Niwot Dominates State Track: Cougars Sweep 5A Titles

Niwot High School swept the 5A state cross country championships on Saturday, adding another layer to a dynasty that has defined Colorado high school running in recent years. The Cougars captured both the boys and girls team titles at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs under temperatures in the 60s.

The girls’ team claimed its seventh title in the last eight seasons. They finished with 47 points, a margin of 53 points over runner-up Boulder, which recorded 100. Fairview placed third with 116 points. Niwot’s dominance was evident in the depth of its roster, with all five scoring runners finishing in the top 15 of the individual race.

Josephine Lenart, a transfer from Pennsylvania, placed sixth in 18 minutes, 36.90 seconds. She was followed by Elise Hagen in ninth at 18:41.40 and Siona Kelly in 10th at 18:41.90. Lenart noted that she connected with Kelly during middle school at the HOKA Festival of Miles in St. Louis, a relationship that helped facilitate her move to Colorado for her father’s business.

On the boys’ side, Niwot won its fourth consecutive title, marking the sixth time the team has claimed the crown since 2019. They finished with 60 points, beating runner-up Arapahoe by 83 points. Jude Ritzenhein led the Cougars with a second-place finish in 15:11.40. He trailed the winner, Abdinasir Hassan of Northfield, by 15 seconds. Hassan recorded a time of 14:56.50, capping a fall in which he won all six meets he entered.

The individual girls’ race featured a performance by Madison Lange of Cherokee Trail. She won the title in 17:28, finishing 25.60 seconds ahead of Ella McGowan of Heritage. Lange described the victory as a redemption arc after finishing 21st at the state meet the previous year. This year’s win also marked a shift for Niwot, which previously relied on the individual success of Addy Ritzenhein, who has since moved on to Northern Arizona University.

Kelly described the team’s approach as a pack-running mentality built on chemistry. Hagen added that the squad has approximately 20 members capable of running together as a unit. The Cougars, along with individual champions Lange and Hassan, will travel to Mesa, Arizona, on Nov. 21 for the Nike Cross Regionals Southwest. They aim to qualify for the NXN Championship on Dec. 5 in Portland, Oregon, where Niwot’s boys team has won the title the past two years.