In first cross country race since capturing NXN title in December, Newbury Park relies on individual win from Colin Sahlman to place five scorers in top nine and achieve 5-kilometer team time of 75:24.9 in unattached/club competition; Ben Shearer surges past Judson Greer in high school sweepstakes battle 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

SAN TAN VALLEY – Just in case a 10-month break in between cross country races resulted in the rest of the country needing a reminder about the strength and depth of the Newbury Park boys team, the Panthers delivered a dominant display Friday night at the 14th annual Desert Twilight Festival in Arizona.

Despite graduating reigning Nike Cross Nationals individual winner Nico Young (Northern Arizona) and All-American Jace Aschbrenner (Colorado) from last year’s NXN championship team, in addition to challenges to maintain consistent training during the Coronavirus pandemic, Newbury Park demonstrated it hadn’t lost a step in the unattached/club sweepstakes race at The Links at Queen Creek.

Relying on a breakthrough performance from junior leader Colin Sahlman and an impressive young supporting cast, the “Panther Pack” turned the eagerly anticipated showdown against California rival Great Oak into one of the most impressive showcases by a high school program in prep history.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Competing as Newbury Park Athletic Club, the defending national champions placed five runners in the top nine, six athletes in front of the first finisher for last year’s NXN runner-up South Temecula Track Club, scoring 17 points and achieving a 5-kilometer team time of 75 minutes, 24.9 seconds.

With Young and Aschbrenner in the lineup last season, Newbury Park set the all-time team record at the California Division 2 state final at Woodward Park in Fresno by clocking 75:26.7.

Sahlman surged ahead of senior Jack Scherer of Oshkosh North High in Wisconsin in the final 75 meters to prevail in 14:53.67, one of only five athletes at the two-day meet to achieve a sub-15 performance.

Scherer, a recent Northern Arizona University commit who represents Tinman Junior Elite, ran 14:54.49, with junior Isaac Teeples of Kamiakin High in Washington finishing fourth in 15:01.50.

Lex Young (14:56.79) and Leo Young (15:06.39), Nico’s sophomore brothers, placed third and fifth for Newbury Park, with sophomore Aaron Sahlman (15:10.31), Colin’s brother, securing sixth and senior Nick Goldstein ninth in 15:17.77. Christian Simone, a Great Oak transfer, was 13th in 15:22.73 for the Panthers, competing in his first cross country race in nearly a year.

Led by Bellarmine College Prep senior twins Nolan Topper (15:13.17) and Galen Topper (15:14.90) placing seventh and eighth to lead five scorers in the top 25, Northern California-based Menlo iGreyhounds Track Club took second with 59 points.

Austin Montez (15:25.43) was the top finisher for South Temecula in 16th, with Nathan Lennox (15:27.84) placing 18th for the group representing Great Oak.

Newbury Park had a total of eight athletes among the 70 competitors who ran under 16 minutes during the two-day meet, including Daniel Appleford (15:53.62) in 33rd place in the sweepstakes, along with Tommy McDonnell (15:56.73) winning the boys unattached/club championship race.

Despite McDonnell and Aaron Cantu (16:23.57) taking the top two spots for Newbury Park, the South Temecula lineup competing in the championship race prevailed by a 45-51 margin.

Senior Ben Shearer of The Woodlands Christian won an all-Texas matchup against Judson Greer of Melissa in the boys high school sweepstakes race, which produced the two fastest times of the entire meet.

Shearer pulled in front of the North Carolina-bound Greer in the final kilometer and held on for victory in 14:39.60. Greer, who placed fifth at Foot Locker Nationals last year, ran 14:45.81.

Randy Espinoza of Deer Valley in Arizona, who won the championship race last year, took third in the sweepstakes race in 15:09.79, just ahead of Xander Black of Brophy College Prep (15:12.69).

Sergio Leon Cuartas led El Paso Eastwood to its third boys sweepstakes title in five years, finishing fifth in 15:15.53. Eastwood, which has more boys sweepstakes wins than any program in meet history, had all five scorers in the top 25 to produce an impressive victory with 53 points.

Highland High from Arizona, led by Elijah Poelman taking 17th in 15:42.11, was second with 126 points.

Sophomore Dominykas Remeikis of Summit High in Colorado won the boys high school championship race in 15:56.99, edging Noah Fleming of Sandra Day O’Connor from Arizona in 15:58.

Salpointe Catholic from Arizona, relying on five scorers in the top 25, earned a 58-70 victory over IMG Academy from Florida, which placed three athletes in the top 10.