CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA | Grandview senior Brie Oakley won yet another cross country championship on Saturday, this one at the Nike Southwest Regional.
The recently crowned Class 5A state champion topped a field of runners from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada at the Grand Sports Academy, finishing with a meet-record time of 16 minutes, 56 seconds.
Running with her Grandview teammates as the Colorado Flyers, Oakley — the top-ranked girls prep runner in the country by Dyestat and the Saucony Flo 50 — crossed the finish line with a 17-second cushion over runner-up Allie Schadler, a four-time Arizona state cross country champion at Rio Rico High School. In third place was Fort Collins’ Lauren Gregory, who was the 5A runner-up behind Oakley.
Oakley also earned her way into the Nike Cross Nationals on Dec. 3 in Portland, Oregon, which includes individuals and teams from eight regional meets across the country. Oakley finished 26th at last season’s Nike Cross National race, which was won by another Coloradan, former Air Academy star Katie Rainsberger.
Grandview junior Caroline Robbins — an all-state performer in the 5A state race — finished 46th in the regional in a time of 19:04, followed by Kaitlyn Mercer (99th), Peyton Dailey (140th), Erin Ellington (156th), Denika Hallin (163rd) and Anna Swanson (172nd).
In the boys large school open race, Eaglecrest teammates Mason Brown and George Rykovich had outstanding finishes as Brown finished second in a 537-runner field with a time of 16:08 and Rykovich’s 16:43 put him 23rd.
Closely behind Brown came Smoky Hill senior Jemil Kassahun, who turned in a time of 16:15 for fourth.
Cole McPherson came in 118th, Brent Montoya 329th, Kaden Muckey 361st and Skylar Bachica 384th to round out the Smoky Hill athletes in the race.
Cherokee Trail’s Rylan Wallace, running unattached but accompanying the Smoky Hill team on the trip, finished 192nd in the boys championship race.
Regis Jesuit’s Christopher Long competed in the boys small school open race and finished 59th.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
