By Kyle Newman and Brent New | Denver Post
Coronado’s Oliver Horton sets all-classification state meet record to win Class 4A cross country title
In last year’s letdown at the state meet, Oliver Horton went out too fast, gassed out and finished a disappointing third.
So going into this year’s meet at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, the Coronado headliner vowed to stick to his game plan and not let others dictate his pace. That plan lasted … about 30 seconds.
“It felt like we were jogging out there at the start,” Horton said. “Like, we went around that (first) hairpin turn, and I was like, ‘Dude, what are we doing?’ So I just took the lead probably 300, 400 meters in, and after that, I just didn’t look back.”
Unlike last year, Horton didn’t gas out. He clocked a 14-minute, 48.40-second time, setting an all-classification state meet record to win the Class 4A individual title while also propelling Coronado to the team championship.
The performance was a drastic improvement from his 2024 state time, when Horton ran 15:31.3, 29 seconds behind the winner, Aiden Le Roux. The Cheyenne Mountain star was unable to run at this year’s meet due to injury. Without the reigning state Gatorade Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year in the field, no one was able to challenge Horton as he shattered Le Roux’s course record from a year ago by 14 seconds.
Ritzenhein siblings help fuel Niwot’s dominance at Colorado XC championships
Addy and Jude Ritzenhein are openly competitive. They race in the swimming pool, then battle for “Mario Kart” dominance.
They even play a game of ‘Who can eat the most gross-flavored jelly beans?’ … Hard to determine the real winner there.
Running-wise, however, they’re strictly supportive.
On Saturday at the CHSAA state cross country championships, senior Addy added to her already decorated high school legacy, sealing an individual three-peat by winning the 5A girls race. Jude, meanwhile, finished sixth in his freshman debut, and the Cougars celebrated both a girls’ and boys’ team title.
“It’s so special to have this last year with him,” Addy, the Northern Arizona commit, said.
In cold conditions at Norris Penrose Event Center, the state’s biggest name in girls running couldn’t break the course record (16:54.70) she set in 2024, but she still won the 5A race by more than 30 seconds, at 17:08.50.