Horton, Stepanov, Kokopelli Kids Win National Titles at Junior Olympic Finals in Texas

Results 

On Saturday (10-Dec), 169 athletes representing 10 clubs from the Colorado association competed at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in College Station, Texas.  The event was held on the Texas A&M University Dale Watts Cross Country Course. A total of 2828 athletes and 226 teams from across the country competed in the championships.

Races were contested in 6 age divisions (8 & under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18) for boys and girls.  The top 25 finishers in each age division earned all-American status and the top 3 teams were presented with championship recognition. 
 
A total of 22 athletes from the Colorado association earned all-American honors with two winning national titles.  Four (4) Colorado teams earned  top-three team finishes with one winning a national title.

Colorado clubs that fielded complete scoring teams were: Kokopelli Kids (6 teams), Colorado Coyotes (3 teams), Boulder Mountain Warriors (2 teams), and Bruins Fitness Club (2 teams) .

The storylines of the day for the Colorado athletes were the individual national titles won by Oliver Horton (Kokopelli Kids) in the 13-14 Boys division and Robert Stepanov (unattached) in the 9-10 Boys division and the team title won by the Kokopelli Kids in the 11-12 Boys race.

HORTON'S PATIENCE PAYS OFF

In the 13-14 boys race Oliver Horton patiently let Adrian Rule of Texas take an early lead but at 1500m he caught Rule and immediately began to open up a gap that continued to grow throughout the remainder of the race.  At 3200m Horton was 13 second clear of Rule and eventual runner-up Alexander Krieg of Illinois. Over the final 800m he would add more of a gap as he crossed the line in 12:38 with Krieg 21 seconds back. Rule finished third in 13:08. Finishing eighth was Grant Koontz (Unattached) of Fort Collins in 13:19 while Horton's Kokopelli Kids teammate Benjamin Olds finished 13th running 13:31.  Horton and Olds led their team to a second place team finish as they scored 169 points.  The other scoring members of the team were Nicolas East (97th), Braxton Oliver (98th), and David Kent (106th). The Colorado Coyotes scored 226 points to finish fourth in the team standings. The team title was won by the North Idaho Distance Project with 91 points.

STEPANOV STEPS TO VICTORY

At last year's championships in Kentucky, Robert Stepanov (unattached) of Colorado Springs finished second in the 7-8 division. This year he moved up to the 9-10 division and despite being at the "bottom" of the division also moved up on the awards podium as he captured the national title. Competing on the 3 km course Stepanov and Eli Hernandez from California separated themselves early from the rest of the pack as they hit the 700m mark in 2:06. With 900m to go the two were over 20 seconds clear of the field and locked in a back-and-forth battle. As the two approached the soft right turn leading to the final 600m straight-away Stepanov made a strong move that Hernandez was unable to respond to.  His lead would gradually grow as he crossed the line in 10:13 with Hernandez six seconds behind. Brigham Pontious (Kokopelli Kids) joined Stepanov on the victory podium as an all-American with his 17th place finish.  Pontious's strong finish led his Kokopelli Kids team to the runner-up finish in the team standings. They scored 100 points as the Whittier Warriors from California won with 66 points. In addition to Pontious the scoring members for the Kokopelli Kids were Micah Chelanga (41st), Triston Stokes (49th), Preston Hall (62nd), Colton Main (68th). The Colorado Coyotes finished 6th with 224 points.

IN THEIR WORDS - Robert Stepanov 

After finishing 2nd last year in the 7-8 division, I trained hard all year dreaming I can do well in this year's race. The competition was tough, I gave my all and didn't even think I can run this fast. I was very tired after the end of the race but happy that I won. It was an incredible experience with so many supportive runners, spectators, and volunteers that organized this amazing competition.

THE KIDS ARE CHAMPIONS

Led by the all-American finishes by Quinn Walter (3rd), Tegegn Hall (21st), and Ethan Kiptui (24th) the Kokopelli Kids 11-12 Boys won the national title scoring 98 points. They defeated the Bowerman Track Club (Oregon) by 54 points. They dynamic trio were backed up by Phillip Pontious (59th) and Benjamin Wolff (93rd) as the scoring members for the squad. Walter ran 9:42 in nabbing his third place finish.  The Boulder Mountain Warriors finished 15th in the team scoring.  They were led by the all-American finish of  Jude Ritzenhein in 20th place as he stopped the clock at 10:08. Finishing 13th and also earning all-American honors was Caden Muller (Colorado Coyotes) in a time of 10:01. 

CAN YOU SAY "TOP-TEN"

Five other Coloradans ran to top-10 finishes on the day.

In the 7-8 Boys division, Greyson Romero (Penguins XC & Track Club) finished third running 7:05 over the 2 km course. 

In the 7-8 Girls race, Carly Truini (Kokopelli Kids) finished ninth running 7:36.  

In the 9-10 Girls division, Avery Piala (Peak Performance Running) finished fifth running 11:22 on the 3 km course.

In the 11-12 Girls division, Avery Koger (Boulder Mountain Warriors) finished 10th running 10:54 with Zia Fadil (unattached) just one second back in 11th place.

In the 13-14 Girls division, Chamorra Cooper (Kokopelli Kids) finished fifth running 14:42 over 4 km.

HOW ABOUT THOSE WARRIORS ON THE MOUNTAIN?

In addition to the podium finishes by the Kokopelli Kids mentioned above, Colorado was represented at the team awards ceremony by the Boulder Mountain Warriors as they finished third in the 11-12 Girls competition scoring 165 points.  A total of 27 teams scored in the division. The team scorers were Avery Koger (10th), Kajsa Wik (26th), Siona Kelly (63th), Lucy Friend (72nd), and Tereza Koudelkova (150th). The Kokopelli Kids team finished seventh scoring 209 points.

THE ALL-AMERICAN ROLL CALL

Below is the complete roll-call of 2022 All-Americans from Colorado:

7-8 Boys            

3. Greyson Romero (Penguins XC & Track Club)
23. Shane Tate (Unattached)

7-8 Girls            

9. Carly Truini (Kokopelli Kids)
12. Zoe Piala (Peak Performance Running)

9-10 Boys            

1. Robert Stepanov (Unattached)
17. Brigham Pontious (Kokopelli Kids)

9-10 Girls            

5. Avery Piala (Peak Performance Running)
23. Lyla Vincent (Boulder Mountain Warriors)

11-12 Boys            

3. Quinn Walter (Kokopelli Kids)
13. Caden Muller (Colorado Coyotes)
20. Jude Ritzenhein (Boulder Mountain Warriors)
21. Tegegn Hall (Kokopelli Kids)
24. Ethan Kiptui (Kokopelli Kids)

11-12 Girls            

10. Avery Koger (Boulder Mountain Warriors)
11. Zia Fadil (Unattached)
16. Addison Michalak (Kokopelli Kids)

13-14 Boys            

1. Oliver Horton (Kokopelli Kids)
8. Grant Koontz (Unattached)
13. Benjamin Olds (Kokopelli Kids)

13-14 Girls            

5. Chamorra Cooper (Kokopelli Kids)
17. Mariah Hook (Kokopelli Kids)
20. Raegan McRae (Kokopelli Kids)

The complete Colorado results scoreboard can be found here.

Next year's championship will be held in Louisville, Kentucky on December 9.