5A boys and girls cross country: Davis consistency gives boys and girls historic sweep

It all started as Natalie Haws of Davis crossed the finish line four-tenths of a second ahead of highly favored Shalaya Kipp of Skyline. Her individual title at the girls 5A cross country meet at Sugarhouse Park marked the beginning to one of the greatest days in the history of the sport for the Kaysville school.

"I can't believe I actually did it," said Haws. "I just tried to keep her (Kipp) in sight, and when we got to the track for that last little bit I gave it everything I had. I don't normally have a big kick to finish, but it was just my day. I had it all today, and it might be a while before it sinks in that I am the state champion."

Haws not only won the individual title, but with teammates Candace Eddy and Emily Hansen also finishing in the top 10, the Darts captured the girls team title in a runaway at 55 total finishing places to Skyline's 102.

"I am happy with how our team finished," said a disappointed Kipp of the Eagles' runners-up performance. "I didn't run my best race today, so I have to be satisfied with my finish. It does make it a little better knowing that as a team we performed really well."

It may have been the first girls title in school history for Davis, but they were the favorites coming in to the meet. The real surprise came minutes later when the Darts swept the team titles, capturing the boys crown as well.

"I am so proud of how every one of our runners performed today," said coach Corbin Talley. "They worked hard all season, and to see them almost all put in their best performance of the year on the day they needed it most is just incredible. They all ran hard and did what was expected of them."

It was consistency for Davis that won the title for the boys. Seth Gutzwiller was their top finisher at fifth place, followed by Spencer Anderson in seventh, but even the team's No. 5 runner finished in 26th for a team score of 77. American Fork was second at 109.

"There is no doubt that it was a complete team effort," said Anderson. "I don't think that we would have done nearly as well as individuals if we didn't have each other pushing us every day to get better, get faster. All of the guys on the team helped out a ton for us to get this title."

Skyline's Stephen Clark won his second consecutive individual title as he won by nearly :30 seconds over his nearest competitor.

"I thought I ran a good race," he said. "I came in the last 400 meters a little slower than I would have liked, but overall it feels great. It feels even better than winning it last year because I was even faster and know that it caps off my senior year."