High school cross country: Viewmont girls celebrates first-ever 5A state title, Maple Mountain boys repeat

Five years removed from not even qualifying for the 5A state meet, Viewmont's girls cross country team turned in a tremendous performance during Tuesday's state meet at Sugar House Park to capture its first state championship in school history.

Not only did the Vikings overcome their own bleak history in winning, but also their own disappointment from just a couple weeks ago when they finished third in the Region 6 meet behind Brighton and Olympus.

Viewmont coach Trent Hooper helped his girls refocus with a better mindset for state, and they stormed forward to win that elusive title.

"We focused on that practice after practice and at Divisionals, and they just executed it on a big stage today," said Hooper, who took over as Viewmont's head coach in 2022 after the school missed out on back-to-back state meets the two years prior.

Success didn't come overnight after Hooper was hired, it took a patient approach to change the culture and establish tradition, but mission accomplished for the entire Vikings program after Tuesday's big victory.

Viewmont had its top five runners place in the top 23 as it tallied 83 points to finish narrowly ahead of the same Olympus team it finished behind at region. The Titans tallied 93 points, followed by defending state champion Springville with 128 points.

Senior Lydia Stringfellow was the lone Viewmont runner who finished inside the top 10 as she finished in seventh place.

While Viewmont's girls were busy celebrating their first-ever title, Maple Mountain's boys won its second straight 5A state championship and third in the past four years.

The Golden Eagles ran away with the title with 71 team points, with Viewmont in second with 120 points. Patience was the key for Maple Mountain coach Brett Andrus.

He stressed to his athletes all season, and particularly ahead of the state meet, to stay patient in the first mile. Sure enough, at the first mile marker, Maple Mountain sat in third position as a team.

That was exactly where Andrus expected and hoped his team would be. It was their performance after that first mile that separated his team from the 5A field.

"We have worked on knowing that when we got here, that we would be very patient in that first mile, and then we would let our strength carry us the last half of the race. They followed through with that race plan," said Andrus.

While Andrus said no question having Logan Rohatinsky and Parker Davis finish second and third overall was massive for team scoring, he couldn't stop raving about how well his No. 3, 4 and 5 runners executed the race plan.

Landon Smith went from 21st place to 11th place after the first mile. Andrew Olsen went from 50th to 25th and then senior Asher Gunderson went from 67th to 30th in his first-ever race at the state meet.

"Those are the things that we want to see on a course like this. That means that we're learning how to run this course the way that we run it year in and year out, even if we have to replace people," said Andrus, who reiterated that Gunderson's success was one of the brightest moments of the day.

Northridge's Jeff Hazard claimed the 5A boys individual state title has he pulled away from Rohatinsky in the final 400 meters to avenge last year's state runner-up finish to Rohatinsky.

Hazard has been dealing with Achilles tendinitis this season, but it wasn't a factor on Tuesday as he managed the fast pace better than everyone else after West Field's Daxton Coombs went out very fast to start the race.

"I'm just so happy. Even though I knew it was possible, I was shocked coming across the line and just was so excited. It was awesome," said Hazard, who won the title with a time of 15:06.53, with Rohatinsky in second with a time of 15:14.62.

Hazard finished second to Rohatinsky by 17 seconds at the 5A Divisional meet a few weeks ago, but said his race strategy at the state meet set himself up much better for success

While Rohatinsky's bid for a 5A repeat came up a bit short, his little sister made a sparkling debut in her first-ever state tournament.

The freshman pulled away from Brighton junior Bridget Smit in the final mile to win with a time of 17:53.56. Smith crossed the line in 17:56.74.

Rohatinsky has been a regular attendee at state meets in recent years watching her older siblings compete, but she said running inside the ropes this time around was a surreal experience.

"I was so excited. I feel like the nerves like hit me like before the race, but I feel like they were more excitement nerves than nervous nerves, which I feel like that was a big advantage," said Rohatinsky. "And then to be in the course, it's just a lot different than cheering for my brothers, and it was just like a special experience."

Rohatinsky's dad Josh Rohatinsky is one of the most decorated runners in Utah state history as he won four individual cross country state championships at Provo from 1996 to 1999. All of his wins came on a very similar course at Sugar House Park.

By winning her debut state meet this week, the kickoff to Oaklie Rohatisnky's career got off to a smashing start.

Oaklie Rohatinsky, Maple Mountain, Fr., 17:53.56

Haley Livingston, Salem Hills, Sr., 18:38.54

Kayla Crawford, Springville, Jr., 18:49.91

Lydia Stringfellow, Viewmont, Sr., 19:14.84

Trineris White Martinez, Granger, Jr., 19:16.46

Norah Nelson, Springville, Fr., 19:30.94

Charlotte Kowallis, Pleasant Grove, So., 19:33.59

Gloria Booth, Taylorsville, Sr., 19:41.25

Brynlee Cragun, Box Elder, Jr., 19:49.04

Langley Baschuk, Viewmont, Fr., 19:53.10

Kimberly Pace, Woods Cross, Jr., 20:09.65

McKenna Webster, Woods Cross, Sr., 20:15.06

Lily Jameson, Taylorsville, Jr., 20:16.51

Heika Christiansen, Salem Hills, Jr., 20:31.79

Brooklyn Van Slooten, Brighton, Fr., 20:42.37

Haley Willis, Salem Hills, Fr., 20:49.62

Kelsey Braegger, Box Elder, Jr., 20:52.77

Lyndi O'Neal, Spanish Fork, Sr., 20:53.48

Lucy Malmstrom, Bountiful, Fr., 20:55.91

Kalia McKinnon, Spanish Fork, Sr., 20:56.47

Ashley Thiriot, Maple Mountain, Fr., 20:59.55

Logan Rohatinsky, Maple Mountain, Sr., 15:14.62

Parker Davis, Maple Mountain, Jr., 15:26.05

Whittaker Bettis, Brighton, Jr., 15:48.68

Daxton Coombs, West Field, Jr., 15:51.44

Parker Grisham, Salem Hills, Jr., 15:59.07

Landon Smith, Maple Mountain, Sr., 16:08.76

Traeke Seitzinger, Spanish Fork, Sr., 16:18.84

Jack Winward, Taylorsville, Sr., 16:22.92

Elliot Johns, West Jordan, So., 16:26.17

Porter Zaugg, Spanish Fork, Sr., 16:31.33

Andoni Garcia, West Jordan, Sr., 16:39.59

Andrew Olsen, Maple Mountain, Jr., 16:44.71

Asher Gunderson, Maple Mountain, Sr., 16:50.90

Braxton Aschliman, West Field, Jr., 16:52.97

William Turner, Salem Hills, Sr., 16:54.18

Brian Cook, Pleasant Grove, So., 16:54.91

Cole Larsen, Maple Mountain, Sr., 17:01.96

Deacon Reitzel, West Jordan, Sr., 17:03.50

Anthony Biesinger, Taylorsville, Jr., 17:04.28

Wally Paulsen, Springville, Sr., 17:08.55

Stockton Showalter, Bountiful, So., 17:09.87

Joshua Reynolds, Springville, Sr., 17:10.27