Timpview's Lilly Alder breaks the tape well ahead of the nearest competitor during the 5A cross country championships on Wednesday. October 29, 2025
Lone Peak Coach Courtney Meldrum knew she had something special brewing four years ago, and on Wednesday that something combined to lend the Knights a fourth straight 6A girls cross country title.
The Knights again proved dominant, placing four of their top runners in the top 10 to stand proudly on the podium in hoisting yet another championship trophy.
"These girls are awesome, and they all made me stay the course when I almost quit about four years ago," Meldrum admitted during her post race interview. "They've just dynamic people, both on and off the course and they're all the best little friends. They all really know how to run together well, and I think you saw that out there today."
As Meldrum stated, she felt it was time to move on four years ago before determining the potential of then freshmen runners such as Brielle Nilsson, Zoey Nilsson and Anna Bybee could help bring about something special for Lone Peak. On Wednesday, all three of them ran proud in what was their final state championship run for the Knights.
"I'm really sad that they're all moving on, but they're forever friends," Meldrum said. "I knew immediately, even when they were freshmen, that they were going to be a special group. They just had chemistry. You can build culture, and that's tough, but building true chemistry is a lot harder, and you could just see that they all had it. They carry each other and value each other. They race with each other and never against each other."
Leading the way for the Knights on Wednesday was junior Maya Bybee, who finished second with a time of 17:52.71, and Brielle Nilsson, who placed third with a time of 18:04.31. Paityn Rohatinsky finished fifth for the Knights with her time of 18:12.65 with Hailey Atwater crossing the finish line in ninth place with a time of 18:24.19.
Winning the individual competition was American Fork's Skye Jensen, who finished well ahead of Bybee with a time of 17:38.92. For Jensen, who is a junior, it was her second straight state championship.
"It feels really good knowing I had the strength to do it," Jensen said. "It was really hard doing it both times, but I got it done, just trying to keep it calm and controlled at first and then really just gave it all I had to finish out."
Jensen helped American Fork to a second place team finish with Westlake placing fourth, Skyridge seventh and Lehi ninth.
5A competition
Winning a state championship in cross country isn't just about placing runners with gold, silver or even bronze medals, but by every runner doing their part in maintaining enough quality to get get it done. Perhaps this fact has never been better exemplified that with what Springville did in taking home the team championship despite not placing a single winner within the top 7 finishers.
"We knew we had a shot, so we made a race plan and just gave it all we had," Valerie Bodily said. "We hoped that it would be enough, but we knew we were in the running and that it was going to be close."
Leading the way for the Red Devils were Anna Kent, who placed eighth with and time of 18:40.7 and Maya Boyer, who placed 11th with a time of 18:56.03. Everyone else did just enough to provide a combined team score of 79, which narrowly topped Viewmont's combined score of 88.
"There's some really great competition, so every single one of them had to show up and race their best if we wanted to win," Bodily said. "...Every single one of them ran smart and stuck to their plan. They raced really strong."
For Bodily, she had high praise for every member of her team in accomplishing the somewhat unexpected on Wednesday.
"This is the hardest-working and closest team I've coached," Bodily said. "They encourage each other and they pull each other. They don't let each other drop and they just work together so hard as a team unit instead of separate individuals...all of that has pushed us to this point."
Bodily held special praise for her seniors, Kent and Boyer, both of whom set the tone for the entire season.
"They are our seniors and they led our team during every meet," Bodily said. "They didn't just lead because they're fast, but with their examples...They put in the work every day and everyone on our team holds everyone accountable."
Winning the individual title in the 5A competition was Timpview's Lilly Alder, who crushed the competition with a winning time of 17:27.74. Other top finishers from Utah County were Maple Mountain's Ashlynn Lainhart, who finished seventh with a time of 18:40.39 and Pleasant Grove's Charlotte Kowallis, whose 18:53.42 time placed her in the eighth spot.