On Saturday, December 9th, 2023, 160 athletes representing 11 clubs from Colorado competed at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. The competition was held at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, the site of numerous NCAA championships, including the 2012, 2015, and 2017 Division I championships. Near-perfect weather conditions graced the park for much of the day Saturday, but lightning and heavy rain came in just ahead of the 15-18 Boys start, delaying the race until Sunday morning.
A total of 3054 athletes and 273 teams from across the country competed in the championships.
Races were contested in 6 age divisions (8 & under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18) for boys and girls. The top 25 finishers in each age division earned all-American status and the top 3 teams were awarded championship recognition.
Twenty (20) athletes from Colorado earned all-American honors and the Kokopelli Kids 11-12 Boys team finished second; all earning trips to the awards podium during the post-event ceremonies.
STEPHANOV DEFENDS TITLE IN DOMINATING FASHION
At last year’s championships in Texas Robert Stepanov (pictured above) won the national title in the 9-10 division by five seconds. He came to Louisville as the defending champion and favorite to win his second straight title. He successfully did that but his margin of victory of 50 seconds caused a stir of awe amongst the crowd who witnessed one of the most dominating performances in Junior Olympic history. His winning time on the 3 km course was 9:59 with runner-up Samuel Weinraub of Georgia stopping the clock at 10:49. Micah Chelanga (Kokopelli Kids) finished 11th running 11:09; just one second outside of a top-10 finish. Shane Tate (Elevated Distance Training) also finished in the top 50 placing 36th in 11:30.
Chelanga led his Kokopelli Kids team to an eighth-place finish with 248 points.
ROMERO THIRD AGAIN
In the first race of the day Greyson Romero (Penguins XC Track Club) duplicated his 2022 third-place finish in the 7-8 Boys 2 km race. His time of 6:58 was only three seconds behind the winner Deshawn Turner of Nevada and just .04 seconds behind runner-up Ean Hernandez of California. Fellow Coloradans Rainer Young (Boulder Mountain Warriors) and Eugene Garrow (Peak Performance Running) joined Romero on the all-American podium finishing seventh and 18th, respectively. The other top-50 finish was turned in by Quentin Verliefde (Colorado Coyotes; 28th).
The Elevated Distance Training squad finished 11th in the team standings with 281 points.
PIALA NABS SILVER
At last year’s championships in Texas, Avery Piala (Peak Performance Running) finished fifth in the 9-10 division. A year older, she came to Louisville seeking an even higher finish and was successful in doing that as she raced to a second-place finish over the 3 km course. Her time of 10:46 was just three seconds behind Martina Rodriguez-Villen of Washington. Carly Truini (Kokopelli Kids) earned her second straight all-American hat as she finished 10th running 11:27. Clara Bolda (Rock Creek Track Club) and Zoe Piala (Peak Performance Running) each cracked the top-50, finishing 44th and 47th, respectively.
FADIL AND MICHALAK LEAD COLORADO DOMINANCE IN 11-12 GIRLS DIVISION
Zia Fadil (unattached) finished third in the 11-12 division as five other Coloradans finished in the top twelve. Fadil, who won two bronze medals at the track championships in Eugene this summer, added another bronze medal to her collection as she stopped the clock at 10:43 on the 3 km course. Joining her on the awards podium were five other Coloradans – Addison Michalak (5th, 10:52, Kokopelli Kids), Madison Lange (7th, 10:55, Elevated Distance Training) Dylan Shaklee (8th, 10:58, Peak Performance Running), Avery Koger (10th, 10:59, Boulder Mountain Warriors), and Sloane Groendyk (12th, 11:00, Rock Creek Track Club). And the dominance continued as four more locals raced to top-50 finishes. They were Ella McGowan (31st, Colorado Coyotes), Flora Caputo-Wilkowski (35th, unattached), Scarlett Maxwell (36th, Peak Runners), and Tereza Koudelkova (41st, Boulder Mountain Warriors).
The Rock Creek Track Club finished seventh in the team standings with 248 points while the Boulder Mountain Warriors and Kokopelli Kids finished 11th and 13th, respectively.
THE KIDS FINISH SECOND
In the 11-12 boys race the Kokopelli Kids finished second as a team as they scored 195 points. The team scorers were Kingsley McMillan (36th), Triston Stokes (52nd), Tanner Kast (58th), Phillip Pontious (129th), and Benjamin Ahlgrim (130th). They finished just 16 points behind the Palentine Pack from Illinois.
Earning an individual all-American honor was Sampson Friend (Boulder Mountain Warriors) who ran 10:24 on the 3 km course. Additional top 50 finishers were Nicholas Garofalo (Elevated Distance Training) and Kahlael Allen (Blazers Track) who finished 38th and 49th, respectively.
4-5-7 FOR DANN, MILLER, FERGUSON
The trio of Evan Dann (Unattached), Max Miller (Kokopelli Kids), and Jackson Ferguson (Peak Performance Running), who have been locking horns all season, crossed the finish line within five seconds of each other as they finished fourth, fifth, and seventh, respectively in the 13-14 Boys 4 km race. Dann stopped the clock at 12:21 while Miller, the 1500m national champion, and Ferguson each recorded times of 12:26. The race was won by Calvin Seitz of Indiana in 12:03. Edison Andrews (Peak Performance Running) also joined the gang in earning all-American honors with his 24th-place finish.
Miller’s low stick led his Kokopelli Kids team to a fourth-place finish with 204 points. Peak Performance Running, Boulder Mountain Warriors, and Colorado Coyotes finished 15th, 20th, and 26th in the team standings.
WIK LEADS WARRIORS TO FIFTH-PLACE TEAM FINISH
In the 13-14 Girls race, Kajsa Wik led her Boulder Mountain Warriors to fifth place team finish in a field of 35 teams. They scored 239 points. Wik finished 31st running 14:31 on the 4 km course and was the top Colorado finisher. The other scoring members for the team were Lucy Friend (93rd), Calia Vaughn (108th), Juna Mista (124th), Nora Quatrochi (179th). The Kokopelli Kids team finished 22nd.
Other Coloradans in the top 50 were Isabella Carter (36th, Peak Performance Running) and Jade McDaniel (40th, Elevated Distance Training).
BRUINS RACING TEAMMATES EARN ALL-AMERICAN HONORS
Bruins Racing teammates Alexander Gilbert finished 16th in the 15-16 Boys division while Maya Friedlander finished 18th in the 17-18 Girls division; both earned all-American honors. The Bruins Racing teams finished seventh in the 15-18 Girls division and 10th in the 15-18 Boys division.
THE ALL-AMERICAN ROLL CALL
Below is the complete roll-call of 2023 All-Americans from Colorado:
7-8 BOYS
3. Greyson Romero (Penguins XC Track Club)
7. Rainer Young (Boulder Mountain Warriors)
18. Eugene Garrow (Peak Performance Running)
9-10 Boys
1. Robert Stepanov (Unattached)
11. Micah Chelanga (Kokopelli Kids)
9-10 GIRLS
2. Avery Piala (Peak Performance Running)
10. Carly Truini (Kokopelli Kids)
11-12 Boys
19. Sampson Friend (Boulder Mountain Warriors)
11-12 GIRLS
3. Zia Fadil (Unattached)
5. Addison Michalak (Kokopelli Kids)
7. Madison Lange (Elevated Distance Training)
8. Dylan Shaklee (Peak Performance Running)
10. Avery Koger (Boulder Mountain Warriors)
12. Sloane Groendyk (Rock Creek Track Club)
13-14 BOYS
4. Evan Dann (Unattached)
5. Max Miller (Kokopelli Kids)
7. Jackson Ferguson (Peak Performance Running)
24. Edison Andrews (Peak Performance Running)
15-16 BOYS
16. Alexander Gilbert (Bruins Racing)
17-18 GIRLS
18. Maya Friedlander (Bruins Racing)
Next year’s championships will return to Louisville on December 14.