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SUGAR HOUSE — Kyle Steadman didn't see much of his Mountain View cross country teammates as he pulled away from his nearest competitor by more than 30 seconds at the 4A boys cross country state meet.
The senior saw them soon enough once he crossed the finish line.
Steadman won the individual title in 15 minutes, 6.73 seconds as the Bruins placed four among the top eight to cruise to their fourth consecutive state title Tuesday at Sugar House Park.
"I was looking at who my teammates were, and I realized I wasn't even looking at our (usual) No. 2," Steadman recalled. "I was surprised it was already finished — like, I think we're done scoring already. I had barely gotten out of the chute.
"I was like, freak yeah."
Wyatt Jeppson and Kyle Chipman finished back-to-back fifth and sixth in 15:54.08 and 15:59.39, respectively for Mountain View, and Maverik Dutson added an eighth-place finish in 16:07.32.
Ammon Larsen was 12th in 16:17.07 to round out the Bruins' scoring five with 32 points, easily outpacing crosstown rival Orem's 88 for first place. Timpanogos (99), Pine View (100) and Desert Hills (137) rounded out the top five.
By the time Mountain View's harriers had gathered at the podium, they were met with another surprise: the Bruins were bringing home another championship, the 21st in girls' program history.
Both programs improved their state-record title streaks, with Mountain View's girls earning back-to-back team titles with four of the top 12 individual finishes.
"The girls have come away with a little more hardware this season than the boys," said Mountain View's Mike Strauss, who coaches both teams. "I think the boys expected it to be a little bit different … but the girls came in as a quiet underdog story, and it got pretty competitive about who was coming with which hardware. But when you both get to come home with the W, I think it was a good opportunity to bring them together."
Sophie Waite led the Bruins with a sixth-place finish in 18:34.54, just ahead of teammate June Zimmerman in 18:41.16.
Julie Moore and Lily Waite added 11th and 12th, respectively, to help Mountain View hold off Green Canyon with 62 points.
Hailey Atwater claimed West Field's first state title in the first-year school's history, finishing first individual in 18:07.81.
"Mentally, I was just a lot more in it than I've been these last few races," said the sophomore, who shed a pair of arm warmer and gloves midway through the race in rainy 45-degree weather — and immediately regretted it. "I've been kind of struggling mentally, but this time, I was just so prepared and went into it more prepared than I've ever been and mentally a lot stronger."
4A boys cross country
- Complete results available at meettrax.com
Team scores
- Mountain View, 32
- Orem, 88
- Timpanogos, 99
- Pine View, 100
- Desert Hills, 137
Top-10 finishers
- Kyle Steadman, Mountain View — 15:06.73
- Bridger Jaggi, Pine View — 15:39.34
- Peter Mecham, Orem — 15:44.42
- Takashi Shipp, Orem — 15:48.90
- Wyatt Jeppson, Mountain View — 15:54.08
- Kyle Chipman, Mountain View — 15:59.39
- Trevor Prior, Pine View — 16:02.34
- Maverik Dutson, Mountain View — 16:07.32
- Josh Martin, Hillcrest — 16:13.25
- Mason Gertsch, Crimson Cliffs — 16:16.68
4A girls cross country
- Complete results available at meettrax.com
Team scores
- Mountain View, 62
- Green Canyon, 85
- Orem, 88
- Cedar, 134
- Pine View, 173
Top-10 finishers
- Hailey Atwater, West Field — 18:07.81
- Charlotte Felt, Green Canyon — 18:10.04
- Tatum Flash, Park City — 18:14.20
- Madelyn Embley, Orem — 18:22.34
- Hailey Shakespear, Green Canyon — 18:29.52
- Sophie Waite, Mountain View — 18:34.54
- June Zimmerman, Mountain View — 18:41.16
- Chelsea Shakespear, Green Canyon — 18:41.72
- Leah Larsen, Stansbury — 18:44.35
- Kate Adams, Orem — 18:45.69
