American Fork's Patrick Parker and Casey Clinger on the awards stand at 2015 NXN. Clinger won the individual title and American Fork took runner-up honors in the team standings.
American Fork Wins, Casey Clinger Loses
2015 NXN runners-up American Fork took the top spot in our pre-season national rankings. Lucky for us, the state of Utah is absolutely loaded with distance talent and they faced off with pre-season No. 7 ranked Lone Peak at the Pre Region 4 Meet this past Wednesday.
The Cavemen easily won, 25-53, while sweeping the top three spots. But the individual race winner was a shocker, as Patrick Parker defeated No. 1 ranked Casey Clinger, the defending NXN champion, for the title: 14:23.01 to 14:26.04 over three miles.
Also of note: the Cavemen's No. 5 runner is sophomore Carson Clinger, who we are assuming is Casey's younger brother. He ran 15:26.59 for 11th place, a big improvement over his 64th place, 17:48 run at this meet in 2015.
| BOYS THREE MILE RUN | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | ||
| 1 | Patrick Parker | 12 | American Fork | 14:23.01 | 1 | |
| 2 | Casey Clinger | 12 | American Fork | 14:26.04 | 2 | |
| 3 | Mckay Johns | 12 | American Fork | 14:33.36 | 3 | |
| 4 | Seth Freckleton | 12 | Lone Peak | 14:59.42 | 4 | |
| 5 | Logan Anderson | 11 | Westlake | 15:00.77 | 5 | |
| 6 | Justin Hartshorn | 11 | Lone Peak | 15:13.43 | 6 | |
| 7 | Luke Johnston | 12 | Westlake | 15:13.69 | 7 | |
| 8 | Dalton Brems | 10 | American Fork | 15:18.21 | 8 | |
| 9 | Ethan Matz | 12 | Riverton | 15:20.68 | 9 | |
| 10 | Zack Ericksen | 12 | Lone Peak | 15:26.23 | 10 | |
| 11 | Carson Clinger | 10 | American Fork | 15:26.59 | 11 | |
| TEAM SCORES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | ||
| 1 | American Fork | 25 | 1+2+3+8+11 (18+31) | 1:03 1-5 Split | 14:49 Avg | ||
| 2 | Lone Peak | 53 | 4+6+10+16+17 (22+40) | 0:45 1-5 Split | 15:24 Avg | ||
The American Fork girls, ranked No. 14 in the pre-season, also won behind a strong 17:38.8 win from senior Sara Musselman. That's nearly a minute faster than she ran last year.
| IRLS THREE MILE RUN | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | ||
| 1 | Sara Musselman | 12 | American Fork | 17:38.80 | 1 | |
| 2 | Amanda Erickson | 12 | Lone Peak | 17:48.08 | 2 | |
| 3 | Haley Tanne | 11 | Pleasant Grove | 17:59.91 | 3 | |
| 4 | Sammy Hollingsworth | 12 | American Fork | 18:02.23 | 4 | |
| 5 | Skye Jeppson | 11 | Pleasant Grove | 18:09.50 | 5 | |
| 6 | Abby Jensen | 10 | Westlake | 18:10.90 | 6 | |
| 7 | Micaela Rivera | 11 | Herriman High | 18:11.11 | 7 | |
| 8 | Cami Squires | 12 | American Fork | 18:24.32 | 8 | |
| 9 | Madi Hafen | 10 | Lone Peak | 18:26.95 | 9 | |
| 10 | Samantha Jackson | Riverton | 18:28.90 | 10 | ||
| 11 | Ali Bybee | 10 | Lone Peak | 18:29.31 | 11 | |
| 12 | Lehi Wright | American Fork | 18:40.64 | 12 | ||
| 13 | Katie Christopherson | 12 | Riverton | 18:42.82 | 13 | |
| 14 | Allison Teemant | 12 | Lone Peak | 18:45.17 | 14 | |
| 15 | Katie Bradshaw | 12 | American Fork | 18:47.51 | 15 | |
| TEAM SCORES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | ||
| 1 | American Fork | 40 | 1+4+8+12+15 (21+23) | 1:08 1-5 Split | 18:18 Avg | ||
| 2 | Lone Peak | 58 | 2+9+11+14+22 (24+26) | 1:41 1-5 Split | 18:35 Avg | ||