Lehi coach Chris Dorton has a pretty vivid memory of the last time Lehi’s boys cross country team won a state championship, his brother was on the team — 31 years ago.
Three decades later, it’s time for Lehi to dust off the shelves and make room for more cross country hardware.
Despite not placing a single runner in the top eight during Tuesday morning’s 6A state meet at Sugarhouse Park, Lehi had five runners place in the top 18 as it edged region foe American Fork to win its first state title since 1995.
Lehi finished with a meet-best 61 points, followed by American Fork in second with 66 points and Riverton in third with 82 points.
“It’s pretty fun to bring another one back, both as a school and personally,” said Dorton.
“It took generations. I think four out of our top seven on varsity are multi-generation Lehi runners. And so they have had brothers and sisters come through the program who’ve encouraged and inspired them to do better than their older siblings did. So it’s just so much fun to see a program build from families within that just love the sport and dedicate as a family.”
For Lone Peak’s girls, similar generational contributions helped the program win a fifth straight state championship on Tuesday — and it wasn’t even close.
Lone Peak dominated the 6A meet with a team score of 30, followed by American Fork in second with 86 and Davis in third with 123.
“I think the beauty of them is there’s seven of them, and if one has a bad day, someone else usually picks up the slack for them,” said Lone Peak coach Courtney Meldrum. “ And when they pick up the slack, it’s not like, “I got you,’ it’s like, ”I see today’s a little harder for you, so I’m gonna take this one for you today.’ Makes me teary cause I saw today three different times I saw someone take something for them.”
Lone Peak’s girls placed six runners inside the top 14, led by seniors Hailey Atwater and Maya Bybee finishing second and third and then sophomore Mae Glassford in fourth.
Paityn Rohatinsky (ninth) and Teagan Harris (12th) rounded out Lone Peak’s top five finishers. For the three seniors that scored, they graduate as four-time state champs.
“I think they understand the culture, and the culture’s not so much about winning, but creating something special for them, and I think they understand that. They truly care about one another as individuals, and I think as a byproduct you win when that is built,” said Meldrum.
While Lone Peak’s girls are in the midst of winning year after year, Lehi coach Dorton hopes Tuesday’s performance is a springboard for things to come down the road for the Pioneers.
“It’s just the mindset. Every one of these top teams in this state, the athletes are incredible, right? They have some of the most talented athletes to ever come out of Utah. It’s really just a mindset, and on the day who’s able to perform, and we’re blessed enough to be able to perform at a high level today,” said Dorton.
Only 15 seconds separated Lehi’s top five runners in the 6A meet.
Owen McMullin led the way in ninth-place, followed by Brayden Barlow in 10th, Everett Quist in 11th, Luke Shumway in 13th and Milo Amakasu in the all-important 18th spot.
Amakasu finished 19 spots ahead of the fifth runner for American Fork, which was enough to overcome the Cavemen placing three runners in the top seven.
For the second straight year, the 6A boys overall state champ hails from Herriman. A year after Jackson Spencer set a new course record at the 6A meet, his former teammate Trevin Lounsbury pulled away in the final 800 meters to win his own individual state title.
Lounsbury crossed the finish line in a time of 15:08.08, with American Fork’s David Webb in second (15:15.97) and Riverton’s Carson Stafford in third (15:17.75).
“I really wanted to win because last year Jaxon Spencer won, and I kind of wanted to do the repeat individual win,” said Lounsbury. “I really wanted to win state. I had put in so much work. Workouts where I’m puking at the end, just giving everything I had ‘cause I know I wanted to win here today.”
Just as Lounsbury pulled away in the final 800 meters to win the boys race, Farmington’s Ellie Dorius did the same for the girls.
Dorius and Bybee ran nearly side by side for the first two-plus miles, but Dorius pulled away with over 800 meters remaining and never looked back.
“I love to run my races up. I like to kind of feel people out, and then third mile, I kind of like to just start getting faster, see what they’ll let me get away with, and then 800 to go break away and see if I can get out in front of girls, and then hit that last little bit hard,” said Dorius, who missed last year’s state meet because of a stress fracture in her foot from the previous spring track and lacrosse season.
Dorius’ schedule is just as busy the rest of the school year with flag football, basketball, track and lacrosse, but she isn’t worried about overuse as she’s learned to manage her body much better.
“Our approach with nutrition has been a really big focus this year as well as recovery. I feel like my freshman year, I didn’t really prioritize that as much as I should. But I think that’s one of the most important tools after games, races, workouts, so really utilized that this year and looking forward to continuing,” said Dorius
Class 6A Girls State Championship
Team scores
- Lone Peak, 30
- American Fork, 86
- Davis, 123
- Herriman, 127
- Riverton, 171
- Lehi, 176
- Mountain Ridge, 184
- Layton, 186
- Skyridge, 265
- Weber, 278
Girls individual results
- Ellie Dorius, Farmington, Jr., 17:54.41
- Hailey Atwater, Lone Peak, Sr., 18:01.91
- Maya Bybee, Lone Peak, Sr., 18:03.79
- Mae Glassford, Lone Peak, So., 18:07.40
- Isabella Cram, Davis, Sr., 18:16.50
- Elsie Thacker, Layton, So., 18:24.44
- Ava Clawson, Herriman, Jr., 18:24.91
- Sarah Watson, American Fork, Jr., 18:37.32
- Paityn Rohatinsky, Lone Peak, Sr., 18:38.78
- Lily Clawson, Herriman, Sr., 18:39.59
- Skye Jensen, American Fork, Sr., 18:39.98
- Teagan Harris, Lone Peak, Jr., 18:53.77
- Annie Newman, Layton, Sr., 18:57.52
- Camille Shields, Lone Peak, Jr., 19:01.66
- Shay Smith, American Fork, Sr., 19:06.86
- Addy Loveland, Davis, Jr., 19:07.98
- Laney Martin, Lehi, Jr., 19:09.48
- Lyla Swain, Riverton, Jr., 19:10.60
- Cali Dooley, American Fork, So., 19:11.42
- Abigail Finley, Skyridge, So., 19:15.48
- Erin Christensen, Davis, Jr., 19:17.56
- Remy McAdams, Lehi, Sr., 19:26.47
- Savanah Haynie, Mountain Ridge, Jr., 19:29.03
- Lauren Osuna, Herriman, Fr., 19:43.17
- Aubrey Meyers, Westlake, Sr., 19:47.38
- Kaitlyn Liston, Lehi, Jr., 19:50.92
- Lucy Sayre, Mountain Ridge, So., 19:52.52
- Taylor Oman, Riverton, So., 19:56.12
- Ella Hodges, Riverton, Sr., 19:57.05
- Eliza Knechtel, Davis, Sr., 19:57.18
- McKell Jensen, Weber, Sr., 19:57.52
- Brielle Leavitt, Mountain Ridge, So., 19:58.83
- Sophie Bahr, American Fork, Sr., 20:00.49
- Rebekah Jacob, American Fork, Jr., 20:00.58
- Isabel West, Layton, Fr., 20:01.52
- Quincy Skousen, American Fork, Fr., 20:05.81
- Laney Tolman, Weber, Sr., 20:06.31
- Sydney Steadman, Herriman, Sr., 20:08.28
- Oakley Nelson, Skyridge, Fr., 20:09.04
- Kenya Curtis, Westlake, Fr., 20:09.43
- Willow Stevens, Corner Canyon, Sr., 20:09.73
- Demsey Bradshaw, Syracuse, Sr., 20:11.80
- Heidi Mills, Corner Canyon, Sr., 20:11.94
- Sophie Bush, Cedar Valley, Sr., 20:13.52
- Ellie Chambers, Syracuse, Jr., 20:14.09
- Annie Stockton, Cedar Valley, Fr., 20:15.49
- Kenzie Gubler, Riverton, Jr., 20:17.42
- Sydnee Neff, Herriman, Fr., 20:17.99
- Elizabeth Allen, Riverton, Sr., 20:19.99
- Ashlynn Anderson, Mountain Ridge, So., 20:23.63
Class 6A Boys State Championship
Team scores
- Lehi, 61
- American Fork, 66
- Riverton, 82
- Herriman, 103
- Davis, 111
- Westlake, 180
- Lone Peak, 183
- Mountain Ridge, 238
- Skyridge, 242
- Farmington, 244
Boys individual results
- Trevin Lounsbury, Herriman, Sr., 15:08.08
- David Webb, American Fork, Jr., 15:15.97
- Carson Stafford, Riverton, Jr., 15:17.75
- Harrison Skousen, Davis, Sr., 15:18.70
- Chase Hejny, American Fork, Jr., 15:21.81
- Caden Bybee, Lone Peak, Sr., 15:30.13
- Bennett Jensen, American Fork, So., 15:31.57
- Kurt Perry, Riverton, Jr., 15:32.61
- Owen McMullin, Lehi, Jr., 15:32.65
- Brayden Barlow, Lehi, Jr., 15:39.04
- Everett Quist, Lehi, Sr., 15:39.26
- Parker Harris, Layton, Jr., 15:40.75
- Luke Shumway, Lehi, Sr., 15:41.17
- Camron Johnson, Herriman, Sr., 15:43.23
- Falcon Jones, Westlake, Jr., 15:43.52
- Vinny Dalton, Herriman, So., 15:44.34
- Roy Jones, American Fork, Sr., 15:46.32
- Milo Amakasu, Lehi, Jr., 15:47.40
- Luke Baughman, Davis, Jr., 15:48.26
- Mason Curtis, Westlake, Sr., 15:49.43
- Brennan Keogh, Westlake, Sr., 15:49.67
- David Oman, Riverton, Sr., 15:49.76
- Ty Patterson, Mountain Ridge, Sr., 15:52.21
- Isaac Sharp, Riverton, Sr., 15:52.65
- Harrison Allen, Riverton, So., 15:54.77
- Jonas Clay, Davis, Sr., 15:57.96
- Jeremiah Sorensen, Herriman, Jr., 15:59.97
- Lincoln Barlow, Farmington, So., 16:00.15
- Noah Hauck, Davis, Sr., 16:04.74
- Jack Grossen, Skyridge, Sr., 16:05.21
- Erik Bryant, Weber, Sr., 16:08.81
- Boston Rindlisbacher, Riverton, Sr., 16:09.52
- Devin Black, Davis, Sr., 16:10.26
- James Booth, Weber, So., 16:10.97
- Will Thresher, American Fork, Jr., 16:11.49
- James Leininger, Lone Peak, Fr., 16:11.86
- Dax Jolley, American Fork, Jr., 16:12.89
- Adam Moody, Riverton, Jr., 16:14.11
- Trey Nielsen, American Fork, Sr., 16:17.93
- James Rasmussen, Lone Peak, Sr., 16:18.52
- Zane Taylor, Skyridge, Jr., 16:21.56
- Malachi Peterson, Farmington, Sr., 16:21.90
- Noah Knight, Mountain Ridge, So., 16:23.81
- Maxwell Posey, Lone Peak, Jr., 16:24.55
- Owen Vorkink, Herriman, So., 16:26.06
- Jacob DeHaan, Herriman, Jr., 16:26.81
- Landon Carter, Skyridge, Jr., 16:28.55
- Luke Noall, Cedar Valley, Sr., 16:30.07
- James Hatt, Syracuse, Jr., 16:30.27
- Jordan Greensides, Herriman, Sr., 16:33.15