Fremont wins 5A; Mtn. View tops 4A

In the four years that Fremont has won the girl's state cross country championships, once in 4A and the past three years in 5A, the Silver Wolves have been impressive. But nothing like this.

Fremont scored an amazingly low 26 points to slaughter everyone else during the 5A title race at Sugar House Park on Wednesday, and the news for Silver Wolves' supporters only gets better-all seven of its scoring runners will be back again next year. So the race for runner-up is set to begin next summer for everyone else.

Led by juniors Cassie Ricks and Alexis Meyer, Fremont placed five finishes in the top 10 and all seven in the top 20. Second-place Weber scored 102 points to hold off Davis, at 104. No wonder Fremont has been ranked nationally all year long.

Other team titlists were Mountain View in 4A, Park City for the third straight year in 3A, Juan Diego for the first time in school history in 2A, and Waterford winning its first state title in 1A.

Ricks and Meyer have fought for the top spot all seasonlong, and together they formed a powerful tangent that no one could deny on Wednesday. Ricks finished at 18:46.3, Meyer about 10 seconds behind, and Rachel Webb of Skyline was third at 19:19.8. Freshman Jesse Clugg of Fremont came in seventh, her sister Katie, a junior, was seventh; and junior Lindsey Slater was tenth. Even Fremont's sixth and seventh "non-scoring" runners are a junior and freshman, as Fremont's dynasty continues to grow.

Mountain View held off Provo and Orem to win the 4A title, but it was Timpanogos senior Vanessa Hawkins that finished her career with medalist honors. Her winning time of 18:43.2 was seven seconds better than Lone Peak's Katie Bowen. Kim Rowberry of Timpview was third. Provo was paced by sophomore Donna Manuele who finished 12th. The Bruins' two titles on Wednesday added to the record-setting total of coach Dave Houle, the nation's all-time leader in state championships.

Judge Memorial's Samantha Gaffney defended her title in 3A, winning at 18:22.6. She dominated her division all yearlong and helped the Lady Bulldogs to a third-place finish. But it was the Park City Miners who once again won the title with a comfortable 20-point win over Cedar. Sophomores Elli Reed and Rosie Brennan finished second and third respectively for coach Bill Kahn's team, with freshman Alyssa Vonputtkammer fifth. Junior Devery Karz was 11th and senior Holly Simeon 12th for Park City. Cedar's Cassie Westfall and Kindal Ericson were sixth and seventh, while Wasatch freshman Kaylee Collins took fourth.