High school cross country: Macee Nielson convincingly wins final rivalry race in 1A

SALT LAKE CITY — If the highly anticipated showdown in the 1A state cross country meet between Monticello star Macee Nielson and her friends and fierce competitors from St. Joseph had come down to a sprint finish, Nielson wouldn't have liked her chances.

"I do have," she admitted, "kind of a weak kick."

Nielson, however, made sure Wednesday's big race didn't come down to the wire.

Far from it.

Nielson impressively zoomed away from her St. Joseph competitors in the first mile, and she had the strength to stay away and ultimately win convincingly, 18:59.5 to 19:40.8, over second-place Alex Shaw of St. Joseph in what was both girls' final prep cross country meet.

Nielson won 1A when Shaw and St. Joseph teammate Andrea Chavez were all freshmen three years ago, and these talented runners have battled and battled each other ever since — be it in cross country or in track.

Chavez won 1A two years ago before Shaw won it last year, so Wednesday's 1A state meet represented the last final opportunity for one of those three terrific runners to beat the others in cross country.

And in the end, it was Nielson who walked away with the individual honors on a day when Shaw and Chavez, who finished in fifth place, wrapped up their amazing careers by leading St. Joseph to its fourth consecutive girls state championship.

When Nielson came down the big hill at Sugarhouse Park during the early stages of the girls race, she decided at that moment that she needed to try to break away from Shaw.

It was a decisive move.

"I know how she runs, and I was like, 'I gotta go now,' because I know she can kick and I know she's got a lot of guts in the last mile," said Nielson. "So I knew I had to go right then, and that's just what I was thinkin' the whole time, 'I gotta go, I gotta go.'"

Nielson went, and no one was able to follow. Nielson looked extremely strong throughout, and she drove home to beat Shaw by more than 41 seconds.

Nielson, Shaw, Chavez and St. Joseph's Tauna DeHaan, who had also battled over the years with the other three stars but didn't race this fall because of a hamstring injury, have all become friends since Nielson first won when they were freshmen, and they've loved being able to race against each other ever since.

Because they're so close, Nielson had a time saying she had earned "bragging rights" over her St. Jo pals after she beat them on Wednesday.

"We all race really well," she said.