Cross-country state championships: Pine View girls, Cedar boys win 4A titles

Written by Jeff Richards
October 27, 2021
Cedar High's Spencer Heaton and Jaime Tellez-Quiroz of Sky View cross the finish line in 4A boys race, UHSAA cross-country championships, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 27, 2021 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — The Pine View High School girls and the Cedar High boys cross-country teams each took first place at the 4A state championships in Salt Lake City on Wednesday.

Pine View girls with 4A state first-place trophy, UHSAA cross-country championships, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 27, 2021 | Photo courtesy of David Holt, St. George News / Cedar City News

Not only were the winning teams the same as those of the Region 10 meet at Cedar City the previous week, but last week’s top individual runners – Cedar’s Clarissa Hofeling and Logan Peel – also crossed their respective finish lines first at state.

This year, the Utah High School Activities Association staged the state meets for the first time on a 5-kilometer course at the 140-acre Salt Lake Regional Athletic Complex. With cloudy skies and only a hint of wind and with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees, weather conditions were seen as nearly ideal for the runners on Wednesday.

Hofeling’s winning time in the 4A girls race was 17:52, while her teammate Emma Page, a junior, placed second overall with a time of 18:43.1.

“The girls ran their hearts out, and to have the first- and second-place finishers individually was awesome,” Cedar head coach Greg Harris said. “Emma has just continued to move up the last few weeks and she just decided she wanted to take second and went after it. So that was fun to see.”

Pine View junior Brooklyn Hill, who placed fourth overall with a time of 19:12.2, and fellow junior Adri Baker, who took sixth in 19:15.1 paced the Panthers to their third consecutive girls cross-country state title. Pine View’s top five runners all placed among the top 20, giving the Panthers a winning score of 60.

Carissa Hoefling of Cedar competes in 4A girls race, UHSAA cross-country championships, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 27, 2021 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News / Cedar City News

Coming in second place was Desert Hills, which finished with 89 points, with third-place Cedar also scoring 89. The Thunder took home the runner-up trophy on a tiebreaker, with their sixth-fastest runner finishing ahead of Cedar’s.

Pine View coach David Holt said his athletes had faced pressure from both Cedar and Desert Hills during the Region 10 regular season.

“The last couple of races, we’d seen Cedar really run well, at their invite and at region,” Holt said. “They closed the gap on us quite a bit. So, something that we’ve been focusing on is just being the very best that you can be that day.”

“We kind of came into the meet talking about the idea that that pressure is a privilege,” he added. “The reason teams are running so well against us, like Desert Hills and Cedar, is because we’ve done so well the last few years. They’re pushing really hard to get us. And I think that helped our girls relax a bit and realize that it is okay to have pressure because it means you’re doing great things.”

Holt noted that each of Pine View’s three consecutive state titles has been on a different course: Sugarhouse Park in 2019, Cedar City in 2020 and now the Salt Lake Athletic Complex in 2021.

”I think that says a lot about our team, our program and our girls, that they could step up no matter the conditions, no matter the course, and just do their very best on the most important day,” Holt added.

In the 4A boys race, Peel, a junior, placed first overall with a time of 15:36.7. Coming in 11 seconds behind him was Snow Canyon’s Spencer Smith, who placed second in 15:47.7. Senior Carson Wall of Desert Hills also clocked in at under 16 minutes, coming in third overall with a time of 15:57.5.

Cedar High boys with 4A state first-place trophy, UHSAA cross-country championships, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 27, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Greg Harris, St. George News / Cedar City News

Not only did Region 10 have the first nine individual finishers in the 4A boys race, but its teams swept the top five spots at state for the second year in a row.

Cedar had its five fastest runners place among the top 13 spots overall, giving the Reds a score of 35. Desert Hills placed second with 53 points.

“Our boys just executed the perfect game plan that we had planned on for the last week,” Cedar coach Harris said. “They decided they wanted to hang back just a little bit more that first mile just so they didn’t burn themselves out. And then, they just moved forward as a pack and just really dominated that race.”

Pine View coach Holt added it was encouraging to see the Southern Utah teams do so well at state.

“The competition between the teams helps us keep getting better and better,” Holt said. “It’s fun that way, because it’s a friendly competition and the schools really respect each other. But of course, we want to do our very best and try to beat each other as well.”

In other action involving Soutehrn Utah schools on Wednesday, the Millard boys won the 2A title while the Bryce Valley boys took first in the 1A classification. Meanwhile, the Panguitch girls repeated as 1A champions. For complete state meet results, click here.

2021 UHSAA state cross country championships, top 5 team results, by classification

(Southern Utah teams in bold)

4A girls

  1. Pine View, 60.
  2. Desert Hills, 89.
  3. Cedar, 89.
  4. Ridgeline, 110.
  5. Bear River, 133.

4A boys

  1. Cedar, 35.
  2. Desert Hills, 53.
  3. Snow Canyon, 96.
  4. Pine View, 166.
  5. Crimson Cliffs, 173.
Panguitch High teammates Adelaide Englestead and Tabi Henrie finish 1-2 in the 1A girls race, UHSAA cross-country championships, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 27, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Frank Kay Richards, St. George News

2A girls 

  1. North Summit, 30.
  2. Millard, 43.
  3. Parowan, 91.
  4. North Sevier, 98.
  5. Beaver, 143.

2A boys

  1. Millard, 24.
  2. Rowland Hall, 65.
  3. North Summit, 117.
  4. Kanab, 124.
  5. San Juan, 132

1A girls

  1. Panguitch, 21.
  2. Bryce Valley, 40.
  3. Monticello, 45.
  4. Intermountain Christian, 68.
  5. Wayne, 107.

1A boys

  1. Bryce Valley, 46.
  2. Milford, 48.
  3. Monticello, 76.
  4. Water Canyon, 78.
  5. Piute, 91.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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