At the 13th Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon, Brie Oakley of Colorado dominated the girls’ 5K race to win in 17:10.1, a remarkable rise in a sport that she took up less than 18 months ago.
Oakley, a senior at Grandview High School in Aurora, broke away from the pack early in the race on December 3 and built a 100-meter lead by the two-mile mark—a gap big enough that even a late fall didn’t cause much drama.
She quickly got to her feet and powered to the finish line more than 28 seconds ahead of Ember Stratton of Sunset High School in Portland, Oregon, who finished second in 17:38.2. Lauren Gregory from Fort Collins, Colorado, was third in 17:39.8.
“I thought people would try to take the pace out a lot faster, but when that didn’t happen, I thought, ‘OK, I’m just going to go,’” said Oakley, who joined her school’s cross-country team for the first time last fall. “I wanted to keep distancing myself as much as I could.”
Oakley is the second-straight Coloradan—with a soccer background—to win the individual title, after Katie Rainsberger set a course record time of 16:56.8 in 2015. Gregory’s third-place finish helped the Centennial State claim two of three spots on the podium.
“It definitely helps to have someone to push you in your state,” said Oakley, who will attend the University of California-Berkeley next year. “It helps you really be ready for meets like this.”
The girls team competition ended up even more one-sided than the individual race, with Fayetteville-Manlius scoring 41 points to comfortably defeat Davis (181 points) and Great Oak-Temecula (185). Coached by the veteran Bill Aris, Fayetteville-Manlius has now won three NXN titles in a row—and 10 of 13 overall. The girls from Broomfield finished seventh.
Read more: From the Soccer Field to National Champion in 18 Months | Runners World