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EAGLE ISLAND STATE PARK--Historic sweeps, program-first trophies and a lightning delay made for an exciting day at the Idaho high school cross country state championships over the weekend at Eagle Island State Park.
In 6A, Meridian completed a program first sweep of the individual titles. Paisley Taylor and Nate Stadtlander, both seniors, won the girls and boys races in respective tiimes of 17:42.29 and 14:55.53, the fastest times of the day. Taylor is the first ever Meridian girls individual cross country state champion on record while Stadtlander won last year's 5A boys individual title.
Last year's 5A state meet had snowy, slick conditions during the girls race. Taylor said she had collapsed during that meet after leading early, and this year gave redemption as no one threatened her lead during the home stretch. Stadtlander secured Saturday's title upon passing Coeur d'Alene senior Max Cervi-Skinner and Boise senior Jack Sheesley with the finish line in sight.
Taylor and Stadtlander had previously discussed the possibility of sweeping the 6A individual titles for their school. According to Idaho High School Activities Association archives, Taylor and Stadtlander are the first runners from a school in Idaho's largest classification to sweep individual cross country state titles since 1975 when Twin Falls' Rick Murray and Brenda Falash won Class A titles. That was the second year of girls cross country in the Gem State.
"We've been talking about this, both winning, for a long time," said Stadtlander, an Oklahoma State commit. "I'm so proud of her."
Last year's 5A boys state champion and defending Nike Cross Northwest Regional champion Coeur d'Alene claimed the 6A title this year, albeit by a closer margin than last year's championships in Pocatello. The Vikings got medals from Max Cervi-Skinner (third, 14:57.97), Zack Cervi-Skinner (fourth, 15:08.61), Wyatt Carr (sixth, 15:24.86), Gabe Heule (13th, 15:57.63), Rowan Henry (14th, 15:57.79) and Mitchell Rietze (16th, 15:59.12) to claim the team title over Rocky Mountain by nine points. The state championship was another feather in the cap of the Viking runners, who have won every meet on their schedule this season except for the Woodbridge Classic in Irvine, Calif.
Along with Stadtlander, Sheesley (second place, 14:57.32) and Max Cervi-Skinner (third place) broke 15 minutes. Boise junior Audrey Orme joined Taylor with the only other sub-18 minute girls time of the day with her 17:53.05 for second place in 6A.
The Rocky Mountain girls attained a historic first Saturday. The Grizzlies, who won six 5A boys cross country state titles between 2012 and 2022, won a program first girls state title upon winning the 6A title by 42 points over Timberline. Hallie Heemeyer (third, 18:05.55), Brooklyln Horn (fourth, 18:17.48), Emme Hamm (eighth, 18:22.30), Brooke Thompson (11th, 18:32.61) and Makelle Carlson (16th, 18:47.22) all medaled for the Grizzlies, who had won the 6A District 3 championships the previous week. The third and fourth place teams, Capital and Boise, were also from District 3.
Twin Falls sophomore Raelee Richardson was a double winner on Saturday. Richardson commandingly won the 5A girls individual title by more than a minute, crossing the finish line in 18:15.12 to become Twin Falls' first girls individual state champion since three-time winner Mattalyn Geddes in 2019. Richardson also led the Bruins to the 5A girls team title, their first since winning 4A in 2016. Nolan Dickerson (eighth place, 19:40.81), Lauren Garling (13th, 19:53.35) and Lydia Lee (20th, 20:09.5) received medals along with Richardson.
Bishop Kelly senior Jack Tobin won the 5A boys title in 15:48.18 to become his school's first boys individual champion since three-time winner Nick Russell in 2019.
The 5A boys team title came down to Skyline's No. 5 runner Kaleb Mickelsen leaning past Idaho Falls' No. 5 runner Carter Boyle at the line, 17:01.07 to 17:01.26, to give Skyline the title by one point over district rival Idaho Falls. Alexander Renna (sixth, 16:05.11), Davis Roberts (eighth, 16:07.97), Yuki Calderoni (18th, 16:45.28) and Desmond Swaner (19th, 16:45.41) medaled for Skyline, which won its first state championship since 2016 (4A) and first at the 5A level since 1997.
"I didn't think it would be that close," said Roberts. "I.F.'s a great team."
"We wanted it," added Mickelsen.
Renna and Mickelsen, both juniors, and Roberts, a sophomore, are the latest in their families to be on state championship teams for Skyline. Renna's sister Marina (now at Nevada), Roberts' sister Nelah (Idaho's only four-time girls individual cross country state champion who is now at BYU) and Mickelsen's sister Anni were all on Skyline's 2020 4A girls cross country state championship team. Furthermore, Roberts' older brother Harrison was on Skyline's 2016 4A boys cross country state championship team and older sister Adria was on Skyline's 2017 4A girls cross country state championship team. His grandfather Deloy was also head coach of the 1997 state champion boys team.
Roberts said he grew up watching his older siblings with their medals, trophies and banners.
"I wanted that for myself," Roberts said. "I can't wait to talk to (Nelah)."
Skyline head coach Sean Schmidt has been head coach since Roberts' grandfather Deloy retired, and has been a member of Skyline's cross country coaching staff since 1991. Since then, he has seen multiple families come through the program.
"The families believe in the program and they believe in our coaches," Schmidt said.
In 4A, one District 6 team beat out another for both team titles. Sugar-Salem claimed both the girls and boys team titles over Teton for its first state cross country team title sweep since doing so in 3A in 2020. A lightning delay and hail pushed back the start of the 4A boys race, and the timing equipment went down and the backup gave out once the race was underway. This prompted manual confirmation of 4A boys results from the finish line camera, delaying the awards presentation. Teams and individuals were still waiting on awards as of 5 p.m. Saturday. It was confirmed, however, with certainty from Sugar-Salem and Teton coaches that Sugar-Salem indeed placed first and Teton placed second in the 4A boys team standings.
Janyja Jackson (fourth in 19:31.27), Hannah Dalling (ninth in 20:08.88) and Sarah Galbraith (13th in 20:23.33) medaled for Sugar-Salem's girls, who avenged last year's second place finish to Snake River.
"We're really unified," Jackson said of the girls team. "We're like best friends. We work with each other instead of competing against each other."
Sugar-Salem senior Dylan Ball, who placed 13th in the 4A boys race in 17:04.24, said this season was about redemption after disappointment the previous two seasons. He was on Sugar-Salem's last state championship team in 2021, then Kimberly snapped Sugar-Salem's seven-year boys state title win streak his sophomore season in 2022. Last year the Sugar-Salem boys did not qualify for state as a team, and their District 6 rivals South Fremont and Teton went on to place first and second at the 3A state meet.
"That was a big hit," Ball said of the previous two seasons. "My spirit was broken. I worked a lot on getting us redemption. We got all these guys on our team and we made it happen (this year)."
Sugar-Salem head coach Brett Hill commended Teton for an impressive performance Saturday and for pushing Sugar-Salem all season, adding that District 6's talent was on display at state this weekend. Hill now has 54 state titles to his name as coach, combined between cross country and track coaching stops at Firth and Sugar-Salem High Schools.
"This District 6 has always been the toughest," Hill said. "Teton, they brought it. These kids, they see their training on Strava. They follow each other on Instagram. They see what other kids are doing. It makes you want to do better and work hard toward your goals."
Hill also commended Sugar-Salem junior high coach Rich Gardner, who has coached several eventual Sugar-Salem High School runners. This year's freshmen boys won last year's middle school team title at the Bob Firman Invitational, beating club teams from Utah along the way.
"I knew those kids we're gonna step in immediately," Hill said.
Coeur d'Alene Charter junior Annabelle Carr, racing in just her second meet of the season, won the 4A girls individual title in 18:50.8 while Teton senior Zane Lindquist won the 4A boys individual title in 15:57.21.
Lindquist ran the race with the names Caleb and Mindy written on his hand. The individuals in question, Caleb Moosman and Mindy Kaufman, are Teton track and field and cross country alumnus who are now Teton's head coaches, and they each gave Lindquist long, heartfelt embraces after he finished.
Lindquist is Teton's first individual cross country state champion since Moosman, who won 3A in 2012.
"In coaching, how good your team is depends on how much time your coaches put in," Lindquist said, expressing gratitude to Kaufman and Moosman. "It's awesome. It's so cool. Coach Caleb, he coached one year at middle school and I was in sixth grade. Just bringing it full circle with him being a state champion and now I'm a state champion, it's super awesome."
Ball also had high praise for Lindquist and Teton's runners, describing them as friends and brothers. Not only have they competed against each other for several years, but Ball said he and Lindquist also like to go snowboarding together.
"He has become a phenomenal athlete," Ball said. "When you compete against someone like that almost every week, it makes you better."
Another District 6 team swept team titles in 3A, but for the first time in program history. Ririe, which swept the District 6 championships the previous week for the first time in program history, completed a program first sweep of state cross country by winning the 3A boys title by 17 points over pre-race favorite Malad and the 3A girls title by seven points over powerhouse Soda Springs.
The emotions upon learning the official final results were drastically different for the Ririe girls and boys, but it all ended with celebrations and discussions with athletic director Matt Harris about scheduling an assembly at school. The girls huddled together while awaiting final word, and the tears flowed as they hugged each other as well as siblings, parents and coaches upon learning they won their first state title since 1994.
The win came after back-to-back second place finishes to Soda Springs by a combined eight points at the last two 2A state meets.
"This has been a dream," said Ririe junior Lucy Boone, who placed second in 19:07.73. "We knew it had been a long time, but we didn't know it had been that long (since a girls state title)."
Lucy Boone and older sister Liza Boone, Ririe's lone senior on the varsity girls team, both said they were extremely nervous earlier in the morning to the point Lucy couldn't walk and both girls felt like they were going to be sick. They expected tight competition from Soda Springs and knew the final results would be close. A year ago, Ririe had placed six girls in the top 18 and still took second place to Soda Springs in 2A.
Saturday, however, it was Ririe coming out on top by a single-digit margin. The Boones, one of two sets of sisters on Ririe's varsity, said they took two weeks off following the state track championships in May before resuming training for cross country. Like several Ririe athletes, they compete in multiple sports, but they said they 'dedicated themselves' to cross country this year.
"We heard that some of our competition hadn't been running in the summer and they said they were not going to run in the summer and just beat us at state," Liza Boone said. "So that's what we thought about during the race, 'Don't let them beat us at state. They don't deserve it like we do.'"
A turning point for Ririe was Liza Boone moving up from five places behind Soda Springs' No. 1 runner, Lizzie Beutler, with 1k remaining in the race. Liza Boone ended up finishing fourth in 19:46.33, one spot ahead of Beutler's fifth place finish in 19:49.81.
"She dug deep," said Ririe head coach Pat Bragassa, a former U.S. Biathlon team member and University of Wyoming runner who moved from Wyoming to Idaho in 1988. "Seems fitting for a senior. My high school coach used to say he was more nervous than we were. Now I understand why. Soda's such a great team. These kids were committed."
Lauren Robson placed 12th in 20:11.61, Jayci Baxter placed 18th in 20:42.46 and Hailey Robson placed 20th in 21:15.02 to join the Boones as medalists for Ririe, which completed an undefeated season versus Idaho competition. The Bulldogs' only loss this season was to Wyoming powerhouse Jackson at the Century Blake Stephens Invitational.
For the boys, disbelief reigned. They quickly found the girls team and coaches outside the finish area to take photos together, visibly stunned that they won their first title since 1996 and pulling off a program first state team title sweep.
Bragassa said he was not nervous during the boys race like he was the girls because there was no pressure. Back in August, he had described his boys team as a 'dark horse.' However, he had a thought in his head ever since Ririe swept district titles the previous week.
"Wouldn't that be awesome?'" Bragassa said of considering the possibility of a state title sweep. "So much joy. They wouldn't let anything deter them."
The Bulldogs got medals from Thomas Henderson (sixth, 16:54.45), Cody Baxter (10th, 17:24.63), Spencer Barney (11th, 17:25.27) and Jack Jones (19th, 17:38.85).
"We couldn't have done it without the rest of these guys," said Henderson as he gestured toward his teammates around him in the finish area.
"It's unbelievable," Barney said, holding his shoes.
Parma senior Megan Atkinson was the 3A girls individual champion in 19:00.17 while North Fremont senior Corbin Johnston, the 2A state champion in the previous two seasons, won the 3A boys title in 15:47.46. Atkinson is the first Parma girl on record to win an individual state cross country state title.
Johnston, who said he plans to race again in two weeks at Nike Cross Northwest Regionals (NXR) also at Eagle Island, was reflective about his high school career after finishing his final state cross country race.
"It's crazy to think that I'm already a senior," Johnston said. "It's been super fun being able to see my progression throughout every year."
Rockland senior Hayden Smith won the 2A boys individual state title in 16:24.70, becoming the first boys individual cross country state champion for his school and leading the Bulldogs to a team state title for the second consecutive season. Xavier Parrish (eighth, 17:15.59) and Woodrow Lowder (12th, 17:41.22) also medaled for the Rockland boys, who won 1A last year for a program first state title.
Victory Charter won a program first girls state title Saturday and had the lowest winning score of the entire meet: 29 points. The Vipers won three 1A boys titles from 2020 to 2022 but had never won a girls team title before. Taliah Rogers (second, 19:23.21), Libby Stockett (fifth, 19:51.60), Alyssa Hust (seventh, 20:01.36), Lydia Brewer (11th, 20:32.49), Leah Ray (13th, 20:46.18) and Alyssa Lee (16th, 20:51.30) all medaled for Victory Charter. Grace senior Cally Coleman ran 18:47.15 to win the 2A girls individual state championship, leading her team to the second-place trophy.
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