Campos gunning for title No. 2 after winning rare freshman XC title

Finishing at the top in her very first season as a high school runner, Vanguard’s Nadhia Campos sure has a pretty big target on her back within the Class 2A girls cross country scene.

She also has a jump start on what could be an historic career.

Campos continued what has been a longstanding tradition at the state meet – seeing Vanguard come through with much success whether individually or as a team. But to win the state title as a freshman was not necessarily something she expected.

“I’m so thankful for my coaches and everyone that’s helped me this season,” Campos said after winning her last race of the 2021 season. “I was nervous and kind of worried going into the season, but I started doing really great because of my training. I’m just really proud of myself looking back on it.”

She’s had even more time to examine her win, train harder and learn to trust those who surround her. All of that could help her join some elite company in being a multiple-time state champion.

Winning multiple cross country titles is a tall task, even after netting the gold as a freshman. Since 2014, there have been 32 individual state championships won on the girls side – and just six girls in that time have claimed multiple titles. Claiming three titles is even more rare air.

Given that Campos finished 33 seconds ahead of anyone else in the field last year, one could assume she’s the favorite to repeat as a sophomore. But while the next six girls behind her all were seniors, 11 of the other top 20 2A finishers are eligible to return this season.

But Campos believes in what she’s done to improve and also has the drive to be a role model for the rest of her teammates and school.

“I feel a little bit of pressure, but I feel a lot of support from the coaches and I feel like I can really motivate the team at my school and motivate more girls to join cross country,” Campos said at Broncos/CHSAA Fall Sports High School Media Day earlier this week.

Campos has the 2A course record at the Norris Penrose Event Center (18 minutes, 47.50 seconds) and ran 18:13 at her regional meet prior to that. She and her teammates will get a chance to prove themselves at some quality in-season meets in 2022, and she’s looking forward to seeing how her time stacks up against girls from even bigger schools.

“It doesn’t really matter how big the school is, it’s more about the runners and how hard they work,” Campos said.