COLORADO SPRINGS — Aiden Le Roux is officially the fastest high school runner in Colorado.
The Cheyenne Mountain junior ran 15:02.1 on Saturday at the CHSAA state cross country meet at the Norris Penrose Event Center, winning the Class 4A title and setting an all-classification course record in the process.
“This is the backyard for my high school, and I do run here a lot and I love this course,” Le Roux said. “It means a lot to hold the record for it. I didn’t know what the record was, but I was running as fast as I could. I wasn’t looking at the clock.”
Le Roux beat out his teammate, senior Brogan Collins, by 16 seconds to win the championship. Collins surged in the latter half of the race to help Le Roux nearly break the 15-minute mark. Le Roux’s time was seven seconds better than the Class 5A champion, Mountain Vista senior Benjamin Anderson, who turned in a 15:09.5 as he also went one-two with his teammate Benjamin Adams.
Saturday marked Le Roux’s first state title after he couldn’t run at the state meet as a freshman because he was injured, and took fifth last year.
“Being able to win is one thing, but being able to share it with your team and having your teammate push you throughout the race, that’s really important,” Le Roux said.
Colorado’s fastest girl
Niwot junior Addison Ritzenhein runs up the final hill en route to winning the Class 5A title on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the 2024 CHSAA state cross country meet at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Kyle Newman, The Denver Post)
The least surprising result on Saturday? Niwot’s Addison Ritzenhein, the state’s top distance runner, won yet again.
It marked the junior’s third straight state title. The first two came in Class 4A, and with the Cougars’ move to Class 5A this fall, the step up proved no problem for Ritzenhein. After setting the 4A course record last year, she blasted the all-classification course record on Saturday, with her mark of 16:54.7 bettering the previous mark held by Valor Christian’s Brooke Wilson by five seconds.
“Watching Brooke set that record, it shows how strong Colorado female runners are,” Ritzenhein said. “It’s such a special thing to keep adding on to that, and lowering it, and hopefully it gives some more inspiration to other young runners to go after that.”
Ritzenhein, who claimed a national title by winning Nike Cross Nationals last year with a time of 17:10.4, will look to defend her crown at that race again in early December. And she said she expects to make her college decision, which is between Northern Arizona and North Carolina State, after that meet.
“This win today is going to set me up for success at (Nike Cross Regionals) and NXN,” Ritzenhein said. “There’s some similarities to NXN. NXN is grass, that’s the biggest difference. But like here (at Norris Penrose), there’s lots of hills, there’s a little water because last year at NXN there was a huge puddle of water in the course.”
Blowing away the field
Eaton sophomore Delaney Reuter won the Class 3A title on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the 2024 CHSAA state cross country meet at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Kyle Newman, The Denver Post)
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While Ritzenhein won by 27 seconds, the largest margin of victory for either a girl or boy on Saturday belonged to Eaton’s Delaney Reuter.
The sophomore won the 3A title with a time of 17:26.9, which was 54.3 seconds better than runner-up Elizabeth McQuitty of Alamosa. Not bad for a runner who just finished her first full-time season in the sport. Her freshman year was split between volleyball and cross country.
“Last year, I wasn’t even going to all the practices because of volleyball and I still made it to state and won a lot of races,” Reuter said. “That’s when I realized running could be something I could pursue.”
Reuter was sixth at the state meet last year as she was battling Achilles tendonitis.
“Last year, it wasn’t the time or performance I wanted,” Reuter said. “This was a comeback year for me, and a lot of preparation over the summer. I’ve been pushing a little bit every day, and I’m seeing the gains.”
Eight team champions crowned
The Timnath girls cross country team poses after winning the Class 4A team title on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the 2024 CHSAA state cross country meet at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Kyle Newman, The Denver Post)
Of the eight team champions, Class 4A featured two new team victors in the Timnath girls and Thompson Valley boys.
For Timnath, it marked the school’s second team state title since the school re-opened three years ago. The original Timnath High School was open from 1921 to 1960.
The Cubs won last spring’s 2A girls track title with several of the same runners who propelled them to the 4A cross country championship on Saturday, including sophomore Izzy Schimmelpfennig (who placed third), junior Addison Geraets (ninth) and senior Natalie Washburn (30th).
“Becoming one of the best teams in Colorado, that’s the long-term goal,” Timnath head coach Matt Miltenberg said. “I would say they probably skipped a couple of steps this year, which is really exciting.”
The program’s rise from placing 10th and sixth in 3A over the past two seasons, respectively, to the top of 4A this season was helped by the program’s numbers more than doubling from 11 runners in 2023 to 24 in ’24.
“They bought into what we were trying to build really quickly,” Miltenberg said. “They’ve been fully committed to the work, fully committed to each other. I’m still kind of speechless they’ve been able to win (a title) this quickly, but they earned it.”
In 5A, the Niwot boys won their fourth title, and first in the biggest classification after moving up this fall. The Mountain Vista girls won their third title.
In 3A, the Salida boys won their second title and first since 2009. Meanwhile, The Classical Academy girls continued their string of dominance this century with their 16th title since 2003, and six of the last seven.
And 2A featured teams who both went back-to-back. Golden View Classical Academy again won the boys title, and Heritage Christian Academy repeated as the girls champion.
CHSAA state cross country meet
Norris Penrose Event Center
Distance: 5 kilometers
Saturday
(Click here to view results in mobile)
BOYS
Class 5A
Team results: 1. Niwot 44, 2. Valor Christian 87, 3. Castle View 121, 4. Boulder 158, 5. Mountain Vista 204.
Place
Runner
Yr.
School
Time
1
Benjamin Anderson
sr
Mountain Vista
15:09.5
2
Benjamin Adams
so
Mountain Vista
15:25.8
3
Ben Lee
jr
ThunderRidge
15:29.7
4
Ryder Keeton
jr
Niwot
15:32.3
5
Kaeden Dendorfer
sr
Valor Christian
15:33.4
6
Hunter Robbie
jr
Niwot
15:34.0
7
Evan Dann
fr
Castle View
15:38.3
8
Gabriel Marshall
jr
Niwot
15:44.9
9
Griffin Mazeski
jr
Valor Christian
15:45.4
10
Colton White
sr
Grandview
15:46.2
Class 4A
Team results: 1. Thompson Valley 64, 2. Coronado 69, 3. Cheyenne Mountain 83, 4. Eagle Valley 146, 5. Summit 160.
Place
Runner
Yr.
School
Time
1
Aiden Le Roux
jr
Cheyenne Mountain
15:02.1
2
Brogan Collins
sr
Cheyenne Mountain
15:18.1
3
Oliver Horton
so
Coronado
15:31.3
4
Tyler Blair
jr
Eagle Valley
15:40.4
5
Dylan Blair
jr
Eagle Valley
15:44.0
6
Noah Thompson
jr
Lewis-Palmer
15:50.8
7
Curtis Smela
sr
Thompson Valley
15:51.6
8
Boston Potts
sr
Coronado
15:51.9
9
Guthrie Manzella
sr
Thompson Valley
15:57.3
10
Josh Shriver
sr
Summit
15:59.0
Class 3A
Team results: 1. Salida 85, 2. Jefferson Academy 116, 3. Banning Lewis Prep 126, 4. The Classical Academy 148, 5. Alamosa 180.
Place
Runner
Yr.
School
Time
1
Jackson Fagerlin
sr
Resurrection Christian
16:05.3
2
Matthew Hayden
jr
Frontier Academy
16:07.1
3
Jack Cerullo
sr
Peak to Peak
16:18.9
4
Noah Askew
sr
The Classical Academy
16:25.8
5
Joel Davis
jr
Lamar
16:29.0
6
Aden Garza
sr
Jefferson Academy
16:33.3
7
Ezekiel Wilcox
sr
Salida
16:34.1
8
Jackson Dalleck
sr
Gunnison
16:35.3
9
Rylan Mills
sr
Jefferson Academy
16:36.6
10
Kalid Fanning
sr
Frontier Academy
16:40.1
Class 2A
Team results: 1. Golden View Classical Academy 47, 2. Crested Butte 66, 3. Thomas Maclaren Charter 68, 4.
Loveland Classical 119, 5. SkyView Academy 138.
Place
Runner
Yr.
School
Time
1
Andrew Bel
sr
Colorado Springs Christian
15:57.7
2
Biruk Begashaw
sr
Lotus School for Excellence
16:16.3
3
Matthew Start
sr
Monument Academy
16:17.4
4
Ian Reynolds
sr
Denver Christian
16:29.4
5
Shawn Kipchumba
jr
Thomas Maclaren Charter
16:47.4
6
Antheney Herre
so
Loveland Classical
16:53.8
7
Rylan Griffith
so
SkyView Academy
16:55.6
8
Bobby Kiesewetter
sr
Golden View Classical
16:56.8
9
Nick Clark
jr
Soroco
16:57.8
10
James Talbot
sr
Rangely
17:03.7
GIRLS
Class 5A
Team results: 1. Mountain Vista 63, 2. Air Academy 101, 3. Fossil Ridge 108, 4. Chaparral 132, 5. Niwot 160.
Place
Runner
Yr.
School
Time
1
Addison Ritzenhein
jr
Niwot
16:54.7
2
Tessa Walter
sr
Air Academy
17:21.7
3
Emily Cohen
jr
Cherry Creek
17:35.0
4
Tatum Berg
sr
Fossil Ridge
17:42.1
5
Keeghan Edwards
sr
Mountain Vista
17:46.8
6
Claire Guiberson
jr
Mountain Vista
17:47.1
7
Chamorra Cooper
so
Air Academy
17:49.2
8
Caroline Fender
jr
Heritage
17:51.0
9
Emry Schwalm
jr
Heritage
17:53.1
10
Rosie Mucharsky
sr
Denver East
17:55.3
Class 4A
Team results: 1. Timnath 98, 2. Battle Mountain 116, 3. Summit 124, 4. Holy Family 147, 5. Cheyenne Mountain 155.
Place
Runner
Yr.
School
Time
1
Ella Hagen
sr
Summit
17:30.7
2
Cloe Ruth
sr
Silver Creek
18:18.2
3
Izzy Schimmelpfennig
so
Timnath
18:18.4
4
Griffin Stoughton
fr
Discovery Canyon
18:28.5
5
Raegan Mcrae
so
Cheyenne Mountain
18:54.1
6
Alice Lehnherr
jr
Thompson Valley
19:04.8
7
Eden Demino
fr
Battle Mountain
19:05.7
8
Anabella Descalzo
sr
Holy Family
19:10.9
9
Addison Geraets
jr
Timnath
19:14.1
10
Megan Bader
so
Silver Creek
19:17.6
Class 3A
Team results: 1. The Classical Academy 36, 2. Manitou Springs 83, 3. Salida 108, 4. Banning Lewis Prep 172, 5. Prospect Ridge 213.
Place
Runner
Yr.
School
Time
1
Delaney Reuter
so
Eaton
17:26.9
2
Elizabeth Mcquitty
sr
Alamosa
18:21.2
3
Vivian Jack
so
The Classical Academy
18:44.9
4
Ellie Askew
fr
The Classical Academy
18:45.4
5
Alexia Gonzales
sr
Banning Lewis Prep
19:06.6
6
Joy Koole
sr
Resurrection Christian
19:14.3
7
Keyaira Moore
jr
Manitou Springs
19:21.4
8
Chloe Bresnahan
fr
Manitou Springs
19:22.0
9
Elisa Karr
so
Manitou Springs
19:24.5
10
Austin Cook
jr
Telluride
19:38.2
Class 2A
Team results: 1. Heritage Christian 25, 2. Lake County 54, 3. Ridgway 65, 4. North Fork 103, 5. Denver Christian 105.
Place
Runner
Yr.
School
Time
1
Taya Wren
so
Rangely
19:02.5
2
Saskia Marlin
so
North Fork
19:36.8
3
Mikaela Kendall
jr
Heritage Christian
19:52.1
4
Lilly Lukens
sr
Heritage Christian
20:04.3
5
Brooklyn Minihane
so
Colorado Springs Christian
20:05.0
6
Natasha Hessler
fr
Ridgway
20:05.8
7
Ariel Hessler
fr
Ridgway
20:07.5
8
Addison Jones
jr
Wray
20:14.3
9
Amika Begin
so
Nederland
20:15.3
10
Emma Lukens
so
Heritage Christian
20:22.0
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