Addison Ritzenhein wins national cross country championship

As expected, Colorado's girls dominated the 2023 Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) Saturday, Dec. 2, in Portland, Oregon, but no one was more dominant than Niwot's Addison Ritzenhein who now adds the title of National Champion to her growing list of credentials.

Ritzenhein, just a sophomore, came into the 18th Nike national race expected to be one of the top five or six finishers in the race, but splashed through the mud and deep standing water on Portland's Glendoveer Golf Course to outpace in-state rival Bethany Michalak of Academy High School by six seconds to win the individual title. The victory was the first by a Colorado girl since 2016 when Grandview High School's Brie Oakley brought home the Nike national crown.

Joining Ritzenhein and Michalak with top-10 finishes for Colorado were 3A state champion Isabel Allori of Liberty High, who finished fourth, and Summit High's Ella Hagen, in tenth place. Southwest regional champion Gianna Rahmer, an eighth-grader from Albuquerque, New Mexico, finished sixth. But it was Ritzenhein, after finishing third at the regional meet behind Rahmer and Allori, who stole the day in the City of Roses.

"I was overwhelmed with emotion," Ritzenhein told FloSport in her post meet interview. "I didn't even think about getting an individual national title. I just ran for my team. Seeing everyone out there just cheering me on and cheering the team on was so inspiring."

NIWOT GIRLS TAKE SECOND

Despite the individual championship, Ritzenhein and her senior-laden team had to settle for their second straight silver medal in the team competition. Colorado rival Air Academy, the 5A state champions, edged the Cougars by 11 points (61 to 72) and a combined team total of just six seconds to win the national team championship.

The Cougars, Colorado's 4A State Champions, had edged out the Kadets in Arizona for the Nike Southwest qualifying title in late November, but couldn't repeat the feat in Portland. It was the second straight runner-up finish for Coach Kelly Christensen's team, which has finished in the top five each of the past four years.

Niwot senior Sarah Perkins finished in 47th place overall in the field of the nation's top 200 runners, closely followed by teammates Anna Prok, a sophomore (48th), and her senior sister Mia Prok (49th). The trio crossed the finish line in a virtual tie with just seven tenths of a second separating their finishing times. Another senior, Olivia Alessandrini, who, along with Mia Prok, had struggled with flu symptoms late in the week, finished in 55th place to contribute to the final team score. Senior Cate Justice closed out her high school cross country career in 86th place.

"Hats off to Air Academy," Christensen offered to RunnerSpace.com, also noting the third-place finish for Mountain Vista, which gave the Centennial state a sweep of the top three places. "We were happily nervous about how good these Colorado teams were.

"We're so super proud of (seniors) Olivia, Mia, Cate and Sarah, and everything they've done and how they are going to leave this program."

Perkins also shared what it has meant for this group of seniors. "You just know this is a legacy that's going to be carried on for many, many years, and we're just so beyond proud to have run with Niwot across our chests for all of high school. No matter the outcome, we're super proud of each other and just happy that we're on this team."

NIWOT BOYS SURPRISE

After being one of the last four boys teams to earn an at-large berth into the field of 22 teams from across the nation, the young Cougars were looking to show that they were more than worthy of their invitation despite a fourth-place finish in the Southwest Regionals. They surprised even their coach, finishing in fifth place in Portland in the national championships.

"You say things to kids because you want to plant a seed," Christensen admitted. "We did talk about fifth being our ceiling, and it sounded a little crazy saying it to them, but we trust our training. We trust our culture. And we trust that we're going to time it just right. So, we threw it out there like, hey, the girls were at-large in 2018 and they went out and took fifth.

"So, the goal for us was through the mile, whatever it is, let's be in the top ten and see what happens and it was happening. It was fun. It was hard to believe how well they all ran."

The Cougars were led once again by sophomore Rocco Culpepper who finished in 38th place overall, followed hot on his heels by freshman teammate Quinn Sullivan in 39th place. For Sullivan, the finish was the second highest by a freshman behind Marcelo Mantecon of Miami Havana High School, and put the Cougar on the nation's cross country radar for the coming years.

"It was great," Christensen said of the race by his top two finishers. "It was a day where Rocco got out good and I think when Quinn came up on his shoulder those guys just were having so much fun not just battling each other but running down the other athletes. Rocco ended up giving us a team score of 10 points and Quinn was 11 and that over exceeded anything we thought was possible out of those two."

Sophomore Gabe Marshall, who had not run a varsity race all season and did not run in the regionals in Arizona, but was added to the team just prior to nationals, finished in 88th place in the field of 201 runners, followed by classmate Hunter Robbie in 106th, and junior Keegan Geldean, who closed out the team scoring with a finish at 122nd. The Cougars, who did not have a senior on the team at nationals, were also represented by sophomore Ryder Keeton, who finished 135th, and junior Cole Mazurana, who finished 140th.

The Cougars were joined in the top five by Southwest region foes Herriman High School and American Fork High School, both from Utah. Herriman, which finished second to American Fork at regionals, edged out the Cavemen from American Fork, 83 to 100, to claim the national team title.