NHS boys cross country earns Nike Cross National Invitation, joins NHS girls team

The top two high school cross country teams from each of the nine Nike regional qualifying meets in November secured automatic berths into this weekend's Nike Cross Nationals (NXN). That left just four at-large invitations available for high school boys teams from across the United States to compete in the national championships on Saturday, Dec. 2, in Portland, Oregon.

When the Niwot boys cross country team finished fourth in its Southwest Regional meet on Nov. 18 in Arizona, it looked like a longshot for the Cougars to find a spot inside the 22-team championship field. But the overall strength of the Southwest region, an impressive resume compiled during the regular season, and the outstanding reputation developed by the Niwot program over the years combined to beat the odds and hand the Cougars one of the treasured at-large invitations from the NXN committee.

The four-state Southwest Region, which included teams from Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, was the only region in the country to place four boys teams in the national championships. Joining Niwot from the Southwest will be regional champion American Fork High School and runner-up Herriman High School. The third-place finishers, the Riverton High School Silverwolves, earned an at-large berth to give Utah its third team in the national field.

"Our boys performed pretty average for the first time all year when we went down to Arizona. It wasn't a good representation of what they're capable of," Niwot Coach Kelly Christensen admitted. "This (going to NXN) is a great learning opportunity for them, but I also think they have something to prove.

"They're going to want to beat some of those Utah teams that beat them, and also being a team that the committee chose is super important to us and to our region, because whoever's third or fourth next year, the better we do (in NXN), the better chances are they (the NXN committee members) are going to continue giving us those opportunities if you don't get first or second in the region. So, we're running for Niwot and for the Southwest Region, which means we want to go out there and get top ten in the nation now."

The young Niwot team, representing REAL Training Colorado, will send seven runners to Portland, led by sophomore Rocco Culpepper, whose 16th place finish in regionals was the highest for any sophomore in the field of 250 runners. Joining Culpepper on the team will be juniors Cole Mazurana and Keegan Geldean, sophomores Ryder Keeton, Hunter Robbie and Gabriel Marshall, and freshman Quinn Sullivan. A transfer this year from Austin, Texas, Sullivan was the highest placing freshman (62nd) in the Southwest Region.

The Niwot boys will be joining the Niwot girls team in the City of Roses on Saturday. The Colorado 4A state champion girls earned their way into the national meet by winning the Southwest Regional qualifying meet, edging out Colorado's 5A champions from Air Academy High. The girls from Niwot and Air Academy are ranked one and two, respectively, in the nation according to MileSplit.com.

Addison Ritzenhein returns to the Nike Cross Nationals where she finished 18th overall as a freshman. The Cougars' 4A state champion finished third in the Southwest Regional meet, where she was edged out by regional champion Gianna Rahmer, an eighth-grader representing Albuquerque's Eldorado High School, and Colorado's 3A state champion, Isabel Allori from Liberty Common High School in Fort Collins. Allori, a senior, returns to Portland where she finished 14th a year ago at NXN.

"Going into that race in Arizona, she (Ritzenhein) had a side ache that turned into a stomach ache. And then with like two minutes to go, it finally broke, but she was a little too far back. She ended up being like 10 seconds back and then only lost by like two or three seconds," Christensen explained about his star's regional run. "So, I think she knows she can not feel that well and still perform to that high of a level. But if she feels good, I think that she's going to crush every single one of those girls she lost to (at regionals) next Saturday."

A group of talented and experienced seniors will run with Ritzenhein and make the Cougars one of the teams to beat in Portland as they attempt to improve on their second-place finish a year ago in the Nike event. The Cougars finished third in 2019.

Olivia Alessandrini leads the senior pack, followed by Mia Prok, who will be making her fourth and final appearance in the Nike Nationals. Sarah Perkins, Cayden Justice, and sophomores Anna Prok and Avy Beltran round out the team.

"In the past, they were favorites in some of these races and at times they may have let that pressure get to them. I think they've learned that pressure is a privilege, and it doesn't matter how they go into the meet -- whether they ranked first, second or third. I don't think it's going to affect them either way. They know they're worthy and they know the competition is tough and they're just going to go run for each other and give their best effort. So, I don't think it's going to affect this group at all," Christensen said.

The 12th annual Nike Cross Nationals will be run at Portland's Glendoveer Golf Course, which features two short, steep climbs just before the 3-mile mark, flattening out to a 400-meter flat straightaway that promises spectators an exciting sprint to the finish. The Boys Championship Race will start at 10:05 a.m. (PST), while the starting gun fires at 11:35 a.m. (PST) for the Girls Championship. Conditions are expected to be typical for Portland this time of year . . . rainy and cool.