State cross country: Simmons breezes to repeat 6A title as American Fork goes back-to-back

SALT LAKE CITY — Daniel Simmons was flying like no one could catch him as he hit the final mile on the state cross country course at the Salt Lake Regional Complex.

But the American Fork senior talked himself into the opposite mindset to make it happen.

"I really wanted to act as if I was getting beat," Simmons said of his 5:00.8 final-mile split after running 4:52.9 and 4:50.3 in the first two splits. "I knew I wasn't here to just win; I wanted to come out here and put my soul into the race, put my heart into the time, and put out my best effort. That would make me feel the best after the race, to feel happy and excited."

The BYU commit and reigning Gatorade national cross country runner of the year blitzed to a time of 14 minutes, 44.0 seconds to capture his second 6A state championship Tuesday in Rose Park as the Cavemen swept the top three on the podium to claim a repeat team title and 11th in school history.

Kaden Evans finished second in 15:10.3, and Chase Pack added a third-place performance in 15:11.4 as American Fork did all of its scoring inside the top 20, including four in the top 10 to hold off Herriman — the nation's top-ranked team by DyeStat and MileSplit — by 6 points.

"We believed, we got this; that's the key," Simmons said of his team while warming up in matching neon green T-shirts to obscure a new uniform American Fork debuted Tuesday. "The key is belief, and belief is unlimited speed."

With his senior season of high school cross in the books, Simmons next look forward to the Pre-Foot Locker Invitational in Pleasant Grove, followed by national invitationals like Nike Cross Nationals, where the 5-foot-8, 125-pound All-American with a 3.98 GPA placed second with a time of 14:51.7.

After the track and field season, Simmons will then be off to BYU in 2024, where he plans to run a semester before leaving on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"I'm just gonna stay happy, stay positive and try to stay humble," he said. "We want to keep progressing. This is definitely our goal, to win state and be our best today. But we're not going to stop; we're going to try to keep progressing."

Here are the top results from the Utah High School Activities Association boys cross country state championships.

6A boys

Top 5 teams (points)

1. American Fork (33)
2. Herriman (39)
3. Lone Peak (95)
4. Riverton (146)
5. Layton (166)

Top 10 individuals

1. Daniel Simmons, Sr., American Fork — 14:44.0
2. Kaden Evans, Jr., American Fork — 15:10.3
3. Chase Pack, Sr., American Fork — 15:11.4
4. Nathan Rummler, Sr., Lone Peak — 15:17.5
5. Tayshaun Ogomo, Jr., Herriman — 15:21.9
6. Jonah Tang, Jr., Herriman — 15:22.2
7. Jack Beckstrom, Sr., Herriman — 15:22.3
8. Ben Bradshaw, Sr., American Fork — 15:22.7
9. Max Hofheins, Sr., Herriman — 15:27.3
10. Davis Rydman, Sr., Layton — 15:27.8

5A boys

Abram Sumsion and Aiden Cope each posted top-10 times of 15:38.8 and 15:52.7, respectively, and Maple Mountain used its depth to claim the program's first state title.

Max Ulrich added an 11th-place finish in 15:56.6 for the Golden Eagles, who placed each of their scoring runners in the top-40 to hold off Viewmont.

The Vikings were led by runner-up Gabe Hooper, who finished in 15:15.2

Olympus senior JoJo Jourdon won the individual title in 14:58.3, which would edge Ogden's Alex Parsons for the fifth-fastest state meet time set in 2015 at Sugarhouse Park.

Top 5 teams (points)

1. Maple Mountain (82)
2. Viewmont (92)
3. Alta (119)
4. Taylorsville (179)
5. Olympus (184)

Top 10 individuals

1. JoJo Jourdon, Sr., Olympus — 14:58.3
2. Gabe Hooper, Sr., Viewmont — 15:15.2
3. Vance Langston, Sr., Brighton — 15:22.2
4. Cole Jameson, Jr., Taylorsville — 15:29.3
5. Abram Sumsion, Sr., Maple Mountain — 15:38.8
6. Aidan Neal, So., Alta — 15:42.0
7. Brady Christensen, Sr., Woods Cross — 15:47.6
8. Cooper Walbeck, Sr., Alta — 15:51.2
9. Aiden Cope, Jr., Maple Mountain — 15:52.7
10. Joey Rees, Jr., Springville — 15:53.0

4A boys

Kyle Steadman finished second in 15:22.5, and Mountain View edged intracity rival Orem on a sixth-runner tiebreaker to claim the Bruins' third-straight championship and 18th in program history.

Orem's Austin Westfall won the individual title in 15:22.5 as the Tigers scored first, sixth, eighth, 11th and 30th before a 39th-place tiebreaker.

The Bruins added a fourth-place finish in Isaac Sohler, as well as 12th, 14th, 24th and a 27th-place tiebreaker.

Top 5 teams (points)

1. Mountain View (56)
2. Orem (56)
3. Timpanogos (97)
4. Pine View (110)
5. Desert Hills (118)

Top-10 individuals

1. Austin Westfall, Sr., Orem — 15:00.1
2. Kyle Steadman, Jr., Mountain View — 15:22.5
3. Clark Peters, Sr., Timpanogos — 15:33.9
4. Isaac Sohler, Jr., Mountain View — 15:39.4
5. Walker Brinkerhoff, Sr., Desert Hills — 15:44.2
6. Tate James, Sr., Orem — 15:49.9
7. Carter Benson, Sr., Timpanogos — 15:52.1
8. Tyler Jenson, Sr., Orem — 15:59.6
9. Talmage Wright, Sr., Pine View — 15:59.9
10. Deiderik Witt, Jr., Timpanogos — 16:01.3

3A boys

Thomas Daniels' sixth-place finish in 16:31.1 paced Canyon View to its first state championship in program history.

Logan Hadley added a 10th-place finish in 16:38.8 for the Falcons, whose scoring runners all finished in the top 25.

Emery's Camdon Larsen won the individual title in 15:55.4.

Top-5 teams (points)

1. Canyon View (63)
2. Manti (110)
3. Ogden (112)
4. Emery (133)
5. Morgan (139)

Top 10 individuals

1. Camdon Larsen, Sr., Emery — 15:55.4
2. Stewart Woodward, Jr., Summit Academy — 16:01.8
3. Kaden McGovern, So., Summit Academy — 16:08.0
4. Kyle Steinfeldt, Sr., Manti — 16:24.7
5. Matthew Costello, Jr., Union — 16:26.2
6. Thomas Daniels, Jr., Canyon View — 16:31.1
7. Easton Humes, Sr., Carbon — 16:33.5
8. EJ Lee, Jr., Morgan — 16:35.1
9. Colton Scharmann, Sr., Ogden — 16:35.4
10. Logan Hadley, Jr., Canyon View — 16:38.8

2A boys

Ben Millard paced Millard to its third-straight title with an individual championship in 16:10.3 as the Eagles blitzed to the 2A title.

Travis Whitaker added a top-10 finish in 17:02.2 for Millard, which won its seventh title in school history, tied for the 10th most in the state.

Top-5 teams (points)

1. Millard (74)
2. Water Canyon (83)
3. San Juan (84)
4. North Sevier (112)
5. Enterprise (125)

Top-10 individuals

1. Ben Ralphs, Jr., Millard — 16:10.3
2. Edward Lyman, Sr., San Juan — 16:31.3
3. Emmitt Nelson, So., North Sevier — 16:42.2
4. Jason Kerksiek, Sr., Beaver — 16:42.3
5. Austin Edwards, Sr., Parowan — 17:02.1
6. Travis Whitaker, Sr., Millard — 17:02.2
7. Theil Cooke, Sr., Water Canyon — 17:02.4
8. Roger Cope, So., Enterprise — 17:05.0
9. Rulon Barlow, Sr., Water Canyon — 17:08.6
10. Austin White, Sr., North Summit — 17:08.8

1A boys

Monticello's depth was too much for another 1A boys school — including the one with the individual champion — to overcome.

Kooper Nielson finished seventh in 17:55.8 to lead four Buckaroo harriers in the top-16 as Monticello cruised to its 1A state-record 11th state championship in program history and first since 2017.

The win gives the Buckaroos 11 team titles, breaking a tie with American Fork for the second-most in UHSAA history and the most of a program below Utah's top division. Mountain View holds the overall record with 17, including nine-straight from 1997-2005.

Altamont senior Ashton Arnold cruised to his second-straight state title, beating his previous championship time by nearly five seconds in 17:14.1

Top 5 teams (points)

1. Monticello (42)
2. Altamont (85
3. Panguitch (94)
4. Escalante (95)
5. Piute (102)

Top 10 individuals

1. Ashton Arnold, Sr., Altamont — 17:14.1
2. Kade Severe, Sr., Piute — 17:35.4
3. Blake Peterson, So., Wayne — 17:44.5
4. Masen Brown, So., Tintic — 17:45.0
5. Warren Spencer, Jr., Valley — 17:48.2
6. Ethan Begay, So., Whitehorse — 17:54.5
7. Kooper Nielson, So., Monticello — 17:55.8
8. Jesse Pettit, Sr., Monticello — 17:58.7
9. Daniel Draper, So., Manila — 18:01.1
10. Kole Westwood, Sr., Piute — 18:14.3

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