On November 19th Cougar runners finished their cross country season strong at the Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Regional. A huge event, the regional meet hosts over 2300 high school athletes from Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, with some of the best runners, and teams in the country competing for a spot in the national meet.

Representing the Cougars were juniors Chloe Cassens Taylor Dutton and Conor Strizich, as well as senior Clay Rahaman. The race is a great opportunity to encounter even stiffer competition than what can be found in Colorado, as well as to have the opportunity to race at low attitude on a fast, flat course. For Taylor Dutton, this resulted in a huge 28 second PR (personal record), Dutton running the course in 19:02 and claiming 10th in the Girls Large School Race. Chloe Cassens, the only other girl representing the Coronado girls team, ran a 19:29 and placed 21st in the Girls Medium School Race, even while recovering from a recent illness.

On the boys side, Conor Strizich and Clay Rahaman extended their season an extra month from their last Coronado race, regionals, to run in the high-caliber meet. Both running in the Boys Large School Race, Strizich got 60th in 17:06, and Rahaman finished in 18:35 to get 295th. “It was an unforgettable experience and it was great to race against athletes from the entire Southwest region,” said Strizich of the race.

This year the Southwest Region, as well as Colorado 5A Girls, proved to be one of strongest areas in the nation, with regional winners Brie Oakley (5A State Champion) and Casey Clinger, going on to win Nationals, taking place on December 3rd. Additionally Colorado native and three time 5A cross country champion, Lauren Gregory, got third in the girls race. The two girls teams from Colorado that advanced to Nationals were also the top two placing 5A girls teams at State, Broomfield and Mountain Vista, who placed 7th and 13th respectively at Nationals. With only one senior on Broomfield’s team and two on mountain Vista’s, these teams will continue to dominate races next year, and will likely battle to control 5A cross country next year.

For each runner’s first time attending the event, each enjoyed the experience. Taylor Dutton said about the experience, “I had a lot of fun and even though I was about two seconds off of my goal I was really happy with the race and I can’t wait to take the rest of the team out next year.” Congratulations Cougars on a fantastic end to a spectacular season!