These Four Sophomore Recruits Were Outstanding At Champs

On Saturday, 76 of the best high school cross country runners competed at the Champs Sports National Cross Country Championships, the U.S.'s longest-running national meet.

College coaches from many of the top programs across the U.S. attended, showing support for athletes they've signed to national letter of intents and eyeing others who they hope will join their teams.

Seniors Karrie Baloga and Kole Mathison, both University of Colorado signees, won their respective races -- and rather remarkably, too. But some underclassmen also shined on the national stage, including four sophomore girls who finished in the top 10: Abby Faith Cheeseman, Zariel Macchia, Alyssa Sauro and Sadie Engelhardt.

It was the first time since 2012 that four sophomore girls placed in the top 10 of the meet. Back then, sophomore Anna Rohrer won the race, while classmates Jordyn Colter (4th), Marissa Williams (8th) and Hannah Long (10th) had strong showings, too.

Rohrer (Notre Dame), Colter (Cal), Williams (Cal) and Long (Stanford and Akron) all ended up running at the NCAA Division 1 level.

The four sophomores who excelled on Saturday are already on the radar of Division 1 programs and are sure to be highly coveted. Here's a look at the girls and how they performed on Saturday and so far in their nascent high school careers.

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Abby Faith Cheeseman

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School: The Webb School (TN)

Champs Sports finish: 4th

Time: 17:13.40

Cheeseman surprised most observers on Saturday by placing fourth. She was nearly eight seconds ahead of the fifth-place finisher, senior Ciara O'Shea of Madison Central (KY), a University of North Carolina signee and five-time Kentucky state cross country champion. She was also faster than last year's winning time of 17:15.

O'Shea won the South Regional meet on Nov. 26, while Cheeseman finished in seventh, nearly 20 seconds behind O'Shea.

Still, Cheeseman, No 41 in MileSplit's girls recruiting rankings for the Class of 2025, is no stranger to competing at a top level.

She was one of just three freshmen to qualify for last year's race. Cheeseman finished in 31st in 18:22.70, more than a minute slower than on Saturday.

Cheeseman won the Tennessee 1A state cross country title as an eighth grader in 2020 and repeated the past two years. She has personal bests of 4:59.03 in the outdoor mile 10:38.30 in the outdoor 3,200m, both of which she ran as an eighth grader, and 16:53.64 in the outdoor 5,000m, which she ran in March at the Texas Distance Festival.  

Zariel Macchia

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School: William Floyd (NY)

Champs Sports finish: 6th

Time: 17:33.90

With Baloga heading off to Colorado next year, Macchia is poised to be the next star girls runner from New York.

Macchia was the state's second-best cross country runner behind Baloga this year and capped off her sophomore cross country season in fine fashion.

She won the girls New York Class A state title last month with the day's second-fastest time behind Baloga, who won the Class B championship. And then, on consecutive weekends, Macchia placed third at the Champs Sports Northeast Regional, second at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships and sixth at the Champs Sports national meet.

The New Yorker's outstanding sophomore campaign did not come as a big surprise. After all, she was 12th in last year's meet, the best finish for a freshman. She was also seventh at the New Balance Nationals indoor mile in 4:48.64, first in the 2-mile at the Nike Indoor Nationals in 10:17.09 and second in the 2-mile at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet in 10:08.50. Those marks were among the top 11 in the U.S. last year.

Macchia is ninth in MileSplit's recruiting rankings among sophomore girls and is someone who could win one or more national titles in the coming years.

Alyssa Sauro

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School: Williamstown (WV)

Champs Sports finish: 9th

Time: 17:39.20

Sauro was an unlikely top finisher at the national meet -- at least from the outside lookin gin. She missed several weeks this fall due to an injury but returned to win the girls Class A West Virginia state title in 19:01.65, the seventh-fastest time of the day.

Sauro then entered the Champs Sports South Regional meet not knowing how she would respond. She ended up in 10th place, clinching the final spot for the national meet, where she had the best race of her young career with a ninth-place finish in the loaded field.

Sauro is also a standout on the track and in mountain racing. As a freshman during the outdoor season in May, she won the state 1A title in the 800m (2:17.42), 1,600m (4:58.26) and 3,200m (10:40.07). The next month, she won the International U18 Mountain Running Cup in Italy, completing the 4.35km course in 18:03.

Sauro is following the path of Irene Riggs, a senior from Morgantown (WV) who won the Team Nationals earlier this month and signed a scholarship with Stanford. Top colleges are surely tracking Sauro and will monitor how she continues to progress.

Sadie Engelhardt

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School: Ventura (CA)

Champs Sports finish: 10th

Time: 17:41.40

Engelhardt didn't run her best race on Saturday. In fact, it was the only time she lost a cross country race this fall. Still, she finished 10th overall, a placement that made her an All-American.

Engelhardt burst on to the high school scene last year with one of the best freshmen seasons ever. Her accomplishments made her an easy choice for MileSplit's No. 1 ranking for the girls Class of 2025 recruits.

During the cross country season, she finished second at the California Division 2 girls state meet and 15th at the Eastbay national meet, the second-fastest time for a freshman. She then broke the freshman class record in the indoor mile (4:37.40). During the outdoor season, she had personal bests of 2:05.66 in the 800m, 4:35.16 in the mile and 9:50.69 in the 3,200m.

The mile and 3,200m times were the third- and fifth-fastest a U.S. high school girl has ever run in those events. And she was only a freshman.

Engelhardt was dominant this cross country season, too, even though she told MileSplit CA at the state meet she had been sick since September and that "I still have something in my chest."

Despite being less than 100 percent, Engelhardt won the D2 state title in a 5k personal best of 16:57.84 and following up a week later by placing first at the Champs Sports West Regional. When fully healthy, Engelhardt should be among the nation's best distance runners and challenge for more records and titles in the coming years.