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Winning a state cross-country meet was a matter of progression for the likes of Bingham's Whitney Rich, Springville's Julie Sumsion, Desert Hills' Bailey Brinkerhoff and Tintic's Bailey Wall.

But taking titles in 5A, 4A, 3A and 1A, respectively, was a little bit more than that for this quartet.

Rich, Sumsion, Brinkerhoff and Wall all improved their final standing from last year's state meet, but all four also had to leapfrog competitors who had defeated them a year ago.

Sumsion, who finished fourth in the 2015 Class 4A state race, certainly knew defending champ Kate Hunter from Provo and third-place Mimi Miyazawa from Mountain View were in this year's race.

But on Wednesday at Sugar House Park, Sumsion was also more than happy to report in the end that she wasn't sure where her rivals placed.

Just somewhere behind her.

Sumsion, a senior, took first in 4A with a time of 17 minutes, 55 seconds, while Hunter was five seconds back. Miyazawa ended up seventh in the three-mile race that ended at the football stadium at Highland High.

Timpanogos won the 4A team championship to edge Mountain View by a point.

With 400 yards before the finish, Sumsion surged by Hunter to take the lead.

"I knew she had a great kick, so I just gave it all I had," Sumsion said. "She's a great runner, so I just tried as hard as I could.

"I think I did [look back] once, just because I was so nervous," she added.

It was the first time Sumsion beat Hunter in a high school race.

"I've been running against her for four years, and we're friends. It's an honor to say you beat Kate Hunter," she said. "I love her. She's awesome."

Class 5A

Rich, likewise, ran Wednesday knowing that she would have to beat someone who topper her the year before.

And the Bingham senior took the 5A cross-country championship in emphatic fashion, beating Weber junior McKenna Lee by over seven seconds.

Last year, when since-graduated Courtney Wayment of Davis roared to victory, Lee crossed the finish line in second while Rich took third.

But Rich made the most of her last prep opportunity in this event.

"I made it this far, but the race isn't over yet," Rich said of her feelings entering the stadium with a big lead. "It's easy to mentally check out, but you've just got to keep working, keep telling yourself to pick it up.

"You don't start celebrating until you cross the finish line, that's for sure," she added.

Sara Musselman of American Fork took third overall, and her result helped the Lady Cavemen capture the team championship, beating back Davis and Lone Peak.

Class 3A

Some strategy came into play for Brinkerhoff in the 3A race, and it wasn't to go immediately for the front.

"I just knew I had to stay back the first mile and make my move later," the Desert Hills sophomore said.

That she did, as Brinkerhoff sailed to the win by a large margin. Her time of 18:22 was 13 seconds ahead of Tooele's Makayla Komer and Stansbury's Zoe Hales, who battle for the second spot.

Hales, who finished third, was the runner-up in 2015. While Hales' time on Saturday was 23 seconds better than a year before, Brinkerhoff's improvement was to the tune of 38 seconds.

"I didn't even think about getting first when I got third last year," said Brinkerhoff, whose confidence level was boosted by winning the 1,600 and 3,200 races at the state track meet last spring.

Class 2A

Sadie Sargent of North Summit claimed the 2A title that she came oh-so-close to getting a year earlier. In 2015, Sargent lost to Millard's Anna Camp by a scant two-tenths of a second.

But Camp wasn't around since she graduated at the end of the last school year.

Sargent more than took advantage. Teammate Maggie Zwahlen came in second, but it was a whopping 37 seconds behind Sargent.

The top-end finishes for the Braves helped give North Summit the 2A team championship, as North Sevier and Millard took second and third, respectively.

"That's a lot better than last year," Sargent said of her time. "I ran my race, Maggie ran her race and we took it home for the team."

Class 1A

The first winner of the day was Bailey Wall of Tintic.

Wall was third in '15, while St. Joseph's Meghann Clare was second behind Panguitch's Whittni Orton.

Orton graduated, but Clare and others still presented obstacles for Wall on Wednesday. But none of those were even visible when Wall crossed the line at 20:09.8. Second-place Taylia Norris, a Panguitch freshman, was second, with a time 54 seconds slower.

Parowan won the team portion in 1A as Maria Calvario finished fourth overall — behind third-place Keziah Palmer of Valley and ahead of Clare. —

Girls' results

Class 5A

Individual

1. Whitney Rich, Bingham 17:39.3; 2. McKenna Lee, Weber 17:46.9; 3. Sara Musselman, American Fork 18:03.2; 4. Aubrey Argyle, Davis 18:06.7; 5. Bailey Winter, Fremont 18:07.0.

Team

1. American Fork, 68; 2. Davis, 78; 3. Lone Peak, 94; 4. Weber, 108; 5. Fremont, 146.

Class 4A

Individual

1. Julie Sumsion, Springville 17:55.8; 2. Kate Hunter, Provo 18:00.5; 3. Kaitlin Struthers, Skyridge 18:05.2; 4. Camille Winterton, Skyline 18:05.5; 5. Abby West, Wasatch 18:23.0.

Team

1. Timpanogos, 85; 2. Mountain View, 86; 3. Skyline, 90; 4. Skyridge, 118; 5. Maple Mountain, 131.

Class 3A

Individual

1. Bailey Brinkerhoff, Desert Hills 18:22.6; 2. Makayla Komer, Tooele 18:35.8; 3. Zoe Hales, Stansbury 18:36.1; 4. Mic Webster, Cedar 18:37.5; 5. Rylee Holt, Pine View 18:47.5.

Team

1. Pine View, 45; 2. Desert Hills, 65; 3. Cedar, 84; 4. Park City, 115; 5. Stansbury, 165.

Class 2A

Individual

1. Sadie Sargent, North Summit, 17:58.0; 2. Maggie Zwahlen, North Summit, 18:35.5; 3. Sara Pabst, Summit Academy, 19:41.1; 4. Mayci Torgerson, North Sevier, 19:32.9; 5. Erin Hurst, Emery, 19:53.9.

Team

1. North Summit, 57; 2. North Sevier, 95; 3. Millard, 106; 4. Manti, 117; 5. San Juan, 119.

Class 1A

Individual

1. Bailey Wall, Tintic, 20:09.8; 2. Taylia Norris, Panguitch, 21:03.6; 3. Keziah Palmer, Valley, 21:04.2; 4. Maria Calvario, Parowan, 21:05.2; 5. Meghann Clare, St. Joseph, 21:09.5.

Team

1. Parowan, 36; 2. Panguitch, 48; 3. Milford, 65; 4. Duchesne, 114; 5. Tintic, 129.