HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA -- Newbury Park made history on Saturday at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships, securing three boys under the all-time record for fastest cross country 5K performance as the Panthers secured their second straight national team championship and its second in three seasons -- in 2020, the national races were split between the NSAF Meet of Champions in Indiana and the RunningLane National Championships.
Colin Sahlman won the overall title with a mind-bending time of 14:03.29, passing the former all-time best of 14:10, which was set by Dathan Ritzenhein back in 2000. Sahlman's teammates, Leo Young and Lex Young, also went under that mark, posting remarkable performances of 14:05.07 and 14:05.49 to help the program secure the national title with 29 points.
Junior Aaron Sahlman was sixth overall with a time of 14:14.38, while Daniel Appleford finished out the scoring with a 42nd place finish in 14:44.92.
Newbury Park wasn't alone in the top five, though, as Niwot's Zane Bergen gave the trio fo Sahlman, Young and Young a run for their money in fourth with a time of 14:10.00, which also tied Ritzenhein's mark.
MileSplit50 No. 1 Riley Hough lost for the first time all season, finishing in fifth in 14:10.56. A total of 72 boys broke 15 minutes for 5K on Saturday.
The national win followed a historic performance at the CIF Division I State Championship for Newbury Park, where the Panthers scored 16 points and clocked the first four runners through the line.
| BOYS 5000 METER RUN FINALS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | ||||
| 1 | Colin Sahlman | 12 | Newbury Park (SS) | 14:03.29 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Leo Young | 11 | Newbury Park (SS) | 14:05.07 | 2 | |||
| 3 | Lex Young | 11 | Newbury Park (SS) | 14:05.49 | 3 | |||
| 4 | Zane Bergen | 12 | Niwot High School | 14:09.91 | 4 | |||
| 5 | Riley Hough | 12 | Hartland | 14:10.56 | 0 | |||
| 6 | Aaron Sahlman | 11 | Newbury Park (SS) | 14:14.38 | 5 | |||
| 7 | Aidan Cox | 11 | Coe Brown Academy | 14:18.43 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Jackson Barna | 12 | Ridge HS | 14:22.14 | 0 | |||
| 9 | Kole Mathison | 11 | Carmel High School | 14:23.32 | 0 | |||
| 10 | Isaac Teeples | 12 | Kamiakin High School | 14:23.78 | 0 | |||
Team Scores
| TEAM SCORES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | |||
| 1 | Newbury Park (SS) | 28 | 1+2+3+5+17 (20+27) | 0:41 1-5 Split | 14:14 Avg | |||
| 2 | Cheyenne Mountain High School | 117 | 9+12+15+23+58 (84+126) | 0:35 1-5 Split | 14:49 Avg | |||
| 3 | Jesuit | 183 | 8+18+30+54+73 (94+135) | 0:45 1-5 Split | 14:58 Avg | |||
| 4 | Union Catholic Reg. HS | 276 | 6+7+29+116+118 (193+207) | 1:11 1-5 Split | 15:02 Avg | |||
| 5 | Grapevine | 278 | 34+37+47+48+112 (189+192) | 0:31 1-5 Split | 15:12 Avg | |||
| 6 | Farmington | 294 | 38+41+50+57+108 (194+201) | 0:28 1-5 Split | 15:13 Avg | |||
| 7 | Great Oak (SS) | 313 | 39+40+69+79+86 (101+154) | 0:23 1-5 Split | 15:17 Avg | |||
| 8 | Niwot High School | 328 | 4+35+55+107+127 (131+142) | 1:31 1-5 Split | 15:08 Avg | |||
| 9 | Valor Christian High School | 352 | 25+44+67+93+123 (148+198) | 0:41 1-5 Split | 15:18 Avg | |||
| 10 | Mountain Vista High School | 369 | 22+28+97+103+119 (138+183) | 0:42 1-5 Split | 15:19 Avg | |||