By Robert Kellert | MileSplit USA
A race of firsts and record pacing took place on the Glendover Golf Course in Portland, Oregon on December 7th. The field had nothing for Utah’s individual champion Jane Hedengren’s course record run of 16:32.7.
The Mountain Vista (Denver) girls out of Colorado earned their first Nike Cross Nationals team championship with a 32-point advantage over the field!
Hedengren Torches Course Record In Rain
Despite the rain and mud, Jane Hedengren (Timpview, U.T.) set a new course record clocking a time of 16:32.7 for the Nike Cross Nationals individual title.
The senior, who will be heading to Brigham Young University next fall, missed out on chasing this dream last fall due to injury and after recovering hasn’t looked back since. A strong indoor and outdoor track season was a preview to an undefeated 5K season during cross country this fall and it has been capped off with a Nike Cross Nationals title.
This performance cleared the previous course record of 16:37.8, held by Katelyn Tuohy since 2018, by more than five seconds!
Hedengren pushed the lead out early and showed poise and confidence while running alone and growing her lead every 1K split, eventually ending with a 40-second victory.
Hedengren’s splits: 1K – 3:13.7 / 2K – 6:29.5 / 3K – 9:50.5 / 4K – 13:12.7 / 5K – 16:32.7.
The victory was earned ahead of a strong field including defending champion and Niwot High School junior Addison Ritzenhein who finished fifth overall at 17:15.3 on Saturday.
Victoria Garces, the 2024 Nike Cross Nationals Midwest and Foot Locker Midwest Regional champion had an incredible race as well, the Midland Dow (M.I.) senior clocked 17:13.4 for second. Garces battled another one of the favorites to win, Elizabeth Leachman of Boerne Champion (T.X.) to the line, Leachman clocking 17:13.7 for third overall. Leachman, a junior, is the top returning finisher from this race for next season.
Keeghan Edwards was fourth individually and the leading team-scoring athlete in the race with her 17:15.2, an effort that helped spark a National Championship for her team out of Colorado.
Girls Top 10 Individual Finishers
| 1 |  Jane Hedengren | 12 | Timpview | 16:32.70 |
| 2 |  Victoria Garces | 12 | Midland Dow | 17:13.40 |
| 3 |  Elizabeth Leachman | 11 | Boerne Champion | 17:13.70 |
| 4 |  Keeghan Edwards | 12 | Mountain Vista High School | 17:15.20 |
| 5 |  Addison Ritzenhein | 11 | Niwot High School | 17:15.30 |
| 6 |  Mia Sirois | 10 | Barrington | 17:16.00 |
| 7 |  Marissa Ferebee | 11 | Pella High School | 17:16.40 |
| 8 |  Sophia Rodriguez | 10 | Mercer Island High School | 17:27.30 |
| 9 |  Ella Hagen | 12 | Summit High School | 17:33.00 |
| 10 |  Daniela Scheffler | 12 | Uniont. Lake | 17:34.20 |
Mountain Vista’s Strength Up Front Secures National Team Title
A historic first national cross country team title for the Denver (C.O.) girls represented by Mountain Vista High School athletes. They finished with a 75-point scoring run, 1+4+8+16+46 (52+97), a top-five split of 1:43, and an average of 18:05.
Denver was led by senior Keeghan Edwards in fourth clocking 17:15.2, the first team scorer to finish overall amongst the individual non-scoring competitors.
She was followed by teammates Juliet Frum in 27th at 17:53.9, Claire Guiberson 32nd at 17:57.5, Peyton Adams 48th at 18:24.6, and Brenna Jorde closing their scoring five in 89th with 18:58.6.
Their displacers were Zoe Brandt in 96th with 19:04.5 and Gabriela Boeckman in 142nd at 19:39.8.
The low sticks by Edwards, Frum, and Guiberson who all finished within the top eight scoring athletes, were too much to come back from for the other talented squads.
Lone Peak was second as a team scoring 107 points and averaging 18:26, Clovis was third at 123 points averaging 18:32, Academy was fourth with 129 points, Delmar was fifth at 149, and the sixth overall team was Bruce Township scoring 204.
Top Six Scoring Teams
| 1 | Mountain Vista High School | 75 | 1+4+8+16+46 (52+97) | 1:43 1-5 Split | 18:05 Avg |
| 2 |  Lone Peak | 107 | 9+15+25+28+30 (51+58) | 0:39 1-5 Split | 18:26 Avg |
| 3 |  Buchanan (CS) | 123 | 19+20+22+23+39 (55+105) | 0:18 1-5 Split | 18:32 Avg |
| 4 |  Air Academy High School | 129 | 5+7+13+17+87 (124+129) | 1:36 1-5 Split | 18:26 Avg |
| 5 |  Bethlehem Central | 149 | 18+21+32+35+43 (98+102) | 0:28 1-5 Split | 18:39 Avg |
| 6 |  Romeo | 204 | 11+31+42+49+71 (100+101) | 1:14 1-5 Split | 18:47 Avg |
Rain, mud, and upsets highlighted the Nike Cross Nationals boys championship race at the Glendover Golf Course 5K in Portland, Oregon.
In his first NXN appearance, Charlie Vause pulled away from the leaders in a late charge to secure his first individual national title across all three seasons.
On the team side Niwot was projected third coming in and after the dust, well.. mud, had settled they had upset the likes of top-ranked Christian Brothers Academy and Herriman.
Vause Makes A Splash With Late Charge
At Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Regionals Charlie Vause of Rio Rancho High School (N.M.) finished third overall. Two weeks later he took the finish line at NXN and stood in a mud-ridden uniform as a National Champion.
A breakaway of six athletes was still packed together at the 4K mark with Vause at the tail end of it.
However, Vause was on a mission over the final 1000m and quickly jumped those five spots to secure the lead and closed out the Nike Cross Nationals individual championship with a time of 15:28.1.
The senior split 2:59.0 over the final 1000m of the course: 1K – 2:57.7 / 2K – 6:03.1 / 3K – 9:14.5 / 4K – 12:29.1 / 5K – 15:28.1.
The individual title didn’t seem to have a clear favorite heading in but Vause came from off the radar for many.
Second in this race was senior TJ Hansen of Freeland (M.I.) with a time of 15:30.60, who made the strongest attempt to catch Vause down the stretch. Hansen was 10th in 2023 at NXN.
Caden Leonard of Carroll (TX) finished third and is the top returner from this field looking ahead to next year.
The entire top six finished within six seconds of each other.
Top 10 Individual Finishers
| 1 |  Charlie Vause | 12 | Rio Rancho | 15:28.10 |
| 2 |  TJ Hansen | 12 | Freeland | 15:30.60 |
| 3 |  Caden Leonard | 11 | Carroll | 15:31.00 |
| 4 |  Tommy Latham | 12 | Marist | 15:32.40 |
| 5 |  Evan Noonan | 12 | Dana Hills (SS) | 15:32.70 |
| 6 |  Keegan Smith | 12 | Knoxville Catholic | 15:33.60 |
| 7 |  Jackson Spencer | 11 | Herriman | 15:35.60 |
| 8 |  Kaden Evans | 12 | American Fork | 15:35.80 |
| 9 |  Aiden Le Roux | 11 | Cheyenne Mountain | 15:36.20 |
| 10 |  Robert Mechura | 12 | Roseville Area High School | 15:36.30 |
Niwot Braves The Storm, Wins First NXN Title
Just two weeks removed from their head-to-head loss with Herriman at Southwest Regional the Niwot (Colo.) boys now stand atop the podium holding a Nike Cross Nationals championship trophy.
In rain, mud, and sweat the Niwot boys put their focus and determination in the spotlight to defeat a deeply talented field including higher-ranked Christian Brothers Academy (NJ) and Herriman (UT).
Niwot kept their pack tight with a 31-second split, averaging 16:04, and totaling 70 points.
Junior Hunter Robbie led the charge in 21st with a time of 15:52.7, senior Keegan Geldean was 27th at 15:57.8, sophomore Quinn Sullivan 30th at 16:00.9, junior Gabriel Marshall 35th at 16:04.7, and closing their top five was senior Gavin Engtrakul in 67th at 16:24.30.
Their displacers included juniors Rocco Culpepper in 81st at 16:31.4 and Ryder Keeton in 101st at 16:39.90. Niwot returns five of their top seven, including three of their top five scorers heading into 2025.
American Fork (UT) had a great showing as well, finishing second 26 points back after being projected fourth heading into the meet. They split 54 seconds between their top five averaging 16:05 and were led by senior Kaden Evans running eighth overall with a time of 15:35.8.
One of the favorites, Herriman ended up third overall with 106 points, Carroll finished fourth as a team with 135 points, and another pre-meet favorite US No. 1 ranked CBA scored 147 points for fifth.
Colorado swept the team championships for boys and girls with the Mountain Vista girls claiming their NXN title just an hour and a half prior. This is the first time the team titles were swept by one state since New York’s Fayetteville-Manlius did it in 2014 sweeping the titles as a school.
Top Six Scoring Teams
| 1 |  Niwot High School | 70 | 5+9+10+11+35 (47+64) | 0:31 1-5 Split | 16:04 Avg |
| 2 | American Fork | 96 | 3+8+15+25+45 (56+75) | 0:54 1-5 Split | 16:05 Avg |
| 3 | Herriman | 106 | 2+13+27+28+36 (55+89) | 0:48 1-5 Split | 16:08 Avg |
| 4 | Carroll High School | 135 | 1+20+22+26+66 (81+110) | 1:10 1-5 Split | 16:10 Avg |
| 5 |  Christian Brothers Academy | 147 | 14+19+21+39+54 (79+90) | 0:27 1-5 Split | 16:18 Avg |
| 6 |  Downers Grove (North) | 217 | 7+30+41+42+97 (98+120) | 1:08 1-5 Split | 16:27 Avg |