PORTLAND, OREGON, December 07—Incessant rain, treacherous mud and fierce competition made for an unforgettable Nike Cross Nationals on Portland’s Glendoveer Golf Course, with temps in the low-40s and wind and rain blowing. The boys, running first, experienced better course conditions than the girls, but that wasn’t apparent to spectators who saw multiple racers slipping and falling on the slick corners.
Nico Young, the senior from SoCal’s Newbury Park who led the nation’s 8-lappers last spring with his 8:43.02+, zipped into the lead from the start. By the first kilometer he had already built a 15m lead. Chasing hard were Josh Methner (Hersey, Arlington Heights, Illinois) and Ryan Schoppe (La Porte, Texas), who themselves broke away from the main pack. Young hit the mile in 4:38.3 to Methner’s 4:41.0 and his margin continued to widen. Methner slipped away from Schoppe at about halfway and ran alone in his pursuit, but still fell farther back. Young, running tall with arms flailing, passed 2M in 9:29.7. Methner (9:37.6) held tough.
Yet no one could threaten Young, who came down the final stretch with a 90m lead, crossing the line in a course record 14:52.3. Methner held on well for 2nd in 15:06.1. Caleb Brown (Shelby, Ohio) finished fast to take 3rd in 15:08.3 ahead of California’s Matt Strangio (Jesuit, Carmichael) in 15:08.8.
Young, 4th here as a junior, revealed later that he hadn’t exactly planned to go it alone from the front: “The plan was just to feel the race out and go from there. I didn’t really expect to take the lead but I just got a good start, I guess.”
He had the added joy of being on the team winners as well. His Newberry Park squad moved hard in the second mile to go from 14 points down at the 1M mark into the lead. At the finish, they scored 128, a mere 4 ahead of powerhouse rival Great Oak (Temecula, California). In 3rd with 142 points was Corner Canyon High (Draper, Utah).
Said coach Sean Brosnan, “Hats off to Temecula Great Oaks. Those guys, they pushed us all season. It honestly could have gone either way. It was a little bit of luck today. Its so unbelievable to see this happen. Nico is the type of guy who would give up that individual title for the team. It feels so great as their coach.”
NXN BOYS RESULTS
Teams
1. Newbury Park 128; 2. Temecula 132; 3. Draper 142; 4. St. Charles 163; 5. Crozet 213; 6. Rhode Island 226; 7. Littleton 236; 8. Dana Point 247; 9. Wheaton South 253; 10. Purcellville 255; 11. Manlius 274; 12. Elmhurst 275; 13. Denver 284; 14. Carroll 285; 15. The Woodlands 316; 16. Lincroft 327; 17. Portland 386; 18. Burnt Hills 407; 19. Mounds View 415; 20. West Kennewick 434; 21. Stevens Point 491; 22. Eastwood 581.
Individuals (5000m)
1. Nico Young (Newbury Park) 14:52.3 (course record—old cr 14:57.6 Liam Anderson [California-1] ’18);
2. Josh Methner (Midwest) 15:06.1; 3. Caleb Brown (Midwest) 15:08.3; 4. Matt Strangio (California) 15:08.8; 5. Connor Ohlson (Littleton) 15:09.0; 6. Evan Holland (Northwest) 15:09.6; 7. Cole Sprout (Southwest) 15:10.1; 8. Liam Murphy (Northeast) 15:12.0; 9. Carson Belnap (Southwest) 15:13.4; 10. Wil Smith (Northwest) 15:15.9;
11. Nathan Green (Northwest) 15:17.4; 12. Anthony Monte (South) 15:17.8; 13. Tristian Merchant (Northwest) 15:19.5; 14. Dylan Schubert (Southwest) 15:20.0; 15. Ryan Schoppe (South) 15:20.1; 16. Sam Lawler (New York) 15:21.1; 17. Jack Spamer (Midwest) 15:23.1; 18. Jace Aschbrenner (Newbury Park) 15:29.1; 19. Bob Liking (St Charles) 15:29.8; 20. Cruz Culpepper (Southwest) 15:30.8;
21. Anthony Grover (California) 15:32.9; 22. Carlos Shultz (Purcellville) 15:33.0; 23. Isaiah Galindo (California) 15:33.7; 24. Kevin Antczak (Northeast) 15:34.8; 25. Michael Mireles (California) 15:36.6; 26. Judson Greer (South) 15:37.0; 27. William Hauenstein (Wheaton South) 15:37.0; 28. Graham Blanks (Southeast) 15:37.3; 29. Jackson Braddock (Northeast) 15:37.7; 30. Sam Otis (Manlius) 15:38.2;
31. Nicholas Scheller (Heartland) 15:38.4; 32. Spencer Cardinal (Woodlands) 15:39.3; 33. Evan Bishop (Midwest) 15:40.2; 34. Lisandr Berry-Gaviria (Northeast) 15:40.7; 35. Jack McLoughlin (Rhode Island) 15:41.0; 36. Abraha Avila-Martinez (South) 15:41.6; 37. Colton Kempney (New York) 15:41.9; 38. Easton Allred (Draper) 15:42.0; 39. Brendan Favazza (Midwest) 15:43.4; 40. Isaac Teeples (West Kennewick) 15:44.5;
41. Joe Hawkes (Crozet) 15:45.5; 42. Peyton Geehrer (Manlius) 15:45.6; 43. Carrick Denker (Dana Point) 15:45.8; 44. Jack Jennings (Northeast) 15:46.2; 45. Mark Boyle (Draper) 15:46.7; 46. Yasin Sado (Southwest) 15:47.6; 47. Sully Shelton (Southeast) 15:49.4; 48. Michael Hancock (Midwest) 15:50.5; 49. Colin Hill (Elmhurst) 15:50.6; 50. Evan Reynolds (Northeast) 15:50.8. (203 finished)
