Mangers Wins; 36 Earn All-American Honors at National Junior Olympics in Indiana

Colorado Results Scoreboard 

On Saturday (14-Dec), 160 athletes representing 11 clubs from USATF Colorado competed at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Shelbyville, Indiana.  The competition was held at the Blue River Cross Country course, the site of numerous NCAA regional and conference championships. 

A total of 2922 athletes and 231 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 awarded championship recognition. 
 
Thirty-six (36) athletes from Colorado earned all-American honors and the Kokopelli Racing Team 11-12 boys, Boulder Mountain Warriors 13-14 girls, and Pillows.com Racing 15-18 boys each earned top-three team finishes; all earning trips to the awards podium during the post-event ceremonies.

MANGERS RACES TO NATIONAL TITLE LEADS PILLOWS.COM RACING TO TEAM PODIUM FINISH (15-16, 17-18)

In the last race of the day, Maddox Mangers (Pillows.com Racing) ran to the the national title in the 15-16 Boys race stopping the clock at 15:56. He defeated runner-up Cael Underkoffler from Arkansas by 26 seconds. Three of Mangers' Pillows.com Racing teammates also earned all-American honors leading the team to a third place team finish. Joining Manager at the awards podium were Lucas Rock (5th, 16:28), William Clark (12th, 16:47) and Jack Mcgirl (22nd, 17:19). The team scored 58 points to place fifth in the 15-18 team standings. The team title was won by HP Distance (Indiana) with 38 points. The Arkansas Track Club finished second, also with 58 points and earned the team silver medal over Pillows.com based on the placings of the two teams fifth scorers.

In the girls 15-16 race, Audrey Thiel (Pillows.com Racing) finished 12th.

In the 17-18 Boys competition, Kaden Gill (Rock Creek Track Club) and Lucian Kasperek (unattached) finished 19th and 23rd, respectively.

In the girls 17-18 race, Caroline Clark(Pillows.com Racing) finished 15th.

ROMERO AND KAYE RUN TO TOP TEN FINISHES (7-8)

Collin Romero (Peak Performance Running) ran to a second place finish in the 7-8 Boys 2 km race while in the 7-8 Girls race Abigail Kaye (Unattached) finished tenth.

In the boys race, Romero stopped the clock at 7:20; finishing just four second behind Forrest Park of Kentucky. Lucas Truini (Kokopelli Racing Team) finished 24th to join Romero in earning all-American honors and recognition at the awards ceremony. 247 runners competed in the 7-8 Boys race.

In the girls race, Kaye ran 8:22 to finish tenth with Diem Romero (Penguins XC Track Club) nine seconds back placing 16th as both earned all-American honors. 198 runners competed in the 7-8 Girls race.

TRUINI & ROMERO EACH EARN THIRD STRAIGHT ALL-AMERICAN HONOR (9-10)

In the 9-10 division, Carly Truini (Kokopelli Racing Team) and Greyson Romero (Penguins XC Track Club) each earned all-American honors for the third straight year.

At last year's championships in Kentucky Truini placed tenth in the 9-10 Girls race. This year she moved up seven places to finish third running 11:25 over the 3 km course. The race was won by Kalliah Boddie (Maryland) in a time of 11:20. In 2022 she finished ninth in the 7-8 division. Four fellow Coloradans joined her this year in earning all-American honors; Abigail Cross (Elevated Distance Training, 12th), Zoe Piala (Peak Performance Running, 16th), Emily Palmer (Kokopelli Racing Team, 18th), and Elsa Curtis (Kokopelli Racing Team, 20th).

Truini led her Kokopelli Racing Team squad to a fourth place team finish with score of 152 points. The Boulder Mountain Warriors finished 12th with 292 points. The team title was won by the West Seattle Road Runners (Washington) with 76 points.

A total of 291 runners and 18 teams competed in the 9-10 Girls race.

In the boys 9-10 race, Romero finished eighth running 10:50. The previous two years, while competing in the 7-8 division, he had finished third. Rainer Young (Boulder Mountain Warriors) and Shane Tate (Elevated Distance Training), finished 11th and 25th, respectively to also earn all-American honors. It was Young's second career all-American finish (2023, 7th 7-8 division) while Tate claimed the last all-American place by just .45 seconds. Both Romero and Young will return next year to compete in the 9-10 division.

The Elevated Distance Training team finished 16th in the team competition. 

A total of 351 runners and 29 teams competed in the 9-10 Boys race.

STEPANOV EARNS FOURTH STRAIGHT ALL-AMERICAN HONOR WHILE CAPUTO-WILKOWSKI EARNS FIRST (11-12)

Robert Stepanov (unattached) and Flora Caputo-Wilkowski (unattached) were the top Colorado finishers in the boys and girls 11-12 races, respectively,

Stepanov finished third stopping the clock at 9:44 on the 3 km course to earn his fourth straight cross country all-American honor. Stepanov who won the 9-10 titles the past two years and was second in the 7-8 division in 2021, was the top 11-year old finisher this year as the race winner (Eli Hernandez, 9:34) and runner-up (Lukas Herheimer, 9:42) are both 12 year olds who will graduate to the 13-14 division next year. Triston Stokes (Kokopelli Racing Team) and Benji Gaal (Elevated Distance Training) finished 14th and 23rd, respectively to join Stepanov on the awards podium. Stokes low stick led the Kokopelli Racing Team to a second place team finish with 181 points. The other scoring members of the team were Preston Hall (47th), Ryker Sanborn (49th), Colton Main (69th), and Tate Striegel (138th). The Boulder Mountain Warriors (7th), Elevated Distance Training (8th), and Colorado Coyotes (11th) all ran to solid team performances in a field of 37 teams. A total of 411 runners finished the race.  

In the 11-12 Girls race Caputo-Wilkowski finished fifth stopping the clock at 10:46 to earn her first career all-American finish. Avery Piala (Peak Performance Running) finished seventh running 10:55 to earn her third straight all-American honor (2023 2nd 9-10, 2022 5th 9-10). In the team competition the Colorado Coyotes (17th), Rock Creek TC (18th), and Boulder Mountain Warriors (20th) all earned top-20 finishes in the field of 27 teams. A total of 363 runners crossed the finish line.

LANGE LEADS 10 COLORADANS TO ALL-AMERICAN FINISHES (13-14)

In the 13-14 girls race Elevated Distance Training teammates Madison Lange and Mckenna Groen finished third and forth, respectively as a total of ten Coloradans earned top-25 all-American finishes and the Boulder Mountain Warriors earned trip to the awards podium.

Lange stopped the clock at 13:44 while Groen was eight seconds back. Quickly following the two across the line in fifth and seventh respectively were Sloane Groendyk (Rock Creek Track Club; 13:56) and Dylan Shaklee (Peak Performance Running; 13:59).

The other all-Americans in the 13-14 race were: Kajsa Wik (Boulder Mountain Warriors; 17th), Ella McGowan (Colorado Coyotes; 18th); Savannah Fernandez (Rock Creek Track Club; 20th), Tereza Koudelkova (Boulder Mountain Warriors, 22nd), Reagan Duncan (Kokopelli Racing Team; 24th), and Addisyn Ogg (Unattached; 25th).

Wik and Koudelkova led the Boulder Mountain Warriors to a third place team finish as they scored 211 points in the field of 37 teams. Siona Kelly (43rd), Louisa Valentine (50th), and Emery Agnew (190th) helped secure the team's podium finish. The Rock Creek Track Club (5th), Colorado Coyotes (16th), Elevated Distance Training (18th), and Kokopelli Racing Team (21st) also represented Colorado in the 13-14 Girls team results.

A total of 394 runners finished the race. 

In the 13-14 Boys race Braylon Brown (Rock Creek Track Club) was the sole all-American finisher for the Coloradans. Brown finished 20th running 13:00 over the 4 km course. The Boulder Mountain Warriors finished 19th in the team competition. A total of 421 athletes and 37 teams competed in the 13-14 boys race; making it the largest race of the day.
 

THE ALL-AMERICAN ROLL CALL

Below is the complete roll-call of 2023 All-Americans from Colorado:

7-8 GIRLS

10.     Abigail Kaye (Unattached)
16.     Diem Romero    (Penguins XC Track Club)

7-8 BOYS            

2.    Collin Romero (Peak Performance Running)
24.    Lucas Truini (Kokopelli Racing Team)

9-10 GIRLS            

3.    Carly Truini (Kokopelli Racing Team)
12.   Abigail Cross (Elevated Distance Training)
16.   Zoe Piala (Peak Performance Running)
18.   Emily Palmer (Kokopelli Racing Team)
20.   Elsa Curtis (Kokopelli Racing Team)

9-10 Boys            

8.    Greyson Romero (Penguins XC Track Club)
11.   Rainer Young (Boulder Mountain Warriors)
25.   Shane Tate (Elevated Distance Training)

11-12 Boys            

3.    Robert Stepanov (Unattached)
14.   Triston Stokes (Kokopelli Racing Team)
23.   Benji Gaal (Elevated Distance Training)

11-12 GIRLS            

5.     Flora Caputo-Wilkowski (Unattached)
7.    Avery Piala (Peak Performance Running)

13-14 BOYS            

20.    Braylon Brown (Rock Creek Track Club)

13-14 GIRLS

3.    Madison Lange (Elevated Distance Training)
4.    Mckenna Groen (Elevated Distance Training)
5.    Sloane Groendyk (Rock Creek Track Club)
7.    Dylan Shaklee (Peak Performance Running)
17.    Kajsa Wik (Boulder Mountain Warriors)
18.    Ella McGowan (Colorado Coyotes)
20.    Savannah Fernandez (Rock Creek Track Club)
22.    Tereza Koudelkova (Boulder Mountain Warriors)
24.    Reagan Duncan (Kokopelli Racing Team)
25.    Addisyn Ogg (Unattached)

15-16 BOYS    

1.     Maddox Mangers (Pillows.com Racing)
5.     Lucas Rock (Pillows.com Racing)
12.   William Clark (Pillows.com Racing)
22.   Jack Mcgirl (Pillows.com Racing)         

15-16 GIRLS

12.     Audrey Thiel (Pillows.com Racing)

17-18 BOYS

19.    Kaden Gill (Rock Creek Track Club)
23.    Lucian Kasperek    (Unattached)

17-18 GIRLS            

15.    Caroline Clark (Pillows.com Racing)

Click here for the complete Colorado Results Scoreboard