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HERRIMAN — Second-year Herriman High cross country coach Doug Soles made a bold proclamation to his Mustang boys team before the season: this group would win a national title, and "do great things."
After finishing second to Utah power American Fork at both the 6A state meet and the Nike Cross Southwest Regionals, it would have been easy to doubt that prediction. Truthfully, Soles admits, the team didn't believe him at the start.
Who's laughing now?
Jack Beckstrom and Jonah Tang finished the wet, muddy 5-kilometer course at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland in 15 minutes, 40.9 seconds and 15:42.4, respectively, to finish in the top-35 individually as the Mustangs totaled 83 points and held off American Fork by 17 Saturday to become the first team from Utah to win.
"They looked at me like I was a little insane, man," he recalled. "I think the difference is, the way that I think, when I look out here, I see a lot of future national champions. And I'm excited about that. ... This is the start of something amazing. It's not a final, it's a beginning."
It wasn't just Herriman, either. Utah harriers took four of the top-17 individual places, led by Wake Forest-bound JoJo Jourdon from Olympus winning the individual title in 15:16.5.
Orem's Austin Westfall was fourth in 15:22.6, pre-race favorite and BYU commit Daniel Simmons from American Fork moved up eight spots in the final 1,000 meters to place 13th in 15:29.9, and Riverton's Andrew Ludwig was 17th in 15:31.2 to pace the Silverwolves to ninth as a team from the field of 200 runners from 21 of the best teams in the country.
It's the fourth time in nine seasons that a native Utahn has won the race, going back to BYU All-American Casey Clinger's back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016 and Timpview's Aidan Troutner in 2017.
The Cavemen have finished second four times in the last 11 years, including each of the past two seasons, to be among the pre-race favorites.
"We didn't win state; we didn't win NXR. But our community believed in us and helped us win nationals," said Herriman senior William Steadman, who finished 37th in 15:45.0. "That's one thing that really helped us get this title: We knew there were a ton of people cheering for us back home, and that gave us confidence that we could win."
6A state champion Lone Peak's girls program placed fourth, paced by Andie Aagard's 52nd place finish, and American Fork's Avalon Mecham was 25th individually.
That competition, though, motivated the Mustangs, who train daily in the sloshy mud near the Oquirrh Mountains to remain unfazed by Saturday's conditions, senior Hyrum Wood said.
"It kind of gave us a fire. We know where we're supposed to be, and we're OK letting them have the pressure going into the biggest meet. We know we can perform there," Wood said. "We love American Fork; we've been friends with them, and they're great sports. It's been a tradeoff, but we're happy to have it."
Herriman was also motivated by the "distance culture" developing in the state, Wood added, propelled by American Fork and legendary head coach Timo Mostert, a collegiate scene led by BYU and reigning junior college champions Salt Lake Community College, and a rising pro circuit anchored by the state-sponsored Run Elite Program.
"We're a powerhouse (state)," Wood said. "It hasn't been recognized as much, but I think now, people are starting to catch on. We have 3 million people in Utah to California's 30 million, but we consistently put twice as many teams up at nationals. We're really good, and it's part of the Utah pride and distance culture in this state. It's revolving around Utah a bit, and it's cool to see."
Saturday's title was the first at Herriman and first for a Utah school. But it was the second for Mustangs head coach Soles, who previously won the NXR title with California's Great Oak in 2015.
"We felt like we were the No. 1 team in the country going into the season, and American Fork was eventually ranked No. 1, as well," said Soles, whose team earned a podium finish for an NXR record-tying fifth time in his career, according to DyeStat. "We just saw some tremendous growth out of some of our younger guys that ended up being really good juniors and ran great for us.
"We felt like we had a really good chance to win it this season, and we knew that we could be in the hunt. But I think the biggest parallel is just the confidence these guys had; the night before and day of (the final), you could see the confidence in their faces. They were ready to compete, to give their all, and it would take a special race by somebody else not to win."
After a year away from coaching — and with some prodding by the local community, including Riverton head coach Chase Englestead, to get back in the game — Soles took over a program that he felt could contend with the best in the state.
And now, the nation.
"Timo is a great coach, one of the best all-time coaches in U.S. history," said Soles, whose team finished third a year ago after entering the national meet ranked No. 18. "They challenge us all the time, and they ran a race (Saturday) that would win most NXNs. Our goal is always to win the national meet, and sometimes state is a little early for us and NXR is a qualifier. We might just be building, and I think we showed that. ... I think these guys are only going to get better, and we return a really solid crew next year to build a dynasty. I'm really excited about that."
