Individuals
The Favorite(s): Tayson Echohawk
Tayson Echohawk of Orem has some of the biggest wins in the entire state across all classifications! It started when Tayson took down a competitive field at the BYU Autumn Classic and followed that up at the Border Wars meet where he took down the AF duo along with some of Idaho's and Colorado's best. Tayson won his first individual state title in track this past spring when he went 4:14 as just a sophomore! That set the stage for what has been an epic junior season that could see Echohawk finish with his first individual XC state title!
Tayson may have the biggest wins of the season in this field but Jefferson Mcmullin of Lehi has the most recent wins. Jefferson won his regional and divisional races in an impressive manner, especially his divisional win where he completely dismantled all classifications by finishing over 20 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. The fact that he threw down two epic performances back to back definitely makes him a favorite to win the 5At title next week.
Other notable athletes are Tyler Chipman and Liam Heninger of Mountain View who have both been instrumental in leading this Mountain View squad to a national ranking of 11! Tyler has been an elite runner all season long and has been a consistent top finisher in ever race he's ran in. Logan Garnica of Springville won his regional and finished third in the first 5A divisional race. Sam Hansen of Woods Cross also won his regional and finished third in the second 5A divisional race.
Teams
The Favorite(s): Mountain View
As mentioned earlier, Mountain View currently sits at number 11 in our national rankings and for good reason to. The bruins have one of the best 1-2 combos in the country in Liam Heninger and Tyler Chipman, both of whom have a chance of winning the whole meet as an individual. It is Mountain View's race to lose and the fun fact about this squad is they have been running all season long with one arm tied behind their back.
Their secret weapon come RunningLane Nationals is junior Parker Barnes who is currently ineligible to race with the varsity squad for a year due to student transfer protocols. Barnes is a high caliber athlete who has been demolishing the JV races for months now and he will be a top scorer for this team at nationals.