Niwot’s Ritzenhein wins Nike Cross Nationals
Niwot cross country can’t stop turning heads. Not on the Colorado scale, and not even on the national scale.
Over the weekend, sophomore Addy Ritzenhein followed in her father, Dathan’s footsteps when she won the Nike Cross Nationals — held in Portland, Ore. — with a time of 17 minutes, 10.4 seconds.
Her first national title marked the next chapter of the Ritzenhein running royalty, after Dathan, an Olympian, once held the American record for a 5,000-meter race. Another Colorado girls team, Air Academy, edged out the Cougars for the team crown, as the Kadets netted 61 points to Niwot’s 72. Mountain Vista capped off the Colorado dominance as it paced its way to third, giving the state a 1-2-3 team finish in one of the nation’s most competitive races.
Niwot head coach Kelly Christensen noted that while the team wasn’t completely healthy, with several girls running through illness, he took pride in their collective and individual accomplishments.
“The plan wasn’t for Addy to win,” Christensen said. “We had a very teamfocused approach and made sure that’s all she wanted to do, too. That’s what we focused on, so to see her in the last 1,000 meters, all of a sudden in first place, I think it brought tears to everyone that was watching and tears of excitement. Knowing how strong she can close races, I think we knew with 1,000 meters to go that she wasn’t going to get caught by the girl in second place. We were completely surprised and beyond proud of the team.”
He added: “Colorado is where you want to be if you’re a female distance runner.”
The ladies, however, weren’t the only Niwot squad to make a splash — quite literally.
The boys team likewise braved the water-logged conditions and, despite a tough battle in their race, vaulted all the way up to fifth place. Sophomore Rocco Culpepper and freshman Quinn Sullivan completed a one-two punch as they crossed the finish line in 38th and 39th, respectively, with times of 15:45.3 and 15:46.3.
Christensen believed the boys team that Niwot fielded may have been the youngest ever at NXN, as a sophomore, freshman, sophomore, sophomore, junior, sophomore, junior finished in succession. They achieved the exact goal they had set out for.
“They were just having fun,” Christensen said. “It just looked like a bunch of kids that were out playing in the mud. They fought pretty hard, and that was probably the most joy I’ve ever had watching a boys race in my life. They’re about a foot shorter than most of the other boys they were running against and passing.”