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Utah high school cross country ranks among the best in the country, a fact that should be evident Wednesday when boys' and girls' teams compete for state titles at Sugar House Park.
From a team standpoint, American Fork, Davis, Lone Peak, Timpanogos and Desert Hills boys have all been ranked nationally this season. Individually, runners such as East's Garek Bielaczyc, American Fork's Casey Clinger, Ogden's Alek Parsons, Davis' Aubrey Argyle, and Provo's Kate Hunter are highly regarded.
Bielaczyk, for example, won the high school portion of the Roy Griak Invite in Minnesota earlier this year. Though Parsons edged him by a second in the Region 5 meet, Bielacyk has been ranked as high as fifth in the country this season.
What makes Utah cross country so strong?
Part of it is that competition in-state is strong. The state's high elevation helps develop strong lungs that help Utah runners when they go to national meets at lower elevations. Some of it is just good coaching.
"It's cool to see Utah teams do really well on a national scale," said veteran East coach Bill Cobler. "We have some of the top teams in the country in Utah, so we don't have to go to those bigger meets to achieve the goal of a big-race atmosphere. It wears on you racing the same guys over and over again. It makes it difficult. It's good to try something different."
Part of the challenge for coaches such as Cobler is getting kids such as Bielaczyk to go out for a sport that doesn't offer the glamor of team sports.
"My freshman year, my dad asked me to pick a sport," said the East runner. "I had friends on the cross country team so I thought I would give it a try. As a freshman, I never imagined I would like it or continue to go as far as I have. It was really hard to start out. It catches you off-guard. It just hurts."
But, as he made friends and got stronger, Bielaczyk started enjoying the sport that is all but certain to land him a college scholarship. He enjoyed running in Utah's mountains and improved.
"As a freshman, he hadn't done any sports and he threatened he was going to walk from the team," said Cobler. "But he stuck with it. He is seeing now the rewards that come from being successful at cross country and track."
But nothing is easy about the sport. Cobler said Bielaczyk begins training for cross country as soon as the track season ends in May with the goal of peaking at the right time.
"Garek and I drew out a training plan to hit the right race on the right day so we are not throwing darts, but trying to get them to run their fastest on one given day. You have to know how much or how little to train."
Bielaczyk, a 3.8 student, credits his coach with much of his success.
"He believed in me every step of the way," he said. "From that first day my freshman year, he would always keep pushing me to do your best and give your best every day. The values he established in me helped me become a successful runner."
Now, the East runner hopes to improve on his fourth-place Class 4A finish from a year ago. That seemed a good bet until last week's Region 5 race. Now the individual battle between he and Ogden's Parsons promises to be a highlight of a day of 10 races among some of the top prep runners in the country.
Twitter: @tribtomwharton Defending champions
Boys
5A • American Fork
4A • Orem
3A • Desert Hills
2A • Millard
1A • Monticello
Girls
5A • American Fork
4A • Mountain Crest
3A • Park City
2A • North Summit
1A • Panguitch —
State cross country schedule
P At Sugar House Park, Wednesday
11 a.m. • 1A girls
11:30 a.m. • 2A girls
Noon • 1A boys
12:30 p.m. • 2A boys
1 p.m. • 3A girls
1:30 p.m. • 4A girls
2 p.m. • 5A girls
2:30 p.m. • 3A boys
3 p.m. • 4A boys
3:30 p.m. • 5A boys