The annual Nike Cross Southwest Regionals cross-country race in Arizona has long been considered to be a race where runners from high elevations can come and set a new fast, personal best time on a 5-kilometer cross-country course.

Whether the race is hosted in Casa Grande or Mesa, it usually consists of several oblong loops on short, manicured grass — similar to running the race on a mostly flat track.

Although Nike Cross Southwest Regionals has received the reputation for being a fast course over the years, the reality is that race-day conditions can still play a huge role in terms of how fast — or not — the course will ultimately be.

As high school teams from the Southwest region shook out their legs at Mesa’s Coyote Run Golf Course, coaches like Summit High School’s Mike Hagen quickly realized this year’s race was not going to guarantee personal bests for his athletes.

With rain falling for the majority of the night prior to the race on Saturday, Nov. 18, Hagen and other coaches advised their athletes that the course was going to be a challenge, but a personal best time was not out of reach if they chose to compete with the other talented athletes around them.

Summit High School junior Ella Hagen knows a thing or two about competing with those around her, finishing runner-up at last month’s state championship meet behind Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein’s daughter, Addison.

Hagen and Ritzenhein toed the line in the girls championship race once again, eager to bring the best out of one another alongside Colorado’s Bethany Michalak of Air Academy High School and Isabel Allori of Fort Collins’ Liberty Common High School.

From the gun, the Colorado harriers were at the front of the pack, wanting to qualify for the Nike Cross National meet in Portland by either being one of the top two teams or one of the top five individuals.

With the course starting to form mud puddles from races earlier in the day, Air Academy’s Tessa Walter led the field through the first mile of the race in a time of 5 minutes, 32.13 seconds. Hagen followed quickly in second, with Ritzenhein in third. 

Over the second mile, Ritzenhein — with help from the rest of the main pack of runners — spread out the field and created two distinct packs at the front of the race. Ritzenhein moved up two places between the mile and two mile mark, clocking a time of 11:05.63 with Hagen biding her time in fifth in 11:05.78.

As Hagen and the front pack neared a mile to go, the race began to pick up pace, with the racers navigating the soggy course. With around a quarter mile to go, current Albuquerque eighth grader Gianna Rahmer broke to the front of the race and started pumping her arms to the finish line.

Allori and Michalak followed, but despite being four years younger, Rahmer was able to hold off the attack in order to cross the finish line as the champion of the Southwest region in a time of 17:00.58.

Allori placed second (17:01.69) while Ritzenhein passed Michalak for third in a time of 17:03.86. Kicking hard through the finish line, Hagen placed a few seconds behind Michalak in a time of 17:16.02. 

Hagen improved two places from last year’s race and firmly secured her spot at the Nike Cross National meet in Portland on Dec. 2 — which also tends to be rainy and soggy. Although the time was not under Hagen’s school record time of 16:45, the time was still considerably fast for the course conditions.

“I think it showed the advances we have made over the years,” Hagen said. “Between that, and the team making it into the championship race, it was a really fun experience. The mud made it different than anything else. Got to race in a true cross-country race and perform high.”

Not to be overshadowed by Hagen’s national-qualifying performance, University of Florida signee Lindsey Kiehl also had a standout day racing in the Arizona mud. Kiehl raced steadily throughout the race, going through the mile in 42nd place before hanging onto 45th at the finish line in a time of 18:26.60 — a second off her personal best time.

Kiehl was followed by junior Avery Eytel in 142nd (19:46.84), freshman Lily Benbow in 183rd (20:37.31) freshman Ashley Adkins in 199th (21:09.75) and junior Cecelia Miner in 213th (21:45.20). 

The Summit girls team competed well against some of the best teams in the nation. Running under the Summit Distance Project club name the team finished in 18th place out of 27 teams with 442 points.

In the boys championship race, two Summit athletes raced: freshman Jay McDonald and junior Josh Shriver. McDonald and Shriver both went through the first mile in 4:50.58 and 4:51.02, respectively.

The fast pace through the first mile eventually led to the majority of the field dropping back over the second mile, including McDonald and Shriver. Shriver led McDonald through the 2-mile mark in a time of 9:57.94 with McDonald following nearly three seconds later in 10:00.16. 

McDonald eventually passed Shriver over the final mile to finish as the second freshman across the finish line in 15:47.81, good enough for 77th place. Shriver placed 79th (15:48.62). Like the girls, McDonald and Shriver both ran slower than their personal best times, but competed well against what is arguably the most stacked region in the country. 

The boys championship race was won by Daniel Simmons from American Fork High School in Utah (14:41.13). The Summit boys did not race enough athletes to score as a team in the championship race.

Several Summit County boys and girls also raced in the medium school races.

Sophomore Carter Niemkiewicz led the Summit boys in the boys race, placing 46th (17:14.46). Freshman Owen Fallon placed 76th in a new personal best time (17:47.77), sophomore Cain Steinweg placed 87th (18:06.53), freshman John McDonald finished in 102nd (18:21.79), sophomore Gavin Benedict finished in 117th (18:37.42) and freshman Max Klein placed 141st in a huge personal best time (19:32.94). 

Summit placed 12th out of 16 teams in the boys medium school II race with 290 points.

Sophomore Darby Leffler placed 83rd in the girls medium school II race (21:47.43), senior Cora Jackson placed 97th (22:21.60) and sophomore Lila Ellison finished in 121st (23:55.27). Leffler set a personal best time of nearly 30 seconds while Jackson knocked 93 seconds off her previous best time.

Hagen will now spend Thanksgiving break preparing for her second Nike Cross National meet, which will take place on Dec. 2. at the Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon. Hagen will look to improve upon her 25th-place finish at last year’s meet.

“Portland in the past I know has been very muddy,” Hagen said. “Last year, it was a little bit, but not crazy. I think between the mud (at regionals) and it just being a golf course race with harder competition, prepares you really well for the course and the challenges of nationals.”

To watch the livestream of the race, visit RunnerSpace.com.

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