COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Thousands of runners aged 7-18 toed the line at the Watts Cross Country Course on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station for a shot at a USATF title. On a drizzly, 70-degree day, a dozen athletes left the Dale Watts Cross Country Course as USATF champions.
Abigail Riley (VO2Max TC) took a big early lead in the day's first race, the girls' 2km, going past 1km in 3:31.6 to establish a seven-second margin. She extended that lead over the final kilometer to win in 7:09.7, with Mackenzie York (Pacific Coast Shock Waves) taking the runner-up spot in 7:33.8 and Riley's teammate, Ari Pennicooke (VO2Max TC) completing the podium in third at 7:35.8. The California Comets won the tiebreaker for the team title, edging the West Seattle Road Runners by virtue of a better fifth runner as both squads tallied 67 points. Passing the halfway mark of the boy's 2km race in 3:21.3, Deshawn Turner (Unattached) had a two-second lead over Greyson Romero (Penguins XC), with William Griffin (Mt. Pleasant TC) four seconds behind that duo. The three stayed in that order heading into the finish straight, and Turner used a smooth kick to win by almost 13 seconds in 6:50.8. Griffin sprinted past Romero in the final 50 meters and placed second in 7:03.5, with Romero third in 7:04.1. Mount Diablo Heat came away with the team trophy, scoring 72 points to top the California Comets by four.
Leading a very large pack through the first split in the girls' 3km race, Avery Piala (Peak Performance) hit .7km in 2:11.5 with 20 other runners at 2:17 or better. Over the next kilometer, Aliyah Yorek (Body In Training) eased into the lead and passed 2.1km in 7:31.8, a stride ahead of Piala, with Isla Rahmer (Albuquerque Athletics) in third. Piala retook the lead as the runners made the turn into the long finishing stretch, but Martina Rodriguez-Villen (Rain City Flyers) grabbed the front spot with less than 300m remaining and was in position to win before Rahmer sprinted past her in sight of the finish line and won in 11:17.3, just a half-second ahead of Rodriguez-Villen. Aria Boschen (Westchester Striders) closed well to nab third place in 11:20.9. North Idaho Distance Project won a tight team battle, scoring 149 points to win by four over Mount Pleasant TC. Robert Stepanov (Unattached) and Eli Hernandez (Mt Diablo Heat) paced the boys' 3km race through .7km in 2:05.3. Those two opened up a huge gap by the 2.1km split, which they hit at 6:48.6 shoulder-to-shoulder. Facing a lengthy straight to the finish, Stepanov gained an advantage and put five seconds on Hernandez on the way to a 10:12.1 victory. Hernandez crossed the line in 10:17.4, and Mark Batres (Claremont Running Team) was third in 10:39.5. Team honors went to Whittier Warriors with 66 points.
Giuliana Martino (Unattached) and Elin Latta (CC XC A) were at the front of a group of five runners through the .7km mark in the 3km race, and then four of those athletes moved away by 2.1 km, led by Martino in 7:03.7. Through the final half-kilometer, Gianna Rahmer (Albuquerque Athletics) turned on the jets and established a commanding lead, going on to win in 10:25. Latta was second in 10:37.7, .1 in front of Ava Padilla (California Grizzlies). Latta led her CC XC squad to the team trophy with 84 points. Karanveer Patil (Palatine Pack) sped away from a very large start group in the boys' 3km race and had a three-second lead by .7km in 1:48.6. Patil widened the gap to 12 seconds through 2.1km in 6:15.4 and by that point he was out of sight of the chase pack. Following the lead vehicle into the finish chute, Patil never slowed and won in 9:24.1, 15 seconds up on Elias Thronson (Delta Hawks) and Quinn Walter (Kokopelli Kids), who was third in 9:42. Finishing 20th overall was Jude Ritzenhein (Boulder Mountain Warriors), son of three-time U.S. Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein. Walter's podium finish helped the Kokopelli Kids to the team trophy with 98 points.
As the race distance increased to 4km, Sophia Rodriguez (Trojan Track) made a bold move early in the race and put herself 20m ahead of the rest of the field and went past 1.7km in 5:57. She was ahead of Adia Favero (Wolfpack RC Utah) by almost seven seconds, and Riona Street (Gulf United) was four more seconds adrift. Coming into the final kilometer, Rodriguez had put herself in an almost unassailable lead and went through 3.2km in 10:41, 16 seconds in front of Favero. Down the final corridor, Rodriguez finished off a gun-to-finish effort by stopping the clock in 14:03. Favero claimed the runner-up spot in 14:26.6 to lift her team to victory, and Reese Holley (San Diego Waves) outleaned Street to take third in 14:28.9. Wolfpack RC Utah won with 82 points. Reeling in Adrian Rule (CC XC) after he went to a 15m early lead, Oliver Horton (Kokopelli Kids) took the lead at the 1.7km mark in 5:20.4 and Alexander Krieg (Palatine Pack) was right behind that pair. Horton built on his lead with each stride and was well clear of any challengers as he passed 3.2km in 9:40.3. Krieg was 13 seconds behind Horton with a half mile remaining, and Rule was less than a second back of Krieg. Horton won in 12:37.9, 20.4 seconds ahead of Krieg, while Rule held on for third in 13:07.2. North Idaho Distance Project picked up a second team title on the day, scoring 91 points.
Madison Michele-Peters (Gulf United) and Rose Coats (Prospect Park) waged a see-saw battle over the first 1km of the 17-18 5km race as a pack of five broke away from the rest of the field, but by the 2km mark it was Michele-Peters who had set herself up in a strong lead position. There was a margin of almost seven seconds between the top two runners and another six to the trailing trio. Michele-Peters, who was sixth in the 3,200m in the Texas High School 6A state track meet in May for Pearland (Texas) High School, passed 4.1km in 14:21.6, 16 seconds ahead of Coats, who was fifth in this event last year. Winning in 17:49.5, Michele-Peters was more than 15 seconds in front of runner-up Coats, with Abigail Beville (New England Elite) third in 18:18.7. Micaela Villareal (San Antonio Swift) was first across the line in the 15-16 division, clocking 18:32.8, while Taryn Janssen (NX Level Athletx) took second in 19:31.4. Avery Brawner (Unattached) placed third in 19:35. Trying to break away around the four minute mark of the final race of the day, Pablo Lesarri (Unattached) had a lead of about 20 meters and then had that chopped dramatically by Israel Pena (CC XC) at the 2km point, going through in 5:53.5. Pena made a strong move to take over the lead duties and he used that move to put five seconds on the chasing group. Pena continued to lead through 4.1km in 12:46.8 ahead of a steadily closing Nate Boutin (Prospect Park). Logan Scott (LV Speed) made a spirited challenge in the final 100m but couldn't catch Pena, who won in 15:48.2, with Scott second in 15:50.3, and Boutin third in 15:53.5. Full meet results can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATFFutureStars.