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Southwest Region Girls Early Season Rankings 2023Published by
Impact transfers, deep veteran lineups and promising freshmen make the strongest region in the country even more formidable this year, with multiple teams capable of contending for podium finishes and a national title in Oregon By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor Girls NXR Southwest Preview The Southwest Region has been the deepest and most daunting grouping in the country during the past decade, and despite a two-year absence of Nike Cross Nationals as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, nothing changed when the event returned last year to Glendoveer Golf Course in Oregon. After the Southwest produced three girls teams placing in the top eight in 2019 in Portland, the region represented in impressive fashion again last year at NXN with a trio of programs finishing in the top seven, highlighted by Niwot High from Colorado taking runner-up overall. There is strong potential this fall that the Southwest could support its two automatic entries competing Dec. 2 at Glendoveer, with a pair of at-large qualifiers as well following the regional meet Nov. 19 in Arizona. Not only are Niwot and Air Academy looking to represent Colorado again at NXN, but Mountain Vista is highly motivated to return to Portland following three consecutive trips from 2016-18. Lone Peak has been the elite program in Utah for the past five years, producing fourth-place finishes at NXN in 2019 and last season, and is seeking its first podium finish in Portland. But the Knights must first focus on prevailing in the Utah 6A final against American Fork, which could have both teams qualify to race in December in Oregon. Highland High from Arizona captured the Division 1 state title last year and is looking to ascend to a national qualifier with a strong performance on home soil at the regional meet. Desert Vista was the last Arizona program to advance to NXN in 2016. New Mexico hasn’t had a girls program qualify since Eldorado at Nike Team Nationals in 2006, with Nevada still seeking its first team entry to race in Oregon. As strong as the Southwest teams were last year at NXN, the individual performances were exceptional as well. Seven athletes from the region earned All-America honors, with an eighth competitor – Colorado 4A state champion Ella Hagen from Summit High – finishing in the top 25. Bethany Michalak from Air Academy, who took third, returns along with Andie Aagard of Lone Peak, Avalon Mecham from American Fork, Addison Ritzenhein of Niwot and Isabel Allori from Liberty Common, the Colorado 3A state champion. Even with the potential for several elite returning athletes in the region to qualify as part of teams advancing to NXN, Allori and Hagen are leading contenders to secure individual berths along with Colorado 2A state champion Nadhia Campos from Vanguard School. Jane Hedengren from Timpview High, Julie Moore of Mountain View High and Cadence Kasprick from Grand County High are all potential individual qualifiers in Utah, as well as Eleanor Raker of Galena High and Amaya Aramini from Bishop Manogue High in Nevada, plus Landen LeBlond from Millennium in Arizona. 1. Niwot CO. With an impressive streak of five consecutive 4A state titles and three straight top-five performances at NXN – including back-to-back podium finishes in 2019 and last year – the most ambitious goal of all remains for the Cougars, who have the potential to become the first Colorado program, regardless of gender, to capture a national championship in December. But in order to qualify to compete in Portland, the reigning regional champion must once again survive a loaded Southwest field in Arizona. Niwot has the veteran experience of seniors Mia Prok, Olivia Alessandrini, Sarah Perkins, Cayden Justice, Viola Alessandrini and Kendall Madine, along with an exceptional group of sophomores, led by Addison Ritzenhein, Anna Prok and Avalon Beltran. The Cougars are again scheduled to compete Sept. 30 in Arizona at the Desert Twilight Festival, the first significant opportunity to showcase to the rest of the country what the group’s national potential could look like. Few teams nationally perform better in the postseason than Niwot, which is prepared to take on all challengers from its state and beyond.
2. Lone Peak UT. With no potential mountain biking conflicts on the horizon during the fall, returning regional champion Andie Aagard has reunited with her Lone Peak teammates to compete in cross country during her senior year after not running track for the Knights this past spring. Aagard’s presence, along with the arrival of junior Ava McMurtrey – a transfer from Pleasant Grove – and the addition of freshman Maya Bybee gives this Lone Peak lineup the potential to be even more formidable than last year’s group that captured the 6A state championship, placed second at the regional meet and fourth at NXN. Boston Bybee, a junior, is one of the most underrated competitors in the country and provides strong support for the Knights, who will again rely on exceptional leadership from senior Addie Meldrum to provide support for a young lineup that includes sophomores Anna Bybee, Brielle Nilsson and Zoey Nilsson. Utah is also a state still seeking its first Nike Team Nationals or NXN championship, and the strength is there in both genders this year to achieve the feat in Oregon.
3. Mountain Vista CO. While 5A programs Arapahoe, Cherry Creek and Valor Christian have all reached new levels of success during the past five years in Colorado, one of the programs with the most impressive traditions in the state is ready to return to prominence at NXN this season following a fourth-place regional performance and a victory at the RunningLane Championships in Alabama last year. With the arrival of two of the biggest impact transfers in the country in sophomore Keeghan Edwards from Valor Christian and junior Juliet Frum of Glenbrook North High in Illinois, who took third last year at the RunningLane Championships in Alabama, joining an already experienced roster, the Golden Eagles are once again in search of gold at the state and regional levels, along with a trip to Portland for the first time since 2018. The junior trio of Peyton Adams, Zoe Brandt and Gabriela Boeckman provide significant depth for Mountain Vista, with sophomore Carly Christians and seniors Marin Smith and Jessica Derickson also expected to contribute for the Golden Eagles, who look to improve on a runner-up 5A finish last year in pursuit of their third state championship in program history.
4. Air Academy CO. The reigning 5A state champions possess as much upside as any lineup in the country, and the Kadets will look to continue to thrive again in the underdog role, just like they did last season to upstage several veteran teams to capture the program’s first title at Norris Penrose Events Center since emerging victorious in 4A in 2015. Bethany Michalak, who took third last year at NXN, has the most significant potential of any team scorer in the nation, and her postseason performances could be even more meaningful this season for Air Academy, which has all seven athletes from last year’s lineup in Portland returning to compete this fall. Tessa Walter, Emily Beers and Olivia Chura are juniors with valuable experience in support of Michalak and fellow senior Sofia Kunstle. Jordan Banta and Lauren Myers, both sophomores, demonstrated impressive maturity racing such a challenging schedule last season and will again be key postseason contributors for the Kadets.
5. American Fork UT. The good news for American Fork is that it has the opportunity to race against Lone Peak in order to challenge itself in preparation for not only the 6A state final, but also the regional meet in Arizona. The bad news is that the recent success of Lone Peak, along with the annual depth in Colorado, has resulted in American Fork not being able to advance to NXN since 2015, despite consistently being a top 20 national program. The most teams any region can send to compete in Portland is four, a challenge that American Fork must overcome with four Southwest teams among the top 10 in the country early this fall. Avalon Mecham, Alyssa Kleinman and Natalia Boltz will look to help American Fork contend for a 6A state championship and improve on its fifth-place finish from last year’s regional. The presence of freshman Skye Jensen in the lineup provides additional depth for American Fork, which is also expecting significant contributions from sophomore Sophie Steiger and junior Haley Whitford.
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