The weekend was full of big performances, from state championship wins to divisional victories and much more. Check out some of the best action to take place over the weekend.
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1. Niwot Domination: It was an incredibly efficient day for the Class 4A Cougars, who scored two team championships in both the boys' and girls' races. The girls, led by individual state champion Samrawit Dishon, had all five of their scorers in the first 13 places, which led to a convincing score of 37 points across an 18:47 average and 53-second compression. The boys' team, meanwhile, benefitted from Cruz Culpepper's best race of the season, as the elite racer won his second straight Class 4A title in a personal best on the Norris Penrose Center course in 15:36.10. The Cougar boys scored 70 points, averaged 16:30 across its scoring five and put together a 75-second spread.
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Colorado State Championships
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2. Arapahoe's Amazing Upset: The surprise performance of the Colorado State Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Colorado Springs were the Arapahoe girls. Going up against three nationally-ranked teams in Cherry Creek, Mountain Vista and Cherokee Trail, the Warriors scored all five of its scorers in the top 30, outscored its competition by 30 points and posted a winning total of 69 points across a 19:15 average. No. 5 Cherry Creek was second with 99 points, while No. 16 Cherokee Trail was third with 157 and No. 12 Mountain Vista was fourth with 167. Cherry Creek's Riley Stewart, who's been one of the state's best and most consistent runners, won her first class 5A title in 18:12.30--third fastest on the day. Cherokee Trail's Cameron McConnell was second in 18:24.60.
3. Colorado's State Championship Notables: Let's start with Valor Christian's Cole Sprout, who won his third straight Class 5A title in a new meet best of 15:12.70--the race took place at 6,035 feet of elevation--which beat Dakota Ridge's Connor Ohlson's 15:24.80 and Cherry Creek's Parker Wolfe's 15:35.30. Sprout completed his cross country career in Colorado with three wins and a runner-up finish--back when he was competing for Faith Christian Academy. The performance was rated at a 198 for its speed rating. Ohlson's team, meanwhile, didn't leave home empty-handed, winning its second straight team title with 67 points. Mountain Vista was second with 121 points. The top girls performance of the day went to Class 3A winner Sierra Bower of Basalt, who ran the state's fastest time of the day in 18:00.10.
4. Kate Wiser's Day: The Pomperaug High School junior ran a new course record on the Wickham Park course at the CIAC Divisional L Championships, posting a time of 17:39. Consider that she ran 53 seconds slower last year on this same course. Next up for Wiser is Connecticut's public state championships and then Foot Locker Regionals.
5. The Connecticut Boys Duel Continues: Conrad (CT) sophomore Gavin Sherry continues to have the upper hand against Aidan Puffer in big races, as he won his sixth race over the Manchester sophomore, this one coming in the CIAC Divisional LL Championships. Sherry went 15:24.00, while Puffer was second in 15:33.00.
6. Corner Canyon Rolled: Utah's top boys team continued to look like a squad who could win a Nike Cross Nationals title, outscoring its competition by 140 points in the Class 6A race on Wednesday en route to 35 points. Corner Canyon's four seniors crossed the line first, with Caleb Johnson winning another race in 15:21.5, while Mark Boyle was second in 15:31.5, Alex Harbertson was third in 15:34.5 and Easton Allred fourth in 15:35.9. Junior AJ Rowland was fifth in 15:46.8.
7. Michigan Harriers Had Big Days: Michigan's top boys runners all had huge days: Carter Solomon, Evan Bishop, Jack Spamer and Nathan Walker. All four athletes went under 15 minutes at their regional races on Saturday. But it was Solomon, the senior from Plymouth, who perhaps had the best overall day, running the second fastest 5K recorded in Michigan history -- according to the MileSplit database -- with his effort of 14:42.70 at the MHSAA LP Region 06-1 race. Spamer went 14:48, Walker went 14:52 and Bishop went 14:56.
8. Edina Girls Over Wayzata, Eden Praire Boys Continue To Race Well: The Hornet girls took the MSHSL Section 6AA Championships over Wayzata with a 7-point win, scoring 38 points behind another quality outing from freshman Lauren Cossack and solid work from the team's depth. But the squad will have its hands full at state next week against a strong Stillwater team--which won the Section 4AA race with better speed ratings and a slightly better average on a different course. Meanwhile, Wayzata swept both the individual races: Abbey Nechanicky, a freshman, won in 18:00.50, while Shuayb Hussein, a senior, won the boys race in 15:53.30.
Meanwhile, the Eden Prairie boys once again looked like one of the state's strongest teams, scoring 39 points to win the boys section race over Edina (86) and Hopkins (97). But like the Edina girls, state won't be easy for Eden Prairie, either. Mounds View is clearly in the picture and will look to take the state's top prize, too.
9. Sydney Thorvaldson Pounces On Another State Win: Thorvaldson scored a big time on Wyoming's new state course at Star Valley View Golf Course in Afton -- it moved here this season after being on the V.A. Hospital Grounds previously -- winning in 17:32.70. That makes it three straight state championship wins for the Wyoming starlet.
10. Second straight title for Liem Chot in Nebraska: The Lincoln North Star junior was the standout of the weekend in Nebraska, winning his second straight individual title in a time of 15:50.30. Lincoln Southwest won the Division A race, while the Lincoln East girls won the Division A race.
11. Leo Daschbach Dueled With Anthony Grover At Mt. SAC, Plus Much More: Daschbach won the Division 1-2 Team Sweepstakes race in 14:32, while Grover was second in 14:36. Great Oak scored team wins in each race for its boys' and girls' squads, while Desert Vista's (AZ) Lauren Ping won the girls race in 16:47 and Canyon Crest's Carlie Dorostkar was second in 16:50 -- the pair were the only two girls runners to break 17 minutes on the course. A total of 12 girls broke 18 minutes, while six boys broke 15 minutes (all in the D1-D2 Team Sweeps race)--Great Oak's Gabe Abbes and Chris Verdugo were the only teammates to both achieve the feat. Three-time Alaskan champ Kendall Kramer finished out her high school cross country career with one last, winning the D3-D4-D5 Individual Sweeps race in 17:36.00. Sage Creek's Skyler Wallace scored the D3-D4-D5 Team Sweeps race in 17:28.00.