandrini (17:59.10) in 24th, Sarah Perkins (18:22.50) in 34th, and Lex Bullen (18:24.30) in 35th. With just 44 points in the team standings, the Niwot girls cruised to a 33-point win over second place Arapahoe.

The Niwot runners will be back on the course on Oct. 2 for the Pat Patten Invitational in Boulder.